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Post by Dirty Epic on Oct 4, 2016 21:01:53 GMT
I'm familiar with Jack Rosenthals The Knowledge and of course London's Burning. Didn't London's Burning start off as a one off play then get commissioned as a series ? Yeah remember the pilot in 1986 too Del. London's Burning like The Bill started off reasonably good and then tailed off in this case around the mid/late 90's when like The Bill it went a bit soapy and stuck around for a series or three too many. Interestingly they tried to relaunch it a decade or so ago in 2004 as Steel City Blues set in Middlesbrough, I never really watched so can't say if it were good or bad but IIRC it didn't really work.
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Post by Charles Bronson on Oct 5, 2016 19:18:28 GMT
I wish the BBC's drama output was one fraction as good these days. A lot of the programmes they make seem to be produced with an eye to foreign markets instead of their audience in this country, at least that's my view. Charles.
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Post by Charles Bronson on Oct 5, 2016 19:39:27 GMT
Just looked up Jack Rosenthal, I knew he was married to Maureen Lipman who acted in The Sweeney pilot Regan with John Thaw. He also wrote many episodes of the soap Coronation Street in it's early days. It's a pity he wasn't alive to write few episodes of it now, though he probably wouldn't bother.
Charles.
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Post by Arthur Pringle on Oct 8, 2016 19:42:49 GMT
Scum ( made in 1977 but first broadcast on 27th July 1991 )
Written by Roy Minton & directed by Alan Clarke, this graphic drama about life in a bortstal was made in 1977 but not broadcast until 1991 where it was buried at 11.45pm on BBC2 as part of an Alan Clarke season. BBC bigwigs, concerned about the catalogue of brutality & 'documentary like' style of Scum, considered it too problematic to broadcast. It was later re-made as a feature film in 1979 with some changes to the script & cast. The original PFT version's biggest difference to the film is the inclusion of a scene where Carlin, the borstal's 'daddy' played by Ray Winstone, takes one of the weaker trainees for his 'missus' ( ie. someone he can use sexually in lieu of a girlfriend ). Minton was outraged by the changes to the script for the film version & as a result had nothing more to do with Alan Clarke ( who according to Minton admitted to him that he had 'f***ed' the script ) until he visited him on his deathbed. Cheshire born Alan Clarke, who died from cancer aged 54 in 1990, directed 11 PFT's, one of which 'Funny Farm' ( 1975 ) also written by Roy Minton, is set in a psychiatric hospital & has much in common with 'Scum'. Clarke collaborated with Minton on other tv plays- 'Horace' ( 1972 ), which stars 'Regan''s Barry Jackson as a man with learning difficulties who befriends a troubled youngster & 'Fast Hands' ( 1976 ) about a young boxer. Fast Hands is available on Network's 'Plays For Britain' dvd & all Clarke's PFT's are available on blu ray & dvd as part of the recent BFI box set of his tv work. Here's an excellent article on 'Scum'- store.bbc.com/articles/scum-using-television-drama-as-a-blunt-instrument
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Del Boy
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Post by Del Boy on Oct 9, 2016 18:53:11 GMT
I've seen the film but never the play so I was interested to read the article. It's well worth hopping over there to read the back story of this PFT including details of the banning of the play.
Maybe there will be a repeat season of PFT's like the Totp showings.Even if it had a late night BBC4 slot it would make good viewing.
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Post by Arthur Pringle on Oct 13, 2016 17:29:15 GMT
Before Play For Today there was The Wednesday Play, a BBC slot for tv plays that began in 1964 & ended in 1970 when it was basically rebadged as Play For Today. 170 Wednesday Plays were made, of these only 76 complete programmes still exist. 3 Clear Sundays ( first shown 7 April 1965 )
James O'Connor wrote this play based on his own experience of facing the death penalty after being sentenced for murder, he was given a reprieve just 2 days before he was due to hang. The title comes from the Home Office ruling that '3 clear Sundays' had to elapse before a sentence of death & the execution itself. The play is directed by Ken Loach, then credited as Kenneth Loach. Loach, best known for the film 'Kes', directed 10 Wednesday Plays ( and 3 PFT's ) including 'Cathy Come Home' (1966) & 'Up The Junction' (1965). 3 Clear Sundays is available to watch on Ken Loach's youtube channel & will be of interest to Sweeney fans for its subject matter, use of criminal slang ( very rarely heard on tv in those days ) & familiar Sweeney chaps including Tony Selby, George Sewell, George Tovey, Eric Mason, Kenneth Colley, Ben Howard & Anthony Woodruff.
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Post by Del Boy on Oct 13, 2016 20:04:42 GMT
Really good find Arthur. That's a bit of a grim story. A young fool gets 6 months but then sticks one on a screw inside and hangs as you say its loaded with Sweeney faces and a bit of Dave from Minder as a screw.
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Post by Arthur Pringle on Oct 13, 2016 22:25:31 GMT
Yeah, the story is grim but the play is quite comic surprisingly & there are several songs sung by the various characters. Being a Ken Loach play I expected it to be an anti death penalty political piece, but it's more about there being no honour amoung thieves & what a cow his mother was. I had no idea but the death penalty in the UK actually still existed for certain offences until 1998, for piracy with violence, treason & certain military offences like mutiny. Up until 1994 there was a working gallows in Wandsworth Prison that was tested every 6 months! en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capital_punishment_in_the_United_Kingdom
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Post by Del Boy on Oct 14, 2016 11:23:53 GMT
I had no idea but the death penalty in the UK actually still existed for certain offences until 1998, for piracy with violence, treason & certain military offences like mutiny. Up until 1994 there was a working gallows in Wandsworth Prison that was tested every 6 months! en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capital_punishment_in_the_United_KingdomUnbelieveable. Who knew. I assumed it all went when the law changed in the 60's.
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Post by Arthur Pringle on Oct 14, 2016 13:44:16 GMT
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