 |
Executive Stress, The Fear, From A Bird's Eye View (in part) courtesy of Network DVD Good Morning, World 2010 Mike Spadoni. The Growing Summer based on the original TV Times article and programme description. All articles are copyright © Television Heaven or their individual authors where stated |
An unusual ghost story set in modern and Victorian times, 'Echoes of Louisa' was a somewhat darker than usual tale in the children's television drama strand. The tale begins in 1876 where 15 year-old Louisa Hallam (Amanda Kirby) is expectantly awaiting the return of her soldier brother, Anthony (Jeremy Nicholas). However, when her brother returns he strikes up a friendship with another girl, Allegra (Lucinda Bateson), sending Louisa into a jealous rage. The story then moves forward to 1981. Whilst exploring the grounds of historic Thornaby Hall in Rutland, Allie Burr hears laughter coming from the grounds deserted stables. At first she believes the Hall to be haunted, but Allie, an exact double of Allegra (a dual role for Bateson), soon becomes witness to the true-life events of 105 years ago as Louisa sets out in a cruel and pitiless manner to rid herself of the rival for her brothers affections. Ultimately, Louisa is doomed to fail and this sometimes-disconcerting tale ends with her falling to her death.
As strange as it may seem now, Archie Andrews was a ventriloquists dummy that first hit the big time on Radio! Operated by Peter Brough, Archie was the most popular radio personality of 1952, pulling in a phenomenal average of 15 million listeners. In 1951 a £1000 pound reward was offered for the puppets return when Brough had accidentally left him on a train. His show was also to give exposure to many up-and-coming stars of the time including Tony Hancock, Max Bygraves, Harry Secombe, Benny Hill, Beryl Reid and the 14-year-old Julie Andrews. There was also a fan club of around 250,000 children. 27 half hour TV shows were made for ITV, scripted by Ronald Chesney and Marty Feldman. Co-starring support came from Irene Handl and Dick Emery. Archie Andrews career was cut short when Peter Brough's father died and he decided to quit showbiz in order to run the families textile business.
With her five children now grown up, Caroline Fairchild decides to resume her former career in the cut-throat world of publishing. Against the wishes of husband Donald, also working in the industry, she takes up the position of Editorial Director for her old company, Oasis Publishing, in London. Little does Caroline realise that Oasis Publishing - part of an American conglomerate overseen by the megalomaniac Edgar Frankland Jr. - is poised to take over Donald’s employer, Ginsberg Publishing, and that Frankland takes a rather harsh line on married couples working together within his empire. Caroline and Donald’s solution is unorthodox, yet practical: they become an undercover couple, with Caroline using her maiden name and Donald steadfastly refusing the advances of female colleagues. The ploy seems to work - but there is one unpalatable aspect for Donald: he now finds himself taking orders from his wife...Two of British comedy’s most popular stars came together for this highly original and cleverly written series. Executive Stress featured Penelope Keith and Geoffrey Palmer (in Series One) as the middle-aged couple struggling to keep their marriage under wraps to protect both of their careers, a situation partly inspired by the difficulties faced by the wife of writer George Layton on returning to professional life after having had two children. This series reunited Penelope Keith - who brings what one reviewer described as ‘wit, finesse and touching vulnerability’ to the role of Caroline - and The Good Life’s producer, John Howard Davies. When Geoffrey Palmer decided to leave at the end of the first series he was replaced by Peter Bowles, who had partnered Penelope Keith in the hugely successful BBC series To The Manor Born. The series featured a theme song composed by Andrew Lloyd-Webber and Tim Rice, and performed by Julie Covington.
The business and private lives of the partners of a firm of solicitors was the background for this hour-long series which first appeared on Wednesday June 28, 1961. Robert Flemying & A. J. Brown played the senior partners, accompanied by Mary Kenton, Bernard Horsfall and Geoffrey Palmer in the principal roles as members of the fictitious solicitors' firm of Naylor and Freeman. The writers tried to make the cases as authentic as possible prompting the Law Society to remark: "For years we have been waiting for television to present a series like this." Series producer Jack Williams said: "Although most of the action takes place in the offices of Naylor and Freeman, there is no intention of turning Family Solicitor into a dull catalogue of legal procedure. This is a true-to-life series in which real people tackle real-life situations."
24-year-old Carl Galton represents a new kind of London gangster. In his relentless pursuit of wealth and status, signalled by luxury cars and designer clothes, Carl is brutally efficient and has scant regard for any traditional notions of honour. Following his brother’s death in an East-End bar brawl, his focus shifts from protection rackets in North London to the territory of the oldschool East-End ‘firms’ - and he is prepared to use any means necessary to establish dominance there. Acclaimed Edinburgh-born actor Iain Glen perfected a London accent for his stunning performance as the predatory, Armani-clad gang leader in this chillingly authentic 1988 drama from Thames’ Euston Films. Directed by the award-winning Stuart Orme and featuring an impressive supporting cast - including Susannah Harker (House of Cards), Jerome Flynn (Soldier, Soldier), Jesse Birdsall (Bugs) and Anthony Valentine (Colditz, Callan) - The Fear is a disturbing snapshot of a hidden London.
Studio-bound Children's drama series set in the Aztec period starring former Doctor Who Patrick Troughton; formerly the hero of millions - but here the villain of the piece. Emperor Kukulkhan (Tony Steedman) wishes to bring about the end of sacrifices and other barbaric practices much to the disdain of his High Priest, Nasca (Troughton), who is fearful of losing his own quite considerable powers in the process. He concocts a plan that will draw in Kukulkhan's daughter, Chimalma (Diane Keene), the boy Prince Heumac (Brian Deacon) and a servant boy, Tozo (Richard Willis). Nasca weaves a web of deceitful lies and manipulation which ends with Heumic being sent to the summit of the Pyramid of the Sun to be sacrificed. However, he manages to survive and when the second series aired (two years later) Nasca is still at his conniving best and this time has employed the services of an old witch, Keelag (Sheila Burrell), who claims she can help him in his nefarious plans with the aid of magic and sorcery. As if Heumac hasn't got enough to contend with his intended marriage to Chimalma is disputed by Xipec (Granville Saxton), Governor of the Gold Region who sets him a series of challenges in order to prove his worthiness. The implied violence and savagery in this teatime presentation wouldn't have been out of place in an adult series and the costumes were lavishly colourful and authentic, although Chimalma's wedding dress was designed by a competition winner in the children's magazine ‘Look-In.’
In the early days of television, America often "raided" radio for its best material to transfer it from the microphone to the camera. In a number of cases this proved a winning formula. One of the most popular radio shows of all time was Fibber McGee and Molly. Fibber was so called because of his tendency not so much to lie, but to exaggerate greatly. Most of the times he'd come up with harebrained schemes (like digging an oil well in the back yard) only to come back down to Earth with a bump. Fortunately for him his adoring wife Molly was always there to catch him and soften the fall. The radio series had a number of running gags such as Fibber's inability to tell a joke which was often followed by Molly's reprimand "T'ain't funny, McGee!" The line found its way into popular culture during the 1940s. The most enduring gag was The Closet - Fibber's closet was often opened to a loud cacophonous clatter of bric-a-brac as it rained down over his head. "I gotta get that closet cleaned out one of these days" was the observation once the racket subsided. "Fibber McGee's closet" became another popular catchphrase - this one synonymous with household clutter. Real-life married couple Jim and Marian Jordan played the leads but when it came to making the TV show NBC decided to re-cast. With younger actors Bob Sweeney and Cathy Lewis in the roles the series was launched on September 15, 1959. Very few of the actors in the TV series had had any part in the radio version. Fibber McGee and Molly, the TV version, completely failed to hit it off with the American public. Even the closet joke was not as funny when you saw it as when you heard it. With the TV series seemingly unable to recreate the flavour and humour of the original radio version Fibber McGee and Molly failed to limp on for an entire season and was cancelled by mid January 1960.
Fresh from a third-rate career in the music halls, forty-year-old Arnie Cole (Bob Hoskins) has turned movie pioneer, showing single-reel films in makeshift cinemas during the first quarter of the twentieth century. Arnie’s true ambition is to produce films of his own; but he is barely able to keep his creditors at bay as the head of a travelling company that screens movies in any available hall or store. The troupe includes Llewellyn (Fraser Cains), his girlfriend Letty (Sherrie Hewson) and his piano player Violet (Sheri Shepstone). Arnie's only chance at survival is to explore every possible source of financing, no matter whom he has to con. Clive (Andrew de-la-Tour), son of a department store owner, is a prime candidate. That is, until Arnie is introduced to Maud (Frances de-la-Tour), Clive's plain and snobbish sister, who takes one look at the hapless showman and declares, "He'll have the fillings from your teeth!" However, fate is about to deal Arnie an unexpected hand: The unmarried Maud has had the misfortune to get herself pregnant, and the would-be father has taken flight. So, in return for a promise of marriage and a father for her baby, Maud bankrolls Arnie's movie projects. This light-hearted, captivating series was created and written by sitcom veteran Roy Clarke (Keeping Up Appearances, Last of the Summer Wine) and won great critical acclaim in 1980 as well as a Primetime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Limited Series in 1982.
Based on the 1963 movie of the same name (which starred Chuck "Branded / The Rifleman" Connors and Luke Halpin), 'Flipper' was a clever dolphin who was always on hand (or fin) to help out Coral Key Park residents Sandy (Halpin) and Bud (Tommy Norden) and their father, Porter Ricks (Brian Kelly), who was Chief Ranger at the Florida marine reserve. Veteran Hollywood Western star Andy Devine appeared in earlier episodes as old salty sea-dog Hap Gorman, but was eventually replaced by Scandinavian Oceanographer Ulla Norstrand (Ulla Stromstedt). The Dolphin (real name Suzy), who helped Sandy and Bud through a series of adventures and out of a number of dangerous situations, was trained by Ricou Browning who had previously appeared under heavy make-up in the 1954 horror movie 'The Creature From The Black Lagoon.'
Crime and mystery series that starred Jack Hawkins (as British M.P. Ben Manfred), Hollywood song and dance man Dan Dailey (as US journalist Tim Collier -who was based in Paris), Richard Conte (as New York Professor of Law, Jeff Ryder) and Vittorio de Sica (as Italian hotelier Ricco Poccari) all of whom had been members of the same unit during the war. They took turns each week in tackling an injustice (the episode being set in either London, New York, Paris or Rome) and each was aided by a female assistant, one of whom was future 'Avenger' Honor Blackman. Based on a novel by Edgar Wallace originally published in 1905, this ITC series was really one of the first to throw together so many top ranking international stars and the series enjoyed a fair amount of success during its two year run.
Brian Worth starred as Francis Storm, former wartime Special Operations Executive who helped Resistance members in and out of France, turned private investigator of the unusual who lived and operated out of a mews flat in cobbled Kensington Palace Close. Storm could often be found ghost-hunting in a haunted cathedral, scouring London's docklands looking for smugglers, or trailing a secret weapon. Nothing, it seems, was beyond Storm's scope. Aided and abetted by his 17 - year old assistant, Robin (William Simons), an expert in microphotogaphy and fingerprints, secretary Penny (Sarah Long)- who also joined him on his investigations, and Sergeant Horace Pilcher (Robin Wentworth), ex Royal Marine who served as Storm's cook, handyman, driver, mechanic and "basher open of doors", Storm was written as, according to 32-year old scriptwriter Elliott Hayes, a modern-day Sherlock Holmes. The single series was aimed at children and was aired on Tuesday afternoons.
Actress, singer and comedienne Millicent Martin and American actress Patte Finley starred as high-spirited air stewardesses facing one dizzy dilemma after another in this rarely seen ITC series made in 1969. Martin played the well-meaning but dangerously impulsive Millie - whose heart invariably ruled her head - while Finley starred as Maggie, her anguished American colleague who knew that every trip would be a flight into the unknown. Their exploits caused endless consternation for long-suffering boss Mr. Beauchamp (Peter Jones), but Millie’s Irish uncle, Bert (Robert Cawdron), was always on hand to offer his unique brand of advice. From a Birds Eye View broke new ground for a TV situation comedy, for the first time pairing two established comediennes in an Anglo-American comedy series, funded jointly by Lew Grade's ITC company in the UK and Sheldon Leonard Productions in the USA where it was sold to NBC. Leonard a pioneering American film and television producer, director, writer, and actor who had previously produced The Andy Griffith Show, The Dick Van Dyke Show and I Spy to name a few. The series also boasted direction by U.S. comedy veteran Ralph Levy - whose previous work included I Love Lucy, The Groucho Marx Show and The Beverly Hillbillies and who had won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Comedy for The Jack Benny Programme. In spite of so much American influence From a Birds Eye View was shot in London and as a result it featured many British comedy character actors in guest roles - among them were Richard Briers, Clive Dunn, John Laurie, Arthur Mullard and Frank Thornton. When the series ended most of the production staff and writers were retained for ITC's next transatlantic cooperation; Shirley's World starring Shirley MacLaine.
Fleet Street was the setting for this ATV series, which took viewers into the fictional offices of a daily newspaper with a circulation of 2,500,000 readers, called The Globe. Made by Rex Firkin, who produced the successful series 'The Plane Makers' and starring London born actor John Bennett as Ray Boscombe, an ambitious, power-seeking newspaperman who was The Globe's editor. Most of the stories were seen through the eyes of two reporters, Danny Tarrant (Derek Godfrey) and Paddy Lucas (Harry Towb), the former being a persistent, unflappable character relying on smooth charm whilst the latter was a persuasive, argumentative and sometimes lazy journalist. Other notable's in this series were the Editorial Director played by Ivor Dean who was familiar to British viewers as Inspector Claude Eustace Teal in 'The Saint' and rival newspaper reporter John Brownhill played by a young Patrick Mower (later the impetuous killer Cross in James Mitchell's spy series 'Callan').
In order to make the series as authentic as possible many scenes were shot in Fleet Street itself (which at that time was the centre of the British newspaper industry) using a new outside broadcast one-camera technique called Monoculous. This single-camera unit was mounted on the roof of a vehicle that also contained sound and vision controls, together with a video tape recording machine. Dated by today's standards but quite innovative at the time.
Comic Ronnie Schell, who was a regular on Gomer Pyle, USMC, got his own series playing one-half of a morning radio disc jockey team. Schell was Larry Clarke; his partner was Dave Louis (Joby Baker), who spun the records and made jokes as “Lewis & Clarke” on a small Los Angeles station. Dave was happily married to Linda (Julie Parrish), while Larry was a swinging single closer to Austin Powers than Hugh Hefner. Veteran character actor Billy DeWolf played station owner Roland B. Hutton Junior, whose demands on guests, content and so forth made the lives of the two DJ's miserable. A little-known Goldie Hawn played Sandy Kramer, a gossipy neighbour of the Lewises. The show was created by Carl Reiner, Sheldon Leonard, Bill Persky and Sam Denoff—all of whom worked together on The Dick Van Dyke Show; it was based on Persky and Denoff's experiences in radio. Low ratings doomed Good Morning, World after one season. Schell returned to Gomer Pyle for its final season; Hawn soon after became a sensation on Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, and an Oscar-winning actress.
Popular fortnightly series resurrecting stage melodramas of the 19th century such as East Lynne and The Poor of New York. Hattie Jacques appeared in all seven episodes and her (then) husband John Le Mesurier also appeared. Peter Tuddenham who provided the voices of Zen and Orac on Blakes 7 made his small-screen debut and celebrated playwright Alun Owen had a bit part in one episode. The Granville Theatre in Fulham had previously seen performances by Victorian music hall stars the likes of Marie Lloyd, George Robey and Little Tich, but in recent years it had had its ups and downs. Bernard Delfont purchased the theatre in 1947 in the hope of a resurgence, after the war, of variety theatre. But it hadn't really happened. In 1955 Associated-Rediffusion acquired it as the first operational Independent Television studio. According to author Andy Merrimen in his book Hattie - The Authorised Biography of Hattie Jacques "The conversion of the Granville Theatre for use as a television studio was rather primitive, and apparently the stalls floor retained its incline, creating much difficulty for the technicians, who, on occasions would lose control of their cameras!" The Granville Theatre enjoyed 15 years of broadcasting and Opportunity Knocks was also broadcast from there. The theatre was demolished in 1971.
Alex, Penny, Robin and Naomi come home from school one day to find their predictable secure pattern of life completely changed. For the first time they have to think for, and look after themselves. Their adventures start on a plane to Ireland to meet "mad" Aunt Dymphna. Presented under the Heydey Theatre banner (Sunday's 6.15) The Growing Summer was based on a book written by Noel Streatfeild who wondered what would happen to a group of children if they were transported into an entirely different environment. Given the basic idea, plus the central character inspired by an eccentric old cousin, Miss Streatfeild was away with a story which Eric (Magic Roundabout) Thompson turned into a play. "It was a magical experience," said Wendy Hiller, who played the part of Great Aunt Dymphna. Talking for a TV Times interview in 1968 Hiller said "We went to south-west Ireland, to the country where Noel Streatfeild set her story about four children who spend a summer with their great aunt. "Sometimes I think it is a pity we did not make a film about the filming. For example, as great-aunt Dymphna I was supposed to drive a battered old open car. I am a very bad driver, which meant all the children used to sit in the back and tell me when to change gear. It must have been alarming for the tourists when they saw this wild old lady careering along with a load of children, and even more alarming when that same old lady leaned out and bellowed: 'Out of my way, road hog!' They weren't to know that was in the script." The children were played by Hoagy Davies (13), Zuleika Robson (12), Mark Ward (10) and Laura Hartong (9).
The longest running Western series on television (originally transmitted in the UK as 'GUN LAW'), starring James Arness, (brother of Peter 'Mission Impossible' Graves), as US Marshall Matt Dillon. John Wayne was the first choice of lead actor, and although he turned down the part he did introduce the first episode. Set in Dodge City in 1873, the other principal characters were Miss Kitty (Amanda Blake), Doc Adams (Milburn Stone) and limping deputy Chester (Dennis Weaver, later to star as TV detective 'McCloud'). Burt Reynolds appeared for a while as blacksmith Quint Asper and when Chester left in 1964 he was replaced by Festus Hagen (Ken Curtis). Arness wore the Marshall’s badge until he finally rode off into the sunset at the end of the second of two TV movies; -'Gunsmoke: Return to Dodge' and 'Gunsmoke: The Last Apache'- made in the late 1980's.
