Reviews

The theme tune to 'Sorry!' is quite exceptional. It was originally written for a soap opera about 'Sloane Rangers', the trust funded and upwardly mobile sect of London society that saw fit to dress country style in town and vice-versa. This series didn't make it to our screens but the signature music suited the premise of 'Sorry!' very well as the cyclical nature of the melody is a wonderful illustration of Timothy Lumsden's frustrating life. A slightly reggae influenced rhythm section chugs and pumps away as the melody is played on a sophisticatedly urban sounding electric piano with punctuation from what is either a wah-wah guitar or a synthesizer. The horns are obviously performed by the same musicians that did 'Pigeon Street' and the first 'Only Fools and Horses' theme tune. Ronnie Hazlehurst's typically classy arrangement is a good example of this man's devotion to his work although I don't know if he actually wrote the thing, I expect he did.

The show it's self was a very popular vehicle for Ronnie Corbett and it's interesting mixture of pathos and comedy was typical of the output of the BBC which, at this time, was the greatest television production company that has ever been known.

The music in 'Head' is it's selling point. 'Circle Sky', by Mike Nesmith, is a ragged, country tinged (naturally), slice of rock 'n' roll. At the end of the performance the group are literally torn apart by their fans. The version heard in the film is far superior to the sound-track album. 'Can You Dig It?' was cowritten by Peter Tork and it sounds as if he brought along one or two of his Buffalo Springfield pals to play on it. Even Davy Jones' number is inoffensive and it is filmed superbly. Mickey Dolenz sings a gorgeous song called 'As We Go Along' which is a wistful and ever so gently psychedelic ballad. 'Do I Have To Do It All Over Again' is a stab at an altogether heavier sound for the Monkees and it does possess an appealingly manic group performance. And of course there is Boyce and Hart's trippy update of the bubble-gum sound in 'The Porpoise Song', so good that it's heard twice in the film.

The songs are linked with dramatic scenes of differing quality. There is fashionable and obviously heartfelt outrage directed at Vietnam, which works very well. There is also gentle satire of 'the man' in all his guises. And the band spends a fair amount of screen time mocking their manufactured image and lack of self determination. It is ironic then that it is obvious that they were allowed to run amuck on this project.

This picture is easily as entertaining as 'Magical Mystery Tour', the Beatles' TV special that preceded 'Head' by a few months and, as was characteristic of the American scene compared with the British scene at this time, it has one or two serious points to make.

This is quite the best version of this over-rated fable due in great part to Peter Cushing's subtle and moving reading of Winston Smith. He was an actor of only a very few identities but he was very good at 'playing the text' which means that even the most fantastic tale is utterly believable and gripping.

Save for a few filmed inserts, this is a live performance and that also adds something quite magical to the piece. For once the story becomes a compelling adventure rather than the clumsy and misdirected polemic that it is sometimes staged as.

Subsequent versions have been grounded too much in designer's desire to create a 'nightmare world' in which the action takes place. In the 1980s version the impact of the 'message' is lessened by unconvincing filth and modish gloom. Here the barren sets and simple costumes leave more space for the action.

A little confusion may arise because Wilfred Bramble appears in two parts but in general, as was often was the case at the BBC, the low budget actually adds to the thing.

This film is one final glorious celebration of the 'Rock 'n' Roll Renaissance' of the preceding fifteen years. Utterly devoid of such dull things as 'substance', 'plot' and that most unappealing of values, 'credibility', 'Flash Gordon' is a long-form rock video loosely based around the story of a professional footballer who rescues a far distant galaxy from the tyranny of an evil overlord.

What one can see of the performances beyond the fantastic sets and imaginatively sexy costumes is entirely adequate and in some cases, superb. Peter Wyngarde (of 'Jason King' fame) who plays 'Klytus' the masked lieutenant of 'Ming the Merciless' is brilliant as is Brian Blessed. Both Ornella Muti and Melody Anderson are completely alluring and whole thing has a kind of cocaine charged sex appeal to it.

Talking of cocaine, Queen provide what is simply the greatest ever score for a science fiction movie. With thundering drums and heroically strident guitar and even little bursts of Freddie Mercury's remarkable voice the music in this film is almost it's raison d'etre.

After recently watching this film again I was struck with how much more entertaining it is than 'Star Wars'. Despite the fact that Sam Jones is dubbed (possibly with his own voice) he gives a much more convincing performance than Mark Hammil and all aspects of the design show that a greater imagination is at work. Of course 'Flash Gordon' wouldn't have been made if 'Star Wars' hadn't been such a smash hit and it would be impossible not to acknowledge the earlier film's originality and technical superiority. However I can't help feeling that all the fun is to be found in 'Flash Gordon'.

Flash! Aa-ah! He's A Miracle!

Monty Python's footballing philosophers sketch is a good example of the painful varsity guff that has been a part of British TV and radio right up until today's 'League of Gentlemen'. It isn't what Fry and Laurie do at all. They plough a completely original furrow of snatched conversation, admass and inane banter that forms an impressionistic picture of the most baffling and frustrating 'bits' of the British experience.

A collection of sketches and routines that could well baffle some foreign viewers who may not understand the love/hate relationship that most sensible Britons have with their country. For example, in mentioning the town 'Utoxeter' Fry and Laurie are able to throw the audience completely. One viewer may remember a trip to the town, another may never have been there but is able to wonder quite how unpleasant/pleasant it may be. Some will know that there is a race track there but know no more. And we all get to celebrate a name that is bound to be far more interesting than the place it's self. Don't let that put you off. Most of their material is more universal than this example implies. It's this kind of circular thinking that Fry and Laurie spend most of their time exploiting while also chucking in TV show pastiche, songs and quite a few traditional 'shop sketches' that simply leave Monty Python wheezing on the touch-line. What I mean is that random elements are seemingly clumsily adhered to tried and tested comedy formulae to create something quite striking and original.

It's not to everyone's taste but if you believe that stupidity and intelligence are the two vital sides of the comedy coin then this pair may be for you.

Made at the zenith of British television's golden period (mid-fifties to mid-eighties) this production is a restrained but gripping adaptation of Le Carre's book. With a sparse use of music and an uncomplicated directorial style the story unfolds gently before us. The pace is never forced and each revelation gently pulls in to focus as we move on to a final confrontation between ex-spy George Smiley and the traitor who he has been engaged to catch. 'Gerald the Mole' infiltrated MI6 (the 'Circus') at some point since the last war and he has sent many an agent to his capture or death.

Part of the appeal of this program is the obvious similarity to the real life stories of Soviet double agents Burgess, Maclaine, Philby and Blunt who undermined British intelligence after their KGB recruitment at university before the war. When they took up jobs in the secret service in 1945 there was very little in the way of security vetting so the story of a senior agent being a traitor rings so true.

These people make the crew of the Enterprise look like the craven, imperialistic, government stooges that they are. Blake's Seven have counted in their ranks a safe breaker, a white-collar fraudster, a political agitator ( and convicted paedophile!), a smuggler, a murderer, and a deserted soldier. They offer the only effective resistance to the 'Federation', the totalitarian regime that governs all with an iron fist.

The characters are never sure quite how much they can rely on each other and they make no attempt to hide the fact that theirs is an alliance of convenience even, on a couple of occasions, going so far as to attempt to kill each other.

This show is very hit and miss. Some episodes are torture by TV with slow stagy dialogue and little action or plot. But other stories are bristling with caustic banter and intriguing ideas. The final series and particularly the last episode have more chutzpah than almost 40 years of Star Trek product and the lack of special effects, which seems to bother some reviewers, takes little away from this highly innovative and entertaining series.

Episodes to look out for:

The Way Back, Seek-Locate-Destroy, Pressure Point, Gambit, Star One, Stardrive, Aftermath, Orbit, Blake.

One bloke says it's good, the other says it's crap.

Me? I say some bits are good and some bits are crap.

If you find Milligan's personality attractive then you will be able to let him take you on a ride through his imagination. Lots of Hitlers of course and coppers with flashing lights on their helmets (helmets like these were actually tested by the Coventry force in the 1960s!). Semi naked tarts and swarthy foreigners will do little to endear the show to the PC brigade and some of the material does rely on Spike cracking up for it's laughs but it still has a higher 'hit-rate' than Monty Python.

The 'Pakistani Daleks' sketch is something of a classic and it might even have a bit of a message if you consider Milligan's Indian upbringing.

Finally, if you see the video 'The Best Of Q' I advise you to snap it up. It's very good value and it gives a good idea of what the show is about. It contains some of the very best sketches and now Spike's conked out it might be hard to find in years to come.

Doctor Who used to be an alien who lived in a futuristic white time machine and often battled hideous green monsters or killer robots. He had a sarcastic sense of humour and however tricky the situation was he always seemed one step ahead of everybody else.

Now he is a tousle haired 'Hugh Grant' style faux English gentleman who seems to be constantly in fear of his own safety. He lives in a 'Bat-cave' style time machine and he fights a poofy version of the Terminator.

We must also keep in mind the fact that this super hero previously managed to deny himself some of the hottest totty ever to don a silver cat suit (Zoe) or sexy schoolgirl outfit (Romana). In this version he can't resist a quick snog with the first bit of skirt to show an interest.

Things America Is Good At:

Army and Navy, Rock and Roll, Trucks, Wine and Whiskey, Motion Pictures.

Things Britain Is Good At:

Special Forces, Pop Music, Sports Cars, Beer and Whiskey, Television.

I hope they aren't planning a new version of 'Blake's Seven'. Hold on, that isn't likely is it.

A standard 'Kitchen Sink' British drama goes bang when two nuclear missiles land on Sheffield.

There's no doubt that this film is a triumph on the criteria set by the BBC. It shows the destruction of Sheffield by nuclear war and it shows it very well.

Commissioned by the BBC in the full flush of Britain's nuclear paranoia (Ronald Reagan had recently opined that a nuclear war could be 'win-able') this film was the focus of many people's dread of a possible near future. Like the rest of my generation (see other comments on these pages) I was terrified at the prospect of nuclear attack although in living half a mile from RAF Strike Command I could have been assured that I would have been amongst the first in Britain to be vaporised. The director, actors and author of this play all fulfilled their roles with great aplomb. But were the BBC fulfilling their role in providing informative or entertaining content when they chose to capture and exploit the fears of a generation?

I believe that in commissioning this play, and considering the format in which it was broadcast, the BBC was solely exploiting the genuine distress that was prevalent at the time. This is a horror film and it serves no purpose other than to terrify. There is nothing wrong with a horror film of course but the BBC were unable to admit that all they were after was a few thrills. They loftily declared the piece to be a 'documentary drama' (a format that we have been cursed with ever since) and because they described it this way they absolved themselves from all criticisms of taste and indeed examination of the intent of the play which remains a mystery to me to this day. Nuclear war would be no fun at all? I know!

A few years before 'Threads' the BBC remade 'The Day of the Triffids' as a serial. It was a very smart production and it's bleak vision of life after the invasion of the killer plants was utterly terrifying. I look back fondly on hiding behind the sofa while I watched that show. Looking back on 'Threads' I can't help but feel like the victim of a cheap shot.

An appallingly stilted remake of a Will Hay classic (Ask A Policeman) featuring two comedians who look extremely uncomfortable outside the comforts of the TV studio or theatre. Compulsive viewing for anyone wishing to relive the nadir of the British film industry when TV tie-ins were considered a good investment. This film betrays it's limited budget in a number of ways particularly as it has the 'can't afford to wait for a sunny day' syndrome that adds a depressing gloom to so many British movies of this period. No laughs, no fun, nothing.

Quite the most stylish of the Hammer horror style product that was doing good box office in the early 1970s. A motorcycle gang decide to harness the evil power of their leader's family cult and return from the dead. Great humour is derived from the means by which the gang commit suicide, some of which are; hurling themselves, chained, in to a river, leaping from a tower block, riding in to an articulated lorry on the motorway and jumping from a 'plane. A few of the gang are buried on their bikes to the strains of a 'hippy' anthem sung by one of their number. Good performances from the incomparable Beryl Reid and the young Nicky Henson. This film was shot with a charming sense of fun and a healthy disregard for good taste. It is unselfconscious in it's dealing with teenage themes and obsessions and indeed the evil bikers would be seen as quite the romantic heroes to some movie goers of the time.