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Post by Sam Tyler on Aug 2, 2018 22:50:34 GMT
Peter Dean is currently one of the 'celebs' on the BBC reality show 'The Real Marigold Hotel'. The only other time I've seen him on tv since Eastenders has been an edition of 'Pointless Celebrities'. If you fancy seeing him interact in India with Sid Little, Susan George, Stephanie Beacham & The Krankies, this is the show for you  Annie and our youngest are just watching that now on catch-up. I notice that Bo-Jo's father Stan is also on there and, credit where it is due, he looks in fine fettle for someone 79 years of age. Sam. |
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Post by Arthur Pringle on Aug 3, 2018 22:32:52 GMT
Stanley & Rachel Johnson both seem like nice types, Boris must be the black sheep. I don't think Sid Little will be starting a new life in India any time soon, he runs a pub about 10 mins away from me. What a ridiculous fuss he & Selina Scott made of that chicken being killed, how do they think meat ends up on their tables, they give the chicken a gun & it shoots itself?  Anyway, uncomplaining Jack Lynn seemed the sanest of the lot, I read that he's been a teetotal Buddhist for years, maybe that partly accounts for it. Or maybe that 'liquid cosh' he got in Law And Order is still doing the trick. |
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Three Litre
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Post by Three Litre on Mar 4, 2019 21:09:19 GMT
For anyone who hasn't seen Law And Order, buy it, it's a tv landmark. It was considered so problematic at the time for its depiction of the criminal justice system ( the police & courts are explicitly portrayed as institutionally corrupt ) that it wasn't screened again on tv until a few years ago on BBC4 which is the first time I saw it. I didn't take to it the first time I saw it, it's shot in a matter of fact manner, the acting is very naturalistic & there's no music or 'frills' about it, but when I bought it at a later date on dvd & watched it again I was impressed & disturbed by it. The last play in particular ( there are 4 interlocking plays ) is a brilliant piece of tv. Written by G.F.Newman & directed by Les Blair, they teamed up again for a similarly hard look at the NHS called 'A Nation's Health', again this is tv at its very best & is highly recommended. Its excellent but I remember being so depressed watching it with the way it depicts the whole system as being corrupt. |
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Post by Arthur Pringle on Mar 4, 2019 21:49:34 GMT
The first time I saw the first episode on BBC4 I found it depressing, in fact I think I turned it off. Years later I got the dvd & appreciated it more. It suffers from the same problem as 'Scum' in that it presents a jaundiced, one sided view, everyone is corrupt. Without any honest characters it suffers from being a bit caricature imo. This is also the problem I have with some of Ken Loach's films, they are too one sided & it can come off as unrealistic & dishonest. Not all police are bad, nor politicians, nor lawyers, not even crims.
On the other hand, if there had been light & shade in 'Law And Order' it wouldn't have been the bleak viewing it is.
Coincidentally I'm reading the novel version of Law And Order at the moment, it sticks pretty close to the tv version though there have been 2 quite grim sex scenes, one with Pyall & his wife, the other with Jack Lynn & his wife. Fair to say that GF Newman is a bit of a misanthrope & all apparently because a copper wrongly assumed he was stealing pears as a kid. He tells the story that a farmer gave him some pears, walking home with them in his lap he was confronted by a local bobby who assumed he had scrumped them, according to Newman the copper was brutal with him & left him with a hatred of the police & authority in general.
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Post by Dirty Epic on Mar 6, 2019 10:59:40 GMT
It's interesting that the novel had a few differences in the relationships Pyall and Lynn had with their wives compared to what got seen in Law and Order Arthur.
Pyall's Mrs is non-existent and seems a bit subservient to him and Lynn's wife is more equal and in a loving relationship with Jack which continues into A Prisoners Tale. I do understand why grittier drama like this can have a marmite quality too it. Personally I like this sort of stuff but always take with a pinch of salt what it shows and the message it's getting across - bias etc. Fully enjoyed seeing Ken Loach's I Daniel Blake recently but for me it doesn't detract the one-sidedness of a lot of his work as there's always an alternative point of view to why X, Y & Z exists. Still I fully respect and enjoy much of what he's done over the years.
A good example is the Austrailan four parter Bastard Boys I recently watched on Youtube which was about the 1990's docks dispute between the union (MUA), Patrick Stevadors and the Howard government who were allegedly in plot to remove union labour (wharfies) from the Australian docks. Yes it could well be biased but it's well worth a watch if you've not seen it. 
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Post by Arthur Pringle on Mar 6, 2019 15:24:20 GMT
Another sex scene, this time Pyall ( called 'Pyle' in the book ) visits the girlfriend of one of the crims he has in custody & gives her a charvering. The ages & appearance of characters differs from the tv version, such as the solicitor Alex Gladwell who is in his twenties & is not known to Pyle. Most of the dialogue is more or less the same, except there is very frequent use of the f word & c word. The novels were originally released in a series of 4 like the show itself, the version I've got from 1983 cost about £3 & has the 4 novels in one volume, 500 pages. The original novels with cover images from the show would be nice to have but they're quite pricey bought separately on ebay.
You read about the motivation & background of the characters in the novel, something the stripped down tv plays left out. Also in the tv version no one actually says 'what we're doing is wrong', the corruption is just a given. In the novel Newman makes a point of stating that Pyle & co. know exactly what they're doing & don't care, in other words he's passing comment on the morality of the police & criminal justice system, whereas in the tv show it's up to the viewer to do that.
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Post by Dirty Epic on Mar 7, 2019 8:12:16 GMT
Ah it's interesting that Pyall (Pyle) doesn't know Gladwell in the novel considering their thick as thieves in the dramatization. Also interesting as you say is it takes more of a moral/this is wrong/no one cares tone too. It also seems to make Pyall a bit more nastier/nasty piece of work than what he's like on the TV version. I think Derek Martin played him like someone who although wrong and totally morally corrupt he's just going along with it all as what he see's to him isn't wrong and is for the greater good - checks and balances etc.
Thanks for the heads up Arthur will have to try and get the novel, still I do like the ambiguous feel of the TV adaptation with no real morality and no sense of who is right, wrong and knowing what they're doing is wrong - the norm etc.
Something similar which is based on a real life tale of police corruption and much more extreme than Law & Order is the Australian mini-series Blue Murder (no not the Caroline Quentin tosh!) which follows the 'activities' of real-life alleged corrupt ex-cop and convicted murderer Roger Rogerson who is played brilliantly by Richard Roxbrugh. It details Rogerson's 'activities' in Sydney's Kings Cross CIB, his 'dealing's' with criminals like Neddy Smith and a whole host of other activities and skullduggery which makes Pyall look like Dixon of Dock Green in comparison. 
The original series was on Youtube but seems taken down... but the more recent follow up Blue Murder: Killer Cop is on there. It's well worth a watch - although I won't post a link to it on here as it's not for the screamish etc. Shame these aren't of a R2 DVD as I'd get them straight away and yes there's a bit of creative licence but the fact that generally much of it seems true makes it even more interesting. |
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Three Litre
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Post by Three Litre on Mar 8, 2019 21:27:05 GMT
I discovered this link on YouTube whilst searching for general London 1970s film and it's a corker but what is it from? This request should take no more than 8.3 seconds for some of the chief 1970s brains on here to answer. I've tried to whittle it down as Peter Dean (Pete Beale from EastEnders) is at the start driving the Jag MkII) and the only thing it looks like it could be is a four-part mini-series from 1978 called Law & Order. Enjoy the clip which has some great motors and 70s scenes. Like watching a season 4 Sweeney episode. Odd number plate on the Jag, 9276CR, tax due 2013. |
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Post by Arthur Pringle on Mar 9, 2019 0:11:31 GMT
Jack Lynn's car is described as 'an old 3.8 Jaguar in immaculate condition...one of the last models with real leather seats and walnut facia dashboard'. Not surprised it was still about in 2013 as Jack 'spent a lot of money maintaining it. There was no point having such a car if it wasn't kept up he felt'.
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Post by Gene Hunt on Mar 9, 2019 7:14:34 GMT
Did anyone also notice the green Cortina registration? PNO 549R. It is just 3 numbers off the yellow "crash through the glass" Cortina from Sweeney 2 PNO 546R.
PNO 549R also appears in Target.
PNO 548R (Silver) appears in The Sweeney episode Messenger Of The Gods.
PNO 542R (Blue & later Red) appears in 3 episodes of The Professionals.
PNO 536R (Yellow/Brown) appears in Target.
PNO 539R (Blue) appears in Law & Order.
Gene.
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