In 1977, there was a unpopular Labour Government in power, the economy was in bad shape, the Tories had a charismatic new leader, and Bruce Forsyth was on Saturday night television. Funny how things change, eh?
'1990' was a B.B.C.-2 drama set in a Britain where freedom is a myth and bureaucracy rules. Identity Cards are carried by citizens, and The Public Control Department ( P.C.D. ) watches over everyone at all times. It was the creation of Wilfrid Greatorex, a writer for whom I have a lot of respect, as he wrote episodes of 'Danger Man' and 'Man In A Suitcase' ( two of my all-time favourite shows ).
Edward Woodward starred as 'Jim Kyle', a crusading newspaper man out to undermine the authority of the P.C.D. He is alas smitten by 'Delly Lomas' ( the stunning Barbara Kellerman ), second-in-command at the P.C.D. Its chairman is Herbert Skardon ( Robert Lang ), a sneering villain who, if not quite 'Big Brother', certainly qualifies as 'Big Stepson'.
This episode - the second broadcast - continues a storyline begun in the first - 'Creed Of Slaves'. Dr.Vickers ( Donald Gee ) wants to leave Britain to take up a job in Arizona, but the Government rejects his application for an exit visa. Desperate, he turns to dissidents for help.
You would think that this could easily have been resolved in a single fifty-minute instalment, but Wilfrid strings it out to two. By the middle of the second, I had lost caring whether Dr.Vickers would ever get to sip Coca-Cola in the Arizona sunshine. He tells the authorities he wants to go because of his asthmatic daughter, but at the end only he escapes, leaving the rest of his family behind. Their fates are revealed in a later episode, entitled 'Witness'.
We never find out which party is in Government, but mention of a 'wealth tax' leads me to suspect it must be Labour. Of course taxing the rich and ensuring they pay their dues is not on is it? In today's world, immigration is regarded as a problem, but here its emigration that the writer gets steamed up about.
Words fail me as to how boring this is. It consists entirely of long, drawn-out scenes in offices where everyone talks constantly, without a trace of wit or anything resembling character development. You have not seen such a bunch of po-faced people in your life. Take it from me - 'Newsnight' is more fun.
When Kyle takes Delly ( what an odd name that is. Is it short for something, like 'Delphine' of 'Delbert'? ) out to dinner, and they go back to his place, you think "Great! We're going to get some naughty business!" but it never happens. Modern drama series cannot get the main characters into bed fast enough, so it comes as a shock to see an old one which has them behaving as though they live on Caldey Island ( a monastery off the coast of Tenby, South Wales ). The sight of Babs Kellerman in the buff would have gone some way towards making this interesting.
Woodward gives a solid performance, a bit too solid methinks. At times he looks as though he wishes he were back inside 'The Wicker Man'. Kellerman's Delly Bird is beautiful and haughty, but that's about it. Robert Lang's 'Skardon' is a clone of 'Number Two' from 'The Prisoner' T.V. series.
I have no objections to the political sermonising, it is just that I wish it had been done in a more subtle manner. George Orwell's 'Nineteen Eighty-Four' covered similar ground, but he told his story in an entertaining manner, unlike this. 'Author's Message' is plastered across every frame.
After two seasons, the show ended. Margaret Thatcher won the General Election in 1979 and as we all know Britain became a land of peace, prosperity and freedom. Interestingly, in the real 1990, 471 people were injured and 341 arrested in the poll tax riots, arguably the single greatest demonstration of public feeling the country has ever seen. Thatcher became so unpopular her own party booted her out later that year.
Paul Chapman, an excellent actor from 'Colditz' and 'A Bit Of A Do', is 'Randall', in charge of public surveillance, which basically consists of him staring at television screens. I hope he fired his agent soon after doing this.
The excellent theme music was by John Cameron ( no relation to David! ).
'1990' was a B.B.C.-2 drama set in a Britain where freedom is a myth and bureaucracy rules. Identity Cards are carried by citizens, and The Public Control Department ( P.C.D. ) watches over everyone at all times. It was the creation of Wilfrid Greatorex, a writer for whom I have a lot of respect, as he wrote episodes of 'Danger Man' and 'Man In A Suitcase' ( two of my all-time favourite shows ).
Edward Woodward starred as 'Jim Kyle', a crusading newspaper man out to undermine the authority of the P.C.D. He is alas smitten by 'Delly Lomas' ( the stunning Barbara Kellerman ), second-in-command at the P.C.D. Its chairman is Herbert Skardon ( Robert Lang ), a sneering villain who, if not quite 'Big Brother', certainly qualifies as 'Big Stepson'.
This episode - the second broadcast - continues a storyline begun in the first - 'Creed Of Slaves'. Dr.Vickers ( Donald Gee ) wants to leave Britain to take up a job in Arizona, but the Government rejects his application for an exit visa. Desperate, he turns to dissidents for help.
You would think that this could easily have been resolved in a single fifty-minute instalment, but Wilfrid strings it out to two. By the middle of the second, I had lost caring whether Dr.Vickers would ever get to sip Coca-Cola in the Arizona sunshine. He tells the authorities he wants to go because of his asthmatic daughter, but at the end only he escapes, leaving the rest of his family behind. Their fates are revealed in a later episode, entitled 'Witness'.
We never find out which party is in Government, but mention of a 'wealth tax' leads me to suspect it must be Labour. Of course taxing the rich and ensuring they pay their dues is not on is it? In today's world, immigration is regarded as a problem, but here its emigration that the writer gets steamed up about.
Words fail me as to how boring this is. It consists entirely of long, drawn-out scenes in offices where everyone talks constantly, without a trace of wit or anything resembling character development. You have not seen such a bunch of po-faced people in your life. Take it from me - 'Newsnight' is more fun.
When Kyle takes Delly ( what an odd name that is. Is it short for something, like 'Delphine' of 'Delbert'? ) out to dinner, and they go back to his place, you think "Great! We're going to get some naughty business!" but it never happens. Modern drama series cannot get the main characters into bed fast enough, so it comes as a shock to see an old one which has them behaving as though they live on Caldey Island ( a monastery off the coast of Tenby, South Wales ). The sight of Babs Kellerman in the buff would have gone some way towards making this interesting.
Woodward gives a solid performance, a bit too solid methinks. At times he looks as though he wishes he were back inside 'The Wicker Man'. Kellerman's Delly Bird is beautiful and haughty, but that's about it. Robert Lang's 'Skardon' is a clone of 'Number Two' from 'The Prisoner' T.V. series.
I have no objections to the political sermonising, it is just that I wish it had been done in a more subtle manner. George Orwell's 'Nineteen Eighty-Four' covered similar ground, but he told his story in an entertaining manner, unlike this. 'Author's Message' is plastered across every frame.
After two seasons, the show ended. Margaret Thatcher won the General Election in 1979 and as we all know Britain became a land of peace, prosperity and freedom. Interestingly, in the real 1990, 471 people were injured and 341 arrested in the poll tax riots, arguably the single greatest demonstration of public feeling the country has ever seen. Thatcher became so unpopular her own party booted her out later that year.
Paul Chapman, an excellent actor from 'Colditz' and 'A Bit Of A Do', is 'Randall', in charge of public surveillance, which basically consists of him staring at television screens. I hope he fired his agent soon after doing this.
The excellent theme music was by John Cameron ( no relation to David! ).