Mr Loveday (Andrew Sachs) is a lunatic who serves in the local asylum as 'secretary' and attendant to the more privileged inmates - one of which, Lord Moping (David Warner) prefers the wearing of black dresses and constant letters to the Pope to a meaningful relationship with his wife (Prunella Scales) and daughter (Fenella Woolgar).
This being a short story adapted for television, it has to be given some cinematic interest - here it is the other inmates chipping in at various points in the story, ghostly faces and voices appearing at windows and popping up in gardens. The unsettling atmosphere leads to a conclusion which you can see coming, but still find surprising. Good performances all round leave this short play satisfying and absorbing.
This being a short story adapted for television, it has to be given some cinematic interest - here it is the other inmates chipping in at various points in the story, ghostly faces and voices appearing at windows and popping up in gardens. The unsettling atmosphere leads to a conclusion which you can see coming, but still find surprising. Good performances all round leave this short play satisfying and absorbing.