BBC

The Legend of King Arthur to be released by Simply Media – 10th October 2016

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The Legend of King Arthur will be released by Simply Media on the 10th of October 2016.  Review here.

Andrew Davies’ (House of Cards) sumptuous adaptation of the timeless saga, The Legend of King Arthur, makes its home entertainment debut on 10 October 2016 with the complete 1979 series.

Dark Ages wizard Merlin (Robert Eddison – Indiana Jones), weary of the barbarism around him, creates a new order of enlightenment and justice with a youthful Arthur (Andrew Burt – Emmerdale) at its head. Merlin presents Arthur with the magic sword Excalibur to help him defeat the nobles who oppose his rule. But Arthur must also beware his half-sister Morgan (Maureen O’Brien – Doctor Who), a sorceress who has sworn to kill him to avenge her father’s death.

As Morgan intensifies her campaign, she uses magic to draw Lancelot (David Robb – Downton Abbey) and Guinevere (Felicity Dean – The Whistle Blower) into a passionate affair. But it is the still more traitorous Mordred (Steve Hodson – Break in the Sun) who will fatally halt Arthur’s rule.

Bringing high romance, low treachery and magical adventure via a host of legendary characters and featuring an early appearance by Patsy Kensit (Holby City), this is a fabulous retelling of the gloriously twisting tale.

 

Little Sir Nicholas to be released by Simply Media – 10th October 2016

archivetvmusings BBC Drama - 1990's, Forthcoming DVDs , ,

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Little Sir Nicholas will be released by Simply Media on the 10th of October 2016.  Review here.

Based on the classic children’s novel by Cecilia Anne Jones, Little Sir Nicholas is a gripping Victorian saga about blood rights, identity and family rivalries. This six-part BBC adaptation co-written by and featuring Oscar winner Julian Fellowes (Downton Abbey), arrives on DVD on 10 October 2016.

It has long been the destiny of the sons of the Tremaine family to serve as officers in the Royal Navy, but this tradition seems doomed when Sir Walter Tremaine, his wife and their four-year-old son Nicholas (Max Beazley – Maigret) are lost at sea in a wild storm. Five years on, Lady Tremaine (Rachel Gurney – Upstairs, Downstairs), still stricken by the loss of her son and grandson, advertises across the country for a distant heir to come forward.

Penniless Londoner Joanna Tremaine (Bernice Stegers – Undercover) is thrilled when her son Gerald (Jonathan Norris) is chosen to inherit the family title and fortune. But just as they settle into a life of luxury, Little Sir Nicholas is found alive and well in a small coastal French village.

 

Softly Softly: Task Force – Series Two. Simply Media DVD Review

archivetvmusings BBC Drama - 1970's, Simply Media , , ,

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Series two of Softly Softly: Task Force was broadcast between September 1970 and March 1971.  Whereas series one (discussed here) had sixteen episodes, series two ran for twenty six episodes (an obvious sign that series one had been a success).

Below is a brief episode guide –

Baptism – 16th September 1970
Written by Elwyn Jones. Featuring Ian Hogg

Sunday, Sweet Sunday – 23rd September 1970
Written by Alan Plater. Featuring Christopher Beeney, Windsor Davies and Michael Hawkins

Safe in the Streets? – 30th September 1970
Written by Allan Prior. Featuring Leon Vitali, Vicki Michelle and George Tovey

Good Listener – 7th October 1970
Written by Elwyn Jones. Featuring Jonathan Newth

Time Expired – 14th October 1970
Written by Robert Barr

Lessons – 21st October 1970
Written by Arnold Yarrow. Featuring John Ringham, Glynn Edwards and Sally Thomsett

Without Favour – 28th October 1970
Written by Alan Plater. Featuring Collette O’Neil

Never Hit a Lady – 4th November 1970
Written by Allan Prior.  Featuring Neil McCallum and Richard Beale

Its Ugly Head – 11th November 1970
Written by Elwyn Jones.  Featuring Michael Goodliffe

Who Wants Pride…? – 18th November 1970
Written by Robert Barr. Featuring Jess Conrad and Ray Lonnen

Collation – 25th November 1970
Written by Elwyn Jones

Do Me a Favour – 2nd December 1970
Written by Robert Barr. Featuring Chloe Ashcroft, Victor Maddern and Jon Rollason

Sweet Are the Uses of Adversity – 9th December 1970
Written by Elwyn Jones. Featuring Del Henney

Bearings – 16th December 1970
Written by James Doran

A World Full of Rooms – 23rd December 1970
Written by Allan Prior. Featuring Milton Johns

The Lie Direct – 30th December 1970
Written by Elwyn Jones. Featuring Tony Calvin and Geoffrey Palmer

Ground Level – 6th January 1971
Written by Alan Plater. Featuring Glyn Owen

Company Business – 13th January 1971
Written by John Elliot. Featuring Wendy Gifford

Kick Off – 20th January 1971
Written by Elwyn Jones. Featuring Roddy McMillan and George Pravda

Final Score – 27th January 1971
Written by Elwyn Jones. Featuring Roddy McMillan and George Pravda

Something Big – 3rd February 1971
Written by Robert Barr. Featuring Desmond Llewellyn, John Woodvine and Jeremy Wilkin

Games – 10th February 1971
Written by Arnold Yarrow. Featuring Jean Boht

In the Public Gaze – 17 February 1971
Written by Elwyn Jones. Featuring Gawn Grainger and Reginald Marsh

Held for Questioning – 24th February 1971
Written by Robert Barr. Featuring Denis Quilly and Norman Jones

Black Equals White – 3rd March 1971
Written by Allan Prior. Featuring Angus MacKay

Cash and Carry – 10th March 1971
Written by Elwyn Jones. Featuring Gertan Klauber and Peter Sallis

The regular cast is pretty much unchanged since series one. Stratford Johns continues to dominate as Chief Supt. Barlow, whilst Frank Windsor returns as the straight-talking Det. Sup. Watt.  Norman Bowler (Det. Insp. Hawkins) doesn’t have such a sharply-defined character as either Barlow or Watt, but he’s still a very solid presence.  Walter Gotell, probably best known playing Gogol in the James Bond films, makes the occasional appearance as Chief Constable Arthur Cullen.

David Lloyd Meredith provides a dash of humour as the rather Welsh Sgt. Evans whilst Terence Rigby (always a rather idiosyncratic actor) is, as PC Snow, another actor who’s always worth watching.  PC Snow was distraught at the end of series one after his police-dog Inky was shot and killed, so series two sees him develop his working relationship with Inky’s replacement.  Susan Tebbs, as Det. Con. Donald, remains the show’s sole female regular.  Terrence Hardiman is a new recruit, turning up towards the end of the season as Inspector Armstrong.

As listed in the episode guide above, a host of familiar faces pop up during the course of the twenty six episodes and there’s also some very sharply written scripts, especially those provided by Alan Plater (a Z Cars veteran).  Elwyn Jones (who had created the Softly Softly: Task Force format) was another writer who had racked up numerous credits on Z Cars and Softly Softly and would be just as prolific on Softly Softly: Task Force and the later spin-off, Barlow.  Like Plater, he really understood how the series worked and his episodes, including the series opener and closer, are some of the strongest.

It’s interesting that both SS:TF and Dixon of Dock Green started to produce several all-film episodes at the same. It’s just a pity that these ones – Lessons and Do Me A Favour – look pretty poor (very faded colours on both throughout). Given the age of the material that’s not a surprise, but generally what we have across the seven discs is quite watchable. There’s no particular issues with the VT sequences (apart from the occassional bit of tape damage) but the film inserts on certain stories are rather grubby.

With so many episodes, it’s inevitable that the quality dips from time to time, but generally the level remains pretty consistent throughout the run.  During the next month or so I’ll be posting reviews of every episode, which will enable me to examine them in a little more detail.

Softly: Softly Series Two is released by Simply Media on the 26th of September 2016.  RRP £44.99.

Happy Ever After – Simply Media DVD Review

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Happy Ever After first surfaced as a one-off Comedy Playhouse episode in May 1974. Like many other series launched via Comedy Playhouse, including Meet the Wife, it would quickly develop into a fully fledged series.

Since series one of Happy Ever After followed just two months later, in July 1974, it’s clear that audience reaction wasn’t a factor – the BBC must have sensed that this was a format that had legs.  And so it proved, Happy Ever After ran for forty one episodes between 1974 and 1979 and then Terry & June (essentially the same series but with a few differences, which we’ll discuss later) chalked up sixty five episodes from 1979 to 1987.

Out of the two series, Terry & June – thanks to repeats and DVD releases – has by far the greatest profile.  But it’s a profile that’s not always been terribly positive.  Regarded by some as old-hat and embarrassing, T&J has often been cited as an example of all that’s bad and lazy about traditional sitcoms.  An over-reliance on unlikely occurrences and remarkable coincidences (later wonderfully parodied in Chance in a Million) and Terry Scott’s mugging to camera are some of the suggested reasons.  But whilst T&J did run out of steam, it also had more than its fair share of great comedy moments – as did Happy Ever After.

Created by John Chapman and Eric Merriman, Happy Ever After’s format is a simple one. Terry and June Fletcher are a middle-aged, happily married couple who have recently seen their grown-up children, Frank, Susan and Debbie, leave home.  But their hopes for a quiet life spent in each other’s company are rudely shattered when cranky Aunt Lucy (Beryl Cooke) and her mynah bird come to stay.

The format of the series would remain fairly constant.  Terry would hit upon a brilliant idea or become embroiled in events which would spiral out of his control, June would remain on the side-lines – ever patient – whilst Aunt Lucy would chip in with the odd comment.  When the series became Terry & June it carried on pretty much as before (except that Aunt Lucy had been written out).

The other change was that Terry and June’s surname was Fletcher in Happy Ever After but had become Medford in Terry & June.  This was because series creator John Chapman felt that the show had run its course by 1979.  The BBC disagreed, so a change of surname was enough to ensure that Chapman couldn’t claim the new series featured his characters, even if things carried on pretty much as before.

Although it’s difficult not to see both series as one entity, there’s a slightly different tone to Happy Ever After, especially to begin with.  It just feels a little bit more sharper (possibly not surprising since any format will eventually begin to lose its sparkle over the years) and the plots are tighter.  The presence of Aunt Lucy is also a major plus (the absence of a similar character in T&J was a shame).

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But whilst the writing is important, Happy Ever After stands or falls on the performances of the two leads. Terry Scott (1927 – 1994) had been a television star since the 1950’s, starting with Scott Free in 1957.  More success on the small screen would follow in the 1960’s – teaming up with Hugh Lloyd in Hugh and I and the bizarre-sounding (and sadly wiped) Gnomes of Dulwich.  Another series – Scott On … – would air between 1964 and 1974 (running to twenty four episodes).  He also turned up in a number of films, including several Carry Ons.

June Whitfield (b. 1925) is, like Scott, a British comedy legend, and her longevity has only helped to increase her stature.  She began as a supporting player, appearing opposite Peter Sellers in The Idiot Weekly, Price 2d, Jimmy Edwards in The Many Faces of Jim and More Faces of Jim as well as Tony Hancock (most notably in The Blood Donor).  She first appeared with Terry Scott in Scott On … and like Scott would make a few appearances in the Carry On series (although they didn’t appear in the same films).  During the last few decades she’s become familiar to several new generations thanks to Absolutely Fabulous.

The pilot shows Terry and June adjusting to home life now that their children have gone.  Terry is remarkably boorish, pouring June a gin and reminding her that it always used to get her going in the old days. June comments on how coarse he is and on this early evidence they seem a very mismatched pair.

Terry is a bundle of nervous energy (incapable of remaining quiet for a minute) whilst June is content to just relax, buried in a good book.  There’s an unspoken feeling that now the house is theirs again they might struggle to restablish their relationship.  That they’ve not been paying each other a great deal of attention is made plain after Terry is amazed to discover that June’s had a pair of glasses for the last two years – he admits he hasn’t really looked at her for a long time.

This moment, along with June’s tearful regret that the chicks have flown the nest, gives the pilot a slightly wistful air, although Terry’s hyperactive personality – a hamsfisted attempt to do some DIY for example – ensures that the mood doesn’t stay reflective for long.  When the demanding Aunt Lucy turns up with bundles of possessions, poor Terry sees his newly-won freedom fast disappearing …

The first episode of Happy Ever After proper sees Terry shocked to learn that June hasn’t been a Conservative like him during their married life (instead she’s always voted Liberal).  This is a perfect opportunity for Terry Scott to deliver some of his trademark overreacting, but when June tells him she’s considering a short break by herself, it ties back to the suggestion in the pilot that the two of them may be fundamentally incompatible.  Terry then suggests she writes a list of his faults, which she does with great glee!  Later they decide to go on a second honeymoon, which (as might be expected) doesn’t go to plan.  It’s good to see some well-known actors lurking in the hotel, such as Hammer Films stalwart Michael Ripper and radio’s original Dick Barton, Noel Johnson.

Containing the Comedy Playhouse pilot, five series and three specials (two Christmas specials and the final one-off from April 1979) this seven disc set offers a generous helping of 1970’s sitcom goodness.  Classic episodes include the series two effort Terry in Court. Returning home after a business trip, Terry’s more than a little upset to learn that their car has had an altercation with the local dustcart. June insists it wasn’t her fault and after learning that the Council refuse to admit liability, Terry decides to sue them. The trouble really starts when Terry learns that he can represent himself and so appears in court complete with a wig and gown! Scott is firing on all his comic cylinders, helped no end by a very dead-pan performance by Basil Dingham as the judge.

Another favourite is Mistaken Identikit. An identikit picture of a bag snatcher who preys on elderly ladies (giving him the nickname of the “granny grabber”) is broadcast on televison and featured in all the newspapers. And wouldn’t you know it, he looks just like Terry! Robert Gillespie pops up as a phelgmatic desk sergeant and the always-watchable Josephine Tewson also makes a brief appearance.

The Music Went Around & Around is a notable episode, as it was John Kane’s first script for the series.  Kane would only pen a couple of episodes for Happy Ever After, but he’d go on to write the bulk of Terry & June (notching up more than forty episodes). In this one, John Quayle and Janine Duvitski are both wonderful as Ralph and Cynthia, the dinner guests from hell. Terry later attempts to replace one of his classic records from the 1940’s – The Hut Sut Song. Julian Orchard, as the harrased record shop proprietor, is another first-rate guest performer, as is Damaris Hayman (who plays Miss Sneed, an assistant at the record shop). Amazingly, she’s heard of this obscure song and it’s a comic treat when she and Terry launch into a spirited performance of The Hut Sut Song.

Unashamedly middle-of-the-road fare, Happy Ever After has aged very well.  This is partly because of the contrasting comic talents of Terry Scott and June Whitfield, but the scripts are also pretty strong and it’s always nice to see familiar faces popping up in guest roles.

Happy Ever After is released by Simply Media on the 26th of September 2016.  RRP £44.99.

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Somewhere at Sea/Back at Sea/All at Sea – Simply Media DVD Review

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This trilogy of programmes – Somewhere at Sea/Back at Sea/All at Sea – charts the leisurely journey of Timothy Spall and his wife Shane as they take their 50 foot Dutch barge, the Princess Matilda, on a trip around the British coast.

Broadcast between 2010 and 2012, it’s a treat from start to finish.  The gorgeous camerawork is a major plus point, but a large part of the series’ appeal is down to Spall and Shane.  Gleefully admitting right at the start that he’s never had a sailing lesson in his life (everything he’s learnt has come from books) he’s a genial enthusiast who effortlessly draws the viewer in.

The shows are the antithesis of travel programmes such as Around the World in 80 Days.  There we saw Michael Palin racing against the clock, whereas here there are no time restraints at all.  And if you think that three years is a long time to travel around the British isles, they’d actually started out on this journey some four years before the cameras started rolling!

Despite the fact that they have a camera crew in tow, the programmes have the feeling of being completely unplanned.  They know their destination, but it’s the unexpected obstacles they encounter along the way which makes for entertaining television.

This is evident from the opening episode of Somewhere at Sea, as the Princess Matilda makes its way to Falmouth.  Spall is looking for a berth for six weeks, as he needs to pop off to make a film, but after deciding not to book ahead he’s disappointed to find there’s no room at the inn.  They eventually find somewhere to haul anchor, but there are further problems to come.

After completing his film, Spall is keen to set off and navigate around the Lizard (a dangerous stretch of water which isn’t for the faint-hearted).  But poor weather scuppers his plans and if things don’t improve he and Shane face the prospect of having to sit out the winter in Cornwall.

As the weather’s no good for sailing they decide to explore the local landscape.  An impressive country church catches his eye and he takes the opportunity to quietly meditate.  Shane explains that following his illness (Spall was diagnosed with leukaemia in 1996 but has since been in remission) he’s always had an affinity with churches.  It’s a moment that could easily come over as sentimental and mawkish, but Spall’s directness and honesty shines through.

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The second episode sees them finally make their way around the Lizard.  It was clear that the thought of navigating such a challenging stretch of water was a concern for Spall, but a pep talk from the local lifeboat crew buoyed him up (if you’ll forgive the pun).  His boyish enthusiasm as he takes the wheel of their lifeboat (which cost two million pounds, funded entirely from donations) is rather delightful.

Things take a slight downward turn in the final episode of the first series as a number of problems take their toll.  First their anchor breaks and then Spall, making his way into Padstow harbour, sinks a marker buoy. Shane is far from impressed and makes this plain to her husband, although the pair soon make up.

Back at Sea opens with the Princess Matilda docked at Penarth, Wales. It’s been there for the winter, but now that spring’s arrived the Princess Matilda is able to set sail once more. Spall’s rather anxious though – the barge has been in dock for six months and the prospect of tackling the tricky Irish Sea fills him with a certain amount of dread. Once again this provides the viewer with a good example of Spall’s character. Many actors would find it impossible not to continue acting when the cameras were on them (playing the part of the stoic captain) but Spall’s fears and vulnerabilities are always on view.

The second episode of series two sees them visit Liverpool and then move onto Lancashire. But things again don’t quite go to plan. Spall drifts off course, which means he misses the high tide and is therefore unable to reach the safety of Glasson port. So they’re forced to drop anchor out at sea overnight, which Spall says was “a mixture of fun and horror”. But a trip the next day to buy some kippers cheers him up!

The remainder of the second series sees the Princess Matilda visit the Isle of Man (where they meet up with their son Rafe), Belfast and then deep into Scotland. By the time Back at Sea draws to a close, Spall and Shane are slightly more than halfway through their round-Britain trip, which sets things up the third series, All at Sea, nicely.

All at Sea opens with the Princess Matilda battling the North Sea around the coast of Scotland. It’s by far the roughest weather they’ve encountered so far, but they eventually reach their destination, Stonehaven harbour. They move on almost straightaway though and Spall confesses that the ever-changing weather is “doing my head in”. The stresses of the North Sea are clearly taking their toll.

But their greatest problems are not to be found in the bitter weather off the coast of Scotland, but rather closer to home. Heading to Chatham Marina in Kent, Spall had to call the Coastguard for assistance after losing his way. An RNLI lifeboat was dispatched and they were able to guide the Princess Matilda to her destination. Prior to their arrival we see Spall getting more and more frayed around the edges, which certainly provides a dramatic end to the series.

Also during All at Sea, Spall visits Newcastle-upon-Tyne, a city that effectively treated him like one of their own after the success of Auf Wiedersehen Pet. Melanie Hill, who played Hazel in the show, pops aboard for a tour around the docks.

With oodles of breathtaking scenary, Spall’s self deprecating humour and a soundtrack of classic 1930’s and 1940’s tunes, all three series are perfect viewing for the armchair mariner.

Somewhere at Sea was released on the 29th of August 2016.  Back at Sea will be released on the 3rd of October 2016.  All at Sea will be released on the 7th of November.  All three titles cost £12.99 each.

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Fawlty Towers – The Hotel Inspectors

archivetvmusings BBC Comedy - 1970's , , , , ,

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Fawlty Towers is as close to sitcom perfection as you can get.  If one were being picky then you could say that the second series does have one sub-par effort (The Anniversary) but this is only because the other eleven were so good.

There are several obvious reasons as to why the series clicked from the start (even if the public and critical feedback for series one was a little muted to begin with).  These include the scripts by John Cleese and Connie Booth and the four regulars (Cleese, Booth, Scales, Sachs).

But equally important were the guest casts.  Basil Fawlty has to have strong characters to interact with, otherwise his manic personality ends up unbalancing the show.  Strong characters require good actors though, but Fawlty Towers never had a problem in acquiring the best comic actors around.

Joan Sanderson, Geoffrey Palmer and Bruce Boa were amongst those who were able to stand toe-to-toe with Cleese.  Some sitcom stars (especially if they were the co-writer as well) may have found themselves threatened by having to share the screen with experienced old pros (there’s plenty of evidence down the years to suggest that certain actors hated to have the limelight shone on anyone but themselves).  Cleese had a refreshing lack of ego on this score though and never seemed worried that others may get bigger laughs than him.

The Hotel Inspectors has one of the series’ most recognisable guest stars.   Bernard Cribbins (b. 1928) remains a national treasure.  He first came to prominence in the 1960’s with a number of film appearances (several Carry Ons, The Wrong Arm of the Law with Peter Sellers, etc).  In the 1970’s he became a children’s favourite, narrating The Wombles and making regular appearances on Jackanory.  He continues to act, probably his most high-profile recent credit was as Wilfred Mott in Doctor Who.

Mr Hutchinson (Cribbins) has arrived for a stay at Fawlty Towers.  His profession is a bit of a mystery but Basil, getting the wrong end of the stick, mistakenly believes that he’s a hotel inspector.

If Basil was rude to every guest who walked through the door then it would be amusing, but the joke would wear thin pretty quickly.  The genius of Cleese and Booth’s scripting is that Basil is a man of many and varied prejudices, which then informs us about which guests he favours or disfavours.  If you’re a member of the promiscuous society, for example, you’ll attract Basil’s ire, but a titled or professional person is guaranteed a much easier ride.

To begin with, Mr Hutchinson irritates Basil, mainly because of the way he talks.

Mr. Hutchinson: There is a documentary on BBC2 this evening about Squawking Bird, the leader of the Blackfoot Indians in the late 1860s. Now this starts at 8.45 and goes on for approximately three-quarters of an hour.
Basil: I’m sorry, are you talking to me?
Mr. Hutchinson: Indeed I am, yes. Now is it possible for me to reserve the BBC2 channel for the duration of this televisual feast?
Basil: Why don’t you talk properly?
Mr. Hutchinson: I beg your pardon?
Basil: No it isn’t.
Mr. Hutchinson: What?
Basil: It is not possible to reserve the BBC2 channel from the commencement of this televisual feast until the moment of the termination of its ending thereof, thank you so much.

The sudden gear-change which occurs when Basil believes Hutchinson to be a hotel inspector is a lovely moment.  From indifference and contempt, Basil quickly becomes the perfect host.  But even when Basil’s trying his best, things never quite work out (witness the saga of the omelette) and like every other week his house of cards slowly collapses until he’s left humiliated and isolated.  This sounds a little bleak, but luckily for us Basil always seems to recover from whatever crushing reversal he’s received in order to do battle the following week.

Animated Power of the Daleks to be released by BBC Worldwide – November 2016

archivetvmusings Doctor Who, Forthcoming DVDs , , ,

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Although there have been rumours for a few weeks (following the posting of a clip on YouTube) it’s now been confirmed that a fully animated Power of the Daleks will be released in November.  It’ll debut initially on the BBC Store with a DVD release following later the same month.

A very unexpected but welcome early Christmas present.  Hopefully sales (both download and physical) will be healthy and further releases will follow in the future.  The press release is below.

BBC Worldwide to release animation of lost Doctor Who story, The Power of the Daleks

Doctor Who: The Power of the Daleks is being produced by the team behind the highly successful animation of lost Dad’s Army episode A Stripe For Frazer, first released on BBC Store in February this year. The producer and director is Charles Norton, with character designs from acclaimed comic book artists Martin Geraghty and Adrian Salmon.

Charles Norton says:
“The Power of the Daleks animation is the most ambitious Doctor Who archive restoration ever attempted and we’re all very honoured to be a part of such a an exciting project. Intelligent, suspenseful and magnificently staged, Power of the Daleks is one of the great lost classics of 1960s television and a superb example of the black and white era at its finest.”

Paul Hembury, Executive Producer, BBC Worldwide says:
“Charles and his team are remarkably talented and passionate about Doctor Who and we are thrilled that fans will soon be able to enjoy this rather sinister but wonderful, classic story.”

Doctor Who: The Power Of The Daleks will be released on BBC Store on Saturday 5th November followed by the DVD on Monday 21st November.

An impressive list of special features has now been announced.  Given the bare-bones releases of The Web of Fear and The Enemy of the World, the effort put in here is surprising, but very welcome.  An Andrew Pixley booklet, PDFs of the camera scripts and a full telesnap reconstruction are just some of things which caught my eye.  The 1966 studio recordings of the Dalek voice recording sessions is a slightly staggering feature – presumably this is a recent find as I can’t recall ever hearing about it before.

Alternate soundtracks [DVD only]
The option to listen to the story with a series of completely new digital re-masters of the original soundtrack – a stereo mix; a 5.1 surround sound mix and version of the original 1966 mono sound mix.

Animation Test Footage
A compilation of animation tests, created during the production of the new animated series.

Audio Commentaries on all 6 episodes [DVD only]
Members of the original cast and crew are joined by members of the new animation unit to discuss the production of the story and its new animated reconstruction. Moderated by Toby Hadoke. Please note: this commentary also includes archive audio.

Booklet with Production Notes [DVD only]
An extensively researched set of production notes, written by the noted television historian Andrew Pixley, covering the behind the scenes story of how the original production was made.

Original Camera Scripts [DVD only]
Selected items of original production paperwork and a complete set of original camera scripts

Original Title Sequence – new restoration
An unedited presentation of the full original ‘Doctor Who’ title sequence, prepared using an all new HD re-master of the original film elements.

The Power of the Daleks Animation and Photo Gallery
An extended gallery of images, featuring production photographs from the original 1966 series and artwork from the latest animated production, accompanied by incidental music from the story, which has been digitally re-mastered from the original music production tapes.

The Power of the Daleks Surviving Footage & Original Trailer
A compilation of short film fragments and clips from the original 1966 BBC television production – the only surviving footage to remain of the show’s original BBC1 run.

Original Dalek Voice Session Recording (1966) [DVD only]
Rare and previously unreleased sections from the studio recordings that were made at Maida Vale Studios in 1966 for the Dalek voices.

Servants and Masters – The Making of The Power of the Daleks
A specially prepared documentary directed by John Kelly and featuring interviews with members of the original 1966 cast and crew.

Telesnap reconstruction
Around 400 individual still frames of film exist from the original 1966 television production of ‘The Power of the Daleks’. These images were kept in the programme’s production files by the BBC Written Archive Centre. These images are here combined with the programme’s soundtrack to present a photographic reconstruction of the original programme.

Today (3rd November 2016) it’s been announced that a colour version will be able to be downloaded from the BBC Store at the end of the year whilst a BD will follow next year. This will include the colour version, although whether the black and white edition and all the DVD special features will also be included isn’t yet known.

So if you want Power on disc in colour then you’ll need the BD. Plenty of buying options then, although I think I’ll stick with the b&w DVD.

Dad’s Army – The Battle of Godfrey’s Cottage

archivetvmusings BBC Comedy - 1960's , , , , , ,

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No doubt helped by endless re-runs, Dad’s Army remains one of the most familiar British archive sitcoms.  For some, this familiarity has bred contempt, but whilst parts of it have worn thin over the years (Corporal Jones really needs a good slap) the sheer number of episodes means that you can still stumble over a less well-known instalment which will have a few surprises.

This is particularly true of the surviving episodes from the first two series, as their black and white nature has meant that they don’t get repeated as often as their colour counterparts.  And two episodes from the second series (Operation Kilt and The Battle of Godfrey’s Cottage) were only rediscovered in 2001 (in film cans which had spent twenty five years rusting in a garden shed) which gave even hardened Dad’s Army watchers at the time the chance to experience something “new”.

As a child, it was the large-scale visual episodes which appealed, such as The Day the Balloon Went Up, which saw the platoon set off in hot pursuit after Captain Mainwaring, who’d been carried away by a barrage balloon!  As I’ve got older, I find the character-based episodes to be more to my taste.  Ones such as Branded (which saw Godfrey’s courage called into question) and A. Wilson, Manager? (Wilson’s promotion infuriates Mainwaring) now entertain me more.

Although the comedy in Dad’s Army is often broad, it’s also based on historical fact.  The Home Guard was poorly equipped to begin with, which was a worry for many – especially as a German invasion was believed to be imminent.  With guns and ammunition in short supply, other methods of defence and attack had to be found – this webpage has some interesting information, such as the fact that one Home Guard unit carried pepper with them, which they intended to throw into the enemy’s faces!

In The Battle of Godfrey’s Cottage, Mainwaring calls his men to the Novelty Rock Emporium, which will be their command post in the event of a German invasion.  The viewer, armed with the knowledge that no invasion was ever attempted, is immediately placed at an advantage over the platoon.  Therefore when the church bells ring and everybody jumps to the wrong conclusion (the Germans have arrived) we can be secure in the knowledge that everything will be all right.

This might been the cue for some slapstick comedy, but instead Perry & Croft go a little darker to begin with.  Mainwaring, Jones and Frazer believe that they’re the only members of the platoon left in the town who can deal with the Germans, so they head off to Godfrey’s cottage (an ideal place to mount a defence, due to its strategic location) in order to make a last ditch attempt to repel the attackers.  All three accept that they’re going to their deaths, but deal with this stoically.  It’s only a brief moment, but it’s a lovely character touch that says so much.

There’s a certain amount of contrivance which has to employed in order to get the plot to work.  Mainwaring, Jones and Frazer have now reached Godfrey’s cottage and Jones puts on an old German helmet (from Godfrey’s adventures in WW1) to defend himself with.  The other members of the platoon, approaching the cottage, see a figure with a German helmet and naturally jump to the wrong conclusion.

Godfrey’s genteel home life – he lives with his two sisters, Dolly (Amy Dalby) and Cissy (Nan Braunton) – is rudely shattered by the arrival of Mainwaring and his machine gun.  If Godfrey seems to be a little disconnected from the realties of life, then that’s even more the case with his sisters.  Dolly’s reaction when she hears that the Germans are coming is just to fret that she’ll have to go and make a great deal more tea for all of their new visitors.

Possibly the most interesting part of the story is how the various members of the platoon deal with the pressure of apparently being under attack from the Germans.  Pike is naturally terrified, Mainwaring is resolute and determined to fight on to the bitter end, whilst Wilson is somewhat hesitant and indecisive (no real change from his normal character then).  But when Wilson believes that the “Germans” in the cottage have surrendered, he initially wants to send Walker out to negotiate with them, whilst he remains behind in safety.  It’s small character moments like this which make The Battle of Godfrey’s Cottage a very rewarding episode to rewatch.

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Go Now – Simply Media DVD review

archivetvmusings BBC Drama - 1990's, Simply Media , , , , ,

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Everything seems to be going Nick Cameron’s (Robert Carlyle) way, especially when his relationship with Karen Walker (Juliet Aubrey) begins to blossom.  But there are dark, dark clouds on the horizon.  He begins to experience feelings of numbness and double vision, and shortly afterwards he receives the bombshell that he has multiple sclerosis.

In a flash his whole world changes.  As his physical energy diminishes, Kevin angrily lashes out of those around him – especially Karen, who also has to make a dramatic adjustment (from girlfriend to carer).  She becomes unable to reach the man she fell in love with and so faces a dilemma – should she walk out and start a new life, or stand by this shell of a man?

Go Now eschews the sentimentality often to be found in dramas which tackle illness, instead it offers something much more direct and honest.  This may be partly due to the input of co-writer Jimmy McGovern (a man who has in the past contemptuously labelled other dramas dealing with similar topics ‘wheelchair plays’).  But the influence of the other writer, Paul Henry Powell, shouldn’t be underestimated.

Powell, a MS sufferer, had started writing the script based directly on his own experiences.  McGovern, who was running a writer’s workshop that Powell was attending, agreed to work with him to develop the story.

Although the basic synopsis makes it sound very depressing, the play is shot through with streaks of humour.  But what really impresses throughout the piece are the emotional ups and downs that both Nick and Karen go through.   Both Robert Carlyle and Juliet Aubrey offer outstanding performances.

Carlyle, who had already starred as the unstable killer Albie in McGovern’s Cracker serial To Be A Somebody, commands the screen.  And it’s when Nick’s physical abilities decline that his performance really comes into his own, as it requires him to express a host of emotions with am increasingly limited set of visual signals.

Aubrey is no less impressive.  That she turned down a big movie role (First Knight, opposite Richard Gere and Sean Connery) in order to appear in Go Now is an interesting revelation (no doubt a move that wouldn’t have pleased her agent).  Her commitment to the piece is obvious to see – especially in the scene towards the end when Karen, refusing to heed Nick’s pleas to leave him, waits patiently outside in the pouring rain for him to change his mind.

Whilst Carlyle and Aubrey are central, there are also impressive contributions from James Nesbitt (Tony) and Sophie Okenedo (Paula) and Michael Winterbottom’s direction is pretty much faultless.

A co-production between the BBC and PolyGram, it received a limited theatrical distribution and would go on to pick up a number of awards (it won the Prix Europa Television Programme of the Year 1995 whilst Powell and McGovern collected the Royal Television Society’s Best Writer award in 1996).

At times bleak and uncompromising, Go Now is best summed up by this comment from Juliet Aubrey.  “It’s a big love story with a huge heart, a lot of humour, a lot of passion and a lot of pain”.  Twenty years on it remains a powerful work which lingers in the memory long after the credits have rolled.

Go Now is released by Simply Media on the 12th of September 2016 with an RRP of £19.99.  £1.00 from the sale of each DVD will donated to the MS Society.

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The Likely Lads – The Other Side of the Fence

archivetvmusings BBC Comedy - 1960's , , , , , ,

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The Likely Lads (1964 – 1966) was something of a ground-breaking series.  Fifty years on, its impact may have dulled, but back then a sitcom that revolved around two men who were not only young and working-class but also came from the North was decidedly unusual.

Dick Clement (born in Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex) and Ian La Frenais (born in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Tyne and Wear) were two writers with different outlooks and temperaments.  But something about their partnership simply clicked (it’s still going strong today).

Despite the fact that the show was recorded in London, the scripts seemed to catch the authentic feel of working-class life and the show ran for three years.  That it was later rather overshadowed by the sequel series, Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads?, is easy to understand. The Likely Lads was made in black and white, so repeats have been more infrequent (plus quite a few of the episodes were wiped and no longer exist).  And to be honest, Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads? is just a better show – the scripting and performances are sharper and the fact that Bob and Terry are a little older is also important.  They’re far from middle-aged, but they’re also no longer the “lads” from the original series.

The Likely Lads seems to take its cue from films such as Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (1960).  Like the central character in that film, Bob (Rodney Bewes) and Terry (James Bolam) work in a factory and live for the weekends, where they can spend their weekly wages on beer, football and girls.

Even in the early episodes, Bob and Terry are very different characters.  Terry never really changes (not even when we meet him again in the 1970’s) but Bob is always keen to “get on”.  This is made plain in Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads? – Bob has a fiancé, a nice new council house and enjoys foreign holidays (a rarity at this time).

But even as early as The Other Side of the Fence (series one, episode four, original tx 6th January 1965) Bob’s desire to better himself comes to the surface.  He has a chance to leave the factory for a job in the office.  It offers better pay and prospects, plus the females are rather nice as well ….

The class/social divide between the factory and office workers is sharply defined.  Terry, waiting for Bob to leave the office for the day, spies the departing office ladies.  They’re a clear class apart from the sort of women he’s used to, but that doesn’t stop him chancing his arm.  Sally Anne (Didi Sullivan), who works in personnel, seems quite responsive whilst Bob has already fallen for Judith (Anneke Wills) who’s the secretary to Bob’s new boss.  The problem is that Judith is in a relationship with the oily rep Nesbit (Michael Sheard).

Despite being born in Aberdeen, Sheard manages a credible Northern accent and is suitably nasty as Bob’s rival in love.  Judith is friendly and helpful to Bob and as played by the lovely Anneke Wills certainly catches the eye.  Is this the reason why Bob attempts to make a go of his office job?

Although you might have expected Terry to be more cynical about Bob’s social climbing, that’s not really the case.  Although it is true that after Bob invites Terry to be his guest at the plush office social he can’t help but stifle a grin at the sight of Bob dressed in a dinner jacket and bow tie.  The fact that most of the other men are similarly attired cuts no ice with Terry, it’s just not the sort of thing that they do.

The evening turns sour when Nesbit gleefully tells Terry that he won’t be able to attend the dance – the function is for office staff only, so Terry (as factory fodder) doesn’t qualify.  Terry doesn’t seem terribly put out, but this slight upsets Bob so much that he jacks in the office job there and then and decides to go back to the factory.

In a way this is rather depressing, the class barrier seems to be still firmly in place as we see the working-class interloper (Bob) returned to where he came from.  But this blow is softened when Bob says he never wanted the job in the drawing office anyway because he’s no good at drawing (the truth or a lie to make Terry feel better?)  The real result occurs just after this, when Sally Anne and Judith decide to go for a drink with Bob and Terry.

Helped by the appearances by Michael Sheard and Anneke Wills, The Other Side of the Fence is entertaining enough.  Bob’s misadventures in the office could be seen as a warning that it’s a good idea to know your place, suggesting that his attempts to better himself were always doomed to failure.  This may be too critical a reading though and since they end up with the girls, everything in the Likely Lads’ world comes right in the end.

Full Steam Ahead -RLJ/Acorn DVD Review

archivetvmusings Acorn Media, BBC Documentaries ,

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Many people, including myself, have a certain fascination with steam engines.  When the Flying Scotsman made a recent trip through my neck of the woods I did make the effort to see it (although since I have a railway line at the bottom of my garden I didn’t have to venture very far!)

Today it’s easy to view the age of steam through nostalgic eyes – it seems to transport us back to a simpler, slower and less cluttered age.  The reality is very different however.  The steam age heralded an intense period of change in British life – as virtually every aspect (from trade and transportation to health and recreation) was reshaped.

So whilst part of the attraction of Full Steam Ahead is the chance to see an impressive selection of engines chugging their way through the picturesque British landscape, there’s also many painless history lessons to be learnt along the way.

Ruth Goodman, Alex Langlands and Peter Ginn are old hands at this sort of thing (thanks to series such as Victorian Farm and Edwardian Farm).  As with all popular historians they are enthusiastic and engaged, although they also manage to impart a great deal of factual knowledge.  In addition, they delight in attempting many tasks both directly and indirectly connected with the railways.  Driving steam engines is clearly great fun, whilst some of the other jobs are harder and much more labour intensive (a reminder that the railways only came into being thanks to the sweat and toil of tens of thousands of workers).

It’s sobering to stop and think just how disconnected Britain was before the railways.  Since there was no easy way to transport bulky goods and materials around the country, it was perfectly normal that everything a person owned would have been made within, say, a ten mile radius of their home.

The age of steam (and mass production) brought an end to this way of life and created the consumer society.  Now people were able to buy the same goods anywhere in the country and many local trades (thatchers, wheelwrights) began to die out.  When Ruth Goodman says that the steam age had a far greater impact on British society in Victorian times than the internet has in recent decades, it’s easy to see what she means.

Produced in association with the Open University, Full Steam Ahead runs for six episodes, each of sixty minutes duration. The narrator is Philip Glenister.

Episode One – Ruth, Alex and Peter begin their exploration of the steam age by learning how it shaped domestic life, from slate roofing tiles to coal fires.

Episode Two – Alex and Peter become navvys in order to understand precisely how the railways were built.  This episode also discusses how the first passenger trains came into being. I love the notion that it all happened after the railway owners spotted workers hitching a ride on the coal trucks. This created a lightbulb moment as they realised there might be money to be made from ferrying passengers about!

Episode Three – Another way in which the railways transformed British life is detailed here, namely diet.  Before the railways, the country was struggling to feed itself – the age of steam saw a culinary revolution.

Episode Four – Ruth, Alex and Peter take a trip on the most famous locomotive of them all, the Flying Scotsman, to understand how the railways facilitated the transportation and delivery of mail.

Episode Five – Life on the railways before Dr Beeching is looked at, whilst Ruth examines the work of the GWR prosthetic limb department.

Episode Six – The series concludes with an examination of how cheap rail travel opened up freedom of movement for working-class Victorians.  No longer tied to the city or towns where they lived and worked, they could now venture further afield.

Apart from being a visual treat, Full Steam Ahead can also be used as a stepping stone for further learning.  The Open University’s webpage has further reading materials, as well as the chance to obtain a free double-sided poster detailing many of the aspects from the programme.

The DVD includes two special features – a ten minute behind the scenes documentary and a photo gallery.  All episodes are subtitled.

Full Steam Ahead is a fascinating series and comes warmly recommended.  It’s released by RLJ/Acorn on the 5th of September 2016.  RRP £19.99.

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The Mrs Merton Show – Series One

archivetvmusings BBC Comedy - 1990's , ,

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Mrs Merton made her first television appearance on Anthony H. Wilson’s gameshow Remote Control back in 1991.  Caroline Aherne clearly felt that the character had potential, although it took several pilot programmes before Mrs M landed herself a full series.

The first pilot from early 1991 wasn’t broadcast (since there was no studio audience it seems to have been produced simply as a test production).  The second pilot was broadcast on the 5th of December 1993 and was followed by a series in 1995.

From the original pilot, the format was firmly in place.  Mrs Merton was a sweet-looking elderly lady (albeit played by thirtysomething Aherne) who took advantage of her unprepossessing appearance to ask the questions that no other chat show host (apart from maybe Dame Edna) would dare to.

Mrs Merton set out her stall in the first very episode of series one, by asking Debbie McGee “what first attracted you to the millionaire Paul Daniels?”.  Voted the second best TV one-liner of all time, it gave her guests an early idea about what to expect if they ventured onto her sofa.  This didn’t deter them though, as across five series (including a trip to America) she netted a wide cross-section of stars.

Today, some are still very much in the public eye, some (like Aherne herself) are sadly no longer with us, some are forgotten, whilst a few (Dave Lee Travis and Fred Talbot from the first series, for example) are very much persona non grata.  Indeed, Travis’ Mrs Merton appearance continues to haunt him.

Another feature of the series is the audience of regular faces, all arranged behind Mrs Merton and the sofa.  Many of them would feature regularly (“let’s have a heated debate”) and the guest-list was cut from three to two from the third series onwards partly to accommodate more chat between Mrs Merton and the (genuine) octogenarians in the audience.

Dave Gorman was one of the series writers and on his website he briefly described how the show worked.

From 1994 to 1997 I was one of the four writers on The Mrs Merton Show. What a ridiculously giddy time that was. The show moved from a late night BBC2 slot to being a big award winning BBC1 show. The gold-standard lines that people still quote were almost always written by Caroline Aherne herself. Looking back on the situation I reckon I was a very lucky 23 year old. A brilliant way to learn a lot about writing. It’s sometimes described as a “spoof chat show” but it was no such thing. It was a real chat show with a spoof host. The team won BAFTAs two years running. Best Entertainment Series in 1996 and Best Chat Show in 1997.

The best encounters are those where there’s some give and take between Mrs Merton and the guest.  If her baiting is simply too merciless then it becomes monotonous.  And although all of Mrs Merton’s barbed questions were firmly scripted beforehand, her victim’s replies weren’t – so Aherne had to be adept at ad-libbing.

There’s some very entertaining encounters during the first series.  Kriss Akabusi hardly lets her get a word in edgeways, but his steam-rolling approach makes for wonderful television.  She does have the odd incisive question though, such as “do you have to plan your tactics before the race or do you just try and run faster than the other blokes?”

Mrs Merton’s encounter with Steve Coogan is great fun.  Pressed to deliver some impressions, such as Frank Spencer, he gamely agrees and also has time to discuss how a series with a fictional chat-show host is a good idea (Knowing Me, Knowing You had just finished airing).

Equally as good value is Cynthia Payne, whilst others (such as Mandy Smith) are less satisfying, mainly because Smith is never really able to give as good as she gets, so it ends up as something of a one-sided affair.  Mrs Merton’s encounter with Mary Whitehouse is also a disappointment.  On paper it sounds like a great idea, but Whitehouse (clearly not in the best of health, since the interview was recorded at her home) seems rather disconnected from proceedings.  The whole interview seems to have been set-up so that Aherne can deliver this final one-liner.  “When you retire, do you think they’ll put up a statue of you? If they do, it would be the first erection you’ve not complained about, wouldn’t it, Mary?”  There’s little reaction from Whitehouse, except that she seems to regard the comment as a flattering one.  So either Mary still had the driest of dry wit or we’ve just witnessed a rather cruel taunting of an elderly lady.

This was very much the exception though as most of the other interviews are much jollier.  As I’ve said, they’re not all hits, but there’s still a very decent strike rate.  It was certainly good enough for a second series to be swiftly commissioned, which would see Mrs Merton have some of her most memorable encounters (Jo Brand, Chris Eubank, George Best, Germaine Greer and Des Lynham, amongst others).

Steptoe & Son – The Bird

archivetvmusings BBC Comedy - 1960's , , , , ,

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Following the Comedy Playhouse pilot broadcast in January 1962, The Bird (original tx 14th July 1962) was the first episode of Steptoe & Son proper.  As in the pilot, Harold wishes to break free of the stifling life he leads with his father (here it’s because he’s got a “bird”) whilst Albert (borne out of a fear of being left alone) subtly manipulates his son so that their status quo isn’t disturbed.

The Bird has a very stage-like feel (the opening scene between Harold and Albert lasts for eighteen minutes).  Thanks to the excellent scripting by Galton & Simpson (there’s plenty of funny lines, but many dark ones as well) and the performances of Wilfred Brambell and Harry H. Corbett this isn’t really noticeable.  The eponymous bird (played by Valerie Bell) makes a very brief appearance at the end, but The Bird is pretty much a two-hander between Steptoe & Son.

The needle that exists between father and son is re-established right from the start.  After an argument about whether Harold’s done everything for the night (put the horse to bed, closed the gate, etc) their conversation turns to WW1 and WW2.  Harold fought in WW2 whilst Albert tells an incredulous Harold that he was mortally wounded in WW1.  “How could you have been mortally wounded? If you’re mortally wounded, you snuffs it!”

Harold attempts to take Albert’s trousers down to have a look at his war wound, but Albert resists.  The old man threatens that he’ll hit his son if he doesn’t stop larking about, which gives Harold pause for thought.  “Used to wallop me about a lot, didn’t ya? A big fella weren’t ya? When I was seven!”

Harold then recounts his bleak life.  On the cart when he was twelve, in the army for four years and then back on the cart.  He’s now thirty seven and that’s all he’s ever done.  When Albert attempts to stem this bitter tide by appealing to their father/son bond, Harold remains downbeat.  “When was I ever a son to you? Cheap labour that’s all I was”.

After Harold tells his father that’s he’s going out again, Albert is curious and worried.  Any change to their settled domestic life concerns him, and although he threatens to put himself into an old people’s home the next day (since he feels that Harold is neglecting him) it’s plain this is an empty threat.  If he was expecting Harold to react, then he’s sorely disappointed.

Albert’s astounded that his son is having two shaves in one week, although when he learns that Harold’s meeting a bird it all becomes clear.  One of the bleakest exchanges (albeit one that still generates a good laugh from the audience) occurs when Harold, sensing how his father disapproves of his plans, offers him his razor for a quick way out.  “Oh, you poor old man. You ‘aint got nothing to live for, have you? Here, cut your throat. Put yourself out of your misery! No, go on take it, have a go. It don’t take long. It don’t hurt!”  Who said edgy comedy was a relatively new concept?

That Albert is dependent on Harold is once again made clear when his son gleefully mentions some of his father’s less than stellar purchases (an Elizabethan Cocktail Cabinet and a Georgian Record Player for example).  His lack of judgement, together with his failing health (although we’re never sure whether this is genuine or not) are both strong hints that he regards Harold’s bird as a threat.  What would happen to him if Harold and his bird decided to set up home somewhere else?

So this means that Albert’s next suggestion (“bring her ‘ome to dinner”) is a surprising one.   Albert’s clearly been thinking about this for a while – get the good chairs in from the yard, fish and chips from the chip shop, knives and forks and a jar of gherkins.  How could any bird not fail to be impressed?

Shortly after, Harold gives his bird a name for the first time – Roxanne.  The audience reaction to this is quite telling, clearly nice girls weren’t called Roxanne in 1962.  Albert’s re-appearance – all smartened up – delights the audience, although Harold, after making a closer inspection, is disgusted.  “Ugh! You dirty old man! You ‘aint washed yourself, have you. You done yourself up and you ‘aint washed yourself”.  He deals with Albert’s filthy neck by rubbing a bar of soap on it and dunking him into the sink.  Brutal, but effective!

Roxanne’s an hour late, and Albert skilfully plays on Harold’s increasing anger and disappointment.  When she finally turns up, Harold’s in such a state that he turns her away and tells her to never come back.  Albert approves.  “We don’t want no women here, we’re better off by ourselves”.  This just leaves the punchline – Albert moves the hands of the clock back an hour (so Roxanne wasn’t really late at all).

For me, the 1960’s black and white Steptoe & Son is king.  When it returned in the 1970’s in colour there were some great episodes (Divided We Stand, Porn Yesterday, The Desperate Hours) but it never felt quite the same series. The bleakness and bite had somewhat gone and it was rather less subtle.  There are plenty of gags in The Bird, but it’s also brutal in many respects.  Bearing in mind that this was made in the early 1960’s, it’s plain that Steptoe & Son is absolutely key to understanding the development of British situation comedy.  Steptoe & Son demonstrated that you could mix light and dark (a lesson that many other sit-coms down the decades would take to heart).

But The Bird, and the other episodes from the early series of Steptoe & Son, aren’t just curios from another age – they still amuse, entertain and sometimes shock.  It’d be lovely if BBC4 repeated them – but due to their black and white nature that’s sadly not terribly likely.  If you haven’t got the boxset then you should add it to your collection.  True, the quality dips a little later on, but it’s still an essential series.

Hancock’s Half Hour – The Missing Page

archivetvmusings BBC Comedy - 1960's , , , , ,

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If I had to choose a single episode of Hancock’s Half Hour which embodied the spirit of the series, then The Missing Page would be at the top of the list.  Tony was often portrayed as a frustrated intellectual – and this self-delusion is touched upon here.  He claims that he only reads trashy pulp novels in-between tackling heavyweight fare such as Bertrand Russell.  It’s possible to doubt this statement, although Galton & Simpson later develop the theme in The Bedsitter, where we do see him tackle a bit of Bert (albeit not terribly successfully).

Tony’s frustrated with the books on offer at the local library.  He tells the librarian (played with long-suffering irritation by a HHH regular, Hugh Lloyd) that he’s checked out everything they have (“I’ve read Biggles Flies East twenty seven times!”).  This isn’t quite the case though, as there’s one book – Lady Don’t Fall Backwards by Darcy Sarto – that’s passed him by.

G&S preface his retrieval of the book (it’s out of reach on the top shelf) with a nice literary joke.  Tony asks the librarian for a number of heavyweight intellectual books and the librarian – clearly impressed – hurries off to find them.  It’s a little contrived that all these obscure books are on the same shelf, but let’s not quibble about that.  Tony’s delighted and uses them as a footstool to retrieve Lady Don’t Fall Backwards!

The sudden arrival of Sid stuns Tony (“you’ve never read a book in your life. You’ve run one, but you’ve never read one”).  This leads into my favourite scene in the episode, indeed one of my all-time favourite Hancock moments.  We’re in the era where it was considered bad form to speak in the library, so more HHH regulars (Alec Bregonzi, Johnny Vyvyan) take turns to shush him.  This is a bit of a problem, as Tony’s keen to tell Sid about another exciting book he’s recently read, so he decides to act it out as a mime.

By the end, both Sid and Peggy Ann Clifford (yet another HHH regular) can’t hide the smiles on their faces.  Was this as scripted or simply a spontaneous reaction?  I’d assume the latter, as it’s such a joyous couple of minutes.

Although G&S have never been regarded as intellectual writers, they continue to slip in some sly literary gags,  one such concerns the formulaic nature of crime fiction.  Tony’s entranced by the book (“good? This is red hot, this is, mate. Hate to think of a book like this getting in the wrong hands. Soon as I’ve finished this I shall recommend they ban it”) and can’t wait to find out who the murderer is, although he reacts with scorn when Sid suggests he simply turns to the final page.

This exchange roots the book firmly in the golden age of detective fiction, a period when crime novels were an intellectual puzzle with everything neatly wrapped up in the final few sentences.  Tony’s also very taken with the book’s hero, Johnny Oxford, telling Sid that from now on he’s switching his allegiance from the Saint to Johnny.  Despite his name, Johnny’s not an English detective, he’s a hard-bitten American PI.  The later revelation that the author, Darcy Sarto, was a British writer seems to be another gag – inferring that the ridiculous and artificial nature of the story (with suspects dropping dead at regular intervals) can be taken even less seriously when it’s learnt that the author had possibly never even been to America.  Was he maybe modelled on James Hadley Chase, a British-born writer who adopted American themes very sucessfully?

Tony shares several nuggets of information about the twisty plot with us.  One of the funniest is the revelation that a trail of footprints in the snow from two left shoes was an error on the part of the murderer (he’d put on a pair of shoes to lay a false trail, but hadn’t realised they were both left ones).  This disappoints Tony. “I was waiting for a pair of one-legged twins to turn up.”

As the title suggests, the final page in the book is missing.  Tony’s distraught – he really, really needs to know the identity of the murderer.  He decides to turn detective himself and re-examines all the suspects (as does Sid).  Neither are successful, so they attempt to find the man who had the book out before them.  They finally track him down (a nice turn by George Coulouris) but he’s no help.  The page was missing when he had the book and he’s spent the last six years in agony, not knowing either!

The mystery is solved in the British Museum, but it doesn’t cheer Tony up.  It’s a nice punchline though and brings to an end another excellent episode of HHH.

 

Treasure Island (BBC, 1977) to be released by Spirit Entertainment – 21st November 2016

archivetvmusings Forthcoming DVDs , ,

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I’m delighted to hear that the 1977 BBC adaptation of Treasure Island, starring Alfred Burke as Long John Silver, will shortly be available on DVD from Spirit Entertainment.

Adapted by John Lucarotti, directed by Michael E. Briant and produced by Barry Letts, this has a cast to die for.  The likes of Talfryn Thomas, Patrick Troughton, David Collings, Jack Watson, Anthony Bate, Terry Scully, Stephen Greif, Thorley Walters, Richard Beale, Edward Peel and Brian Croucher all feature.

It’s due to be released on the 21st of November 2016 (pushed back from the original release date of early October).

World War Two: 1942 and Hitler’s Soft Underbelly – Simply Media DVD Review

archivetvmusings BBC Documentaries, Simply Media , , ,

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In 1942 and Hitler’s Soft Underbelly, Professor David Reynolds re-examines the North African and Italian campaigns of WW2.  He starts by posing a question.  “Why did we and the Americans spend a lot of the Second World War in the Mediterranean, rather than crossing the Channel?”

If the main battleground was Russia, they surely the next key area was to be found in occupied Europe – so why was Churchill obsessed with campaigns in North Africa and Italy?  Reynolds is able to produce a number of convincing arguments.  As a man of Empire, Churchill understood the importance of Egypt – if the Suez Canal was lost, then Britain faced ruin.  But there were also more pragmatic reasons – neither the British or the Americans had the capability to launch a full-scale assault across the English Channel and into France in 1942.  But Churchill needed a victory, any victory, in order to shore up morale.

Given that defeat had already followed defeat for the British since 1939, another failure (he envisaged a bloodbath of the scale of the Somme if they attempted a landing in France) might have spelled the end.  Possibly not for the British war effort but certainly for him as leader, as the likes of Sir Stafford Cripps and Anthony Eden were circling.  The perilous state of Churchill’s own personal standing during this period is a matter of historical fact, but since it often gets overlooked it’s an interesting area to explore.

So once Monty scored a victory at El Alamein, Tunisia and Italy began to look like tempting prospects – offfering the British and Americans chances to score what should have been easy victories.  Surely Hitler would be too occupied with Russia to be able to adequately defend these theatres of war?

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It wasn’t to be and Reynolds declares that Churchill’s bright idea would become a dark obsession.  Partly this was because Churchill underestimated Hitler, but the British prime minister also received faulty intelligence.  The work of the codebreakers at Bletchley Park has become well known during the last few decades, but Reynolds shows that they weren’t infallible.  Often this was because they didn’t have access to the top level of German high command and given the chaotic nature of the German command structure (thanks to Hitler’s knack of micro-managing) the information they received, whilst not deliberately inaccurate, wasn’t correct either.

David Reynolds is an engaging guide.  You get the sense that he relishes being away from his day job (as a professor of International History at Cambridge) and that he also enjoys throwing some quirky scenes into what otherwise might be a fairly dry viewing experience.

He opens the first episode with a fairly conventional piece to camera, except that he’s walking along a beach, his trousers rolled up and the waves lapping at his feet!  He also can’t resist doing the voices of the various players (his conversation between Monty and Churchill is one such amusing moment) and another comic touch occurs when he describes an interesting meeting between Churchill and Roosevelt.

Churchill was a guest in the White House and, returning to his bedroom after a visit to the bathroom, was slightly surprised to find the president in his room.  Dressed in only a towel, Churchill told Roosevelt that “the Prime Minister of Great Britain has nothing to conceal from the President of the United States” and promptly dropped the towel.  Reynolds re-enacts this scene although thankfully he was fully clothed.

The occasional moments of levity don’t detract from the fact that Reynolds is an authoritative historian who seems to delight in reaching out to a wide audience.  Across the two 45 minute episodes he’s able to succinctly sketch out all of the key points from this period of the war, sometimes offering a fresh outlook on familiar topics (but always giving well argued reasons for his statements).

A ninety minute television documentary can never hope to have the same scope as a reasonably detailed book (and Reynolds’ own writings are recommended for those who want to dig a little deeper) but 1942 and Hitler’s Soft Underbelly (like his other documentaries available on DVD – 1941 and the Man of Steel and Long Shadow) are all fine examples of popular history documentaries.

1942 and Hitler’s Soft Underbelly is released by Simply Media on the 5th of September 2016.  RRP £19.99.

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Casualty

archivetvmusings BBC Drama - 1980's, BBC Drama - 1990's ,

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It’s slightly staggering to realise that Casualty has been running for thirty years (just exactly where have the last three decades gone?).  It’s longevity is quite an achievement, as is the fact that it still pulls in a regular audience of around five million, but it’s fair to say that whilst it’s become a British television institution, the series has ended up as television wallpaper (myself, I bailed out as a regular viewer some twenty years ago).

This wasn’t always the case though – when it started in 1986, Casualty was a show that burned with crusading zeal.  Jeremy Brock and Paul Unwin were inspired to create the series after they’d both been hospitalized.  Brock and Unwin were dismayed with what they found – doctors and nurses crushed under an unforgiving system, battling too much bureaucracy and having to work miracles with too little money.

This came over clearly in their series pitch and helped to reinforce just how polarised the 1980’s were.  For many people it was a simple choice, you were either for Margaret Thatcher and her policies or against.  Casualty was firmly against and politics would feature heavily in the first few series, thanks in part to the young firebrand Charlie Fairhead (Derek Thompson).

Just as Casualty’s rough edges have been smoothed off over the years, so have Charlie’s (which makes revisiting the first series something of an eye-opener).  Medical dramas had been a staple of television for decades (Emergency Ward 10, General Hospital, Angels) but the early Casualty episodes offered the audience a glimpse into a more visceral and politicised medical world.

This biting agenda couldn’t last and by the early 1990’s the show had already begun its transformation into a more conventional soap opera.  A sign of how comfortable Casualty had become by the time it celebrated it’s tenth anniversary is demonstrated by comparing its mid 1990’s output against Cardiac Arrest (1994 – 1996).  Written by Jed Mercurio, Cardiac Arrest is the blackest of black comedies – it has something of the feel of early Casualty, but Mercurio pushed further to create a nightmarish vision that uncomfortably might very well be true.  Mercurio’s status as a former doctor suggests that he knew exactly where the bodies were buried.

This weekend’s thirtieth anniversary episode, Too Old for This Shift, had a stunning set-piece stunt although for impact it didn’t rival Boiling Point (original tx 27th February 1993).   Maybe it was a different era, but when a gang of disaffected youths decided to firebomb the A&E department for no good reason it touched a nerve amongst sections of the viewing public (the debate seemed to resonate for a while).

It might not be the series it once was, but the fact it remains as one of the fixed points in an ever-changing television age is reason enough to celebrate.  Happy Birthday Casualty.

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Grange Hill. Series Seven – Episode Eighteen

archivetvmusings BBC Children's Programmes - 1980's ,

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Written by Barry Purchese.  Tx 2nd March 2016

It’s the end of term and a disco has been organised, but the news that the music’s going to be provided by Glenroy strikes fear into the hearts of many.  Glenroy likes very heavy reggae – so with his impressive sound system (Sir Lord Glenroy indeed!) the evening promises to be loud if nothing else.

Pogo’s also on hand with a selection of discs, but will Glenroy allow him the use of his equipment?  Poor Mr McGuffy draws the short straw and scuttles off to speak to him.  Unsurprisingly he doesn’t pluck up the courage but Suzanne turns up later and is more successful.

Elsewhere, Claire’s in a very stroppy mood and the hapless Stewpot is in the firing line.  He can’t seem to do anything right – not even buttering a piece of bread – which seems to be another hint that their on/off/on relationship might be heading for more stormy waters.  Check back next series for some surprising revelations …..

Jimmy McClaren, resplendent in a white suit, seems to be back on the side of the angels again – he’s concerned that Gluxo’s planning something.  A fight maybe?  Or simply absconding with the door money?  Jimmy’s not sure but he elects to stay on watch, much to Nigel’s chagrin.  What’ll happen to all the talent?  Jimmy replies that there’s never any shortage of talent when Jimmy McClaren’s about.  There’s a chance to see his lady-killing skills in action later when he asks Precious if she’d like quick spin around the dancefloor.  She says “no” which rather deflates him (but he’s later reinflated when she changes her mind!)

This is the final episode for quite a few of the regulars.  Most of the class of 80/81 depart (only Claire, Stewpot and Precious return for the next series).  On the teaching side, Mr Keating, Mr McGuffy, Miss Gordon and Mr Howard all make their final appearances.  I’ll miss Mr Keating and Mr McGuffy, although Miss Gordon and Mr Howard haven’t really been around long enough to make too much of an impression.  It’s not impossible to believe that Miss Gordon was intended to return though, as Miss Booth (introduced in the first episode of series eight) isn’t a terribly dissimilar character.

Incidentally, the series-long gag of Mr Howard’s (and to a lesser extent, Mr Smart’s) pursuit of the fragrant art teacher concludes as she declines both of their kind offers to dance and chooses Mr Knowles as a partner instead!  So both Mr Smart and Mr Howard decide to head off for a drink.  Mr Knowles is another teacher who disappears (Chris Jury would be heading off to become Lovejoy’s sidekick).

If Mr Howard’s unlucky in love, then Zammo’s a little more fortunate and is relived to find that Jackie still loves him.  She’s also on hand to break the news that the boys helping behind the bar come from Brookdale and not (as they claimed) Rodney Bennett.  Ah ha, this obviously means they’re up to no good.  Gluxo pops up to taunt Zammo about Jeremy’s death and Jimmy’s on hand to express his displeasure at such a low remark and is also able to exact a suitable revenge (which reveals where the missing bar money ended up).

With Pogo on the decks we get a snapshot of mid eighties pop (Duran Duran, New Order, Thompson Twins) ending up with Spandau Ballet’s True –  a chance for everybody to get just a little closer.  The most delightfully awkward moment comes when Mr McGuffy (no doubt out of a sense of politeness) asks Mrs McClusky if she’d like to dance, just as the record changes to True.  The look on both their faces makes it clear that they’d sooner be anywhere else but dancing together, but the pair bite the bullet and hold each other close (but not too close).

The Life and Times of David Lloyd George to be released by Network – 3rd October 2016

archivetvmusings Forthcoming DVDs , , ,

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This is another very welcome BBC Network title – due for release in early October.

Philip Madoc gives a career-best performance as one of Britain’s most revered, inspiring – and controversial – leaders in this celebrated BBC series. Scripted by BAFTA-winning Elaine Morgan with input from leading historian A.J.P. Taylor – and with famously haunting theme music by Ennio Morricone – The Life and Times of David Lloyd George paints a multifaceted portrait of a political icon who steered Britain through the First World War and its aftermath, and whose pioneering reforms laid the foundations of the welfare state.

Brought up in a remote Welsh village, on his way to the top Lloyd George inspires both hysterical adoration and an enmity bordering on bloodlust. A passionate social reformer, his struggle to lift the spectres of poverty and the workhouse provokes the ire of the political establishment, while his indefatigable womanising fills many a gossip column; his political dexterity as the Liberal prime minister of a wartime coalition government, however, raised him to a new level of power and influence.