An A to Z of UK Television Drama

After a longer break than intended An A to Z of UK Drama is back for the continuation of its second series, starting off the second half of the alphabet with the letter N and The Nightmare Man...

As the fog closes in on a remote Scottish island Andy and Martin are huddled by the fire remembering the time when there were many gruesome and mysterious murrrrrders and the local policemen endlessly downed whisky while on duty!

Starring James Warwick and Celia Imrie, and adapted by Robert Holmes and directed by Douglas Camfield - two legendary Doctor Who luminaries - The Nightmare Man should be a wonderful slice of drama but neither is entirely convinced by the end result, a 4-part drama that lurches uncomfortably between thriller, horror and science fiction.

Next Time: Orde Wingate

The year is 2003 and Earth's intrepid humans have managed to set-up several bases on the moon. There they face the implacable enemy that is the silence and darkness of space - a serious and apparently underestimated threat to the mental wellbeing of moonbase personnel...

Created by Doctor Who’s Barry Letts and Terrance DIcks this 6-part series from 1973 starred Donald Houston, Ralph Bates and Fiona Gaunt and had scripts from John Brason, John Lucarotti and Arden Winch. Moonbase 3 lacks Doctor Who's monsters and excitement and instead delights in technical details and psychological concerns. As such it is something of a hard SF curio which is widely regarded to be a misfire, even by Letts and Dicks themselves.

The big question is what will Andy & Martin make of it from the vantage point of 2023, some 20 years after its characters, with their very 70's attitudes, were meant to be surviving on the moon?

N.B. Having completed the first half of our second A to Z series, we are taking a mid-season break but will return in a few months with a drama beginning with the letter N...

Summer is finally here, so Andy & Martin are off on their hols to Crete to spend some time at Shepherd's Bar in Agios Nickolaos! Back in 1972 The Lotus Eaters was the flagship new BBC2 drama and the first of Michael J. Bird's quartet of Mediterranean-set serials.

Starring Ian Hendry and Wanda Ventham, the series focused on the failing marriage of Erik and Ann Shepherd and the lives and loves of the community meeting at their taverna. What no-one expects, including the viewer, is that Ann is a sleeper agent who is about to be activated, nor that despite this revelation such a development is not always going to be the focus of the show. Instead Bird's serial is about anyone who is running from something, looking for a place to start again and the threat that if you eat the fruit of the lotus you will never leave...

As well as Bird, the scripts were written by David Weir, David Fisher and Jack Ronder. The series was directed by Cyril Coke, Douglas Camfield, David Cunliffe and Viktors Ritelis, and produced by Anthony Read and Michael Glynn The Lotus Eaters was a new direction for UK TV drama which helped the package holiday market no end. Notably, it would find itself to be life imitating art, as Ian Hendry, just like Erik Shepherd, continued his battles with drink, love and life.

With numerous other excellent regular and guest actors - Stefan Gryff, Sylvia Coleridge, Thorley Walters, Carol Cleveland, Maurice Denham, Susan Engel, Timothy Carlton, Anouska Hempel, Godfrey James, Alethea Charlton, John Savident and Julia Goodman - this Cretan-set series is a fascinating exploration of love, motivation, trust, deceit and spying, with a large side order of raki.

So it's time to get you swimsuit on, slap on some lotion and get in the back garden. Put this in your ears for a couple of hours and float back in time to the Seventies.

Next Time: Moonbase 3

Following their Secret Army episode last season, here Andy & Martin tackle its spin-off Kessler. The pair agree that its a very different show to its parent, which doesn't always hit the mark, but nevertheless boasts some fine acting, especially Clifford Rose in the title role, and wonderfully intricate scripts from John Brason and Gerry Glaister.

6 episodes of absorbing drama take us from Germany to England to Paraguay in this continent spanning epic that was clearly inspired in part by The Odessa File and The Boys From Brazil.

Directed by Michael E. Briant and Tristan De Vere Cole, Kessler offers a memorable final chapter to the Secret Army story. The cast also includes Alan Dobie as Bauer, Nitza Saul as Mical Rak, Alison Glennie as Ingrid, Oscar Quitak as Josef Mengele, Nicholas Young as Franz Höss, Ralph Michael as Colonel Ruckert, Guy Rolfe as Yqueras and, of course, some cameos from Bernard Hepton, Angela Richards and Juliet Hammond-Hill.

Next Time: The Lotus Eaters

Why, why, why? Jemima!!! This month Andy and Martin plunge themselves head first into the poorly-made Thames drama Jemima Shore Investigates and probably wish that they had not been so curious about it. Andy gets off lightly though, having only watched 3 episodes and the far superior pilot Quiet as a Nun (as part of Armchair Thriller). Martin meanwhile watched it all and may never recover!

Despite some great guest stars including Tom Baker, Stephen Yardley, Norman Jones and Stratford Johns, the main series from 1982 has little to recommend it and has the worst sound production that Andy can ever remember hearing. Martin attempts to be a kinder reviewer and claims to have watched some entertaining episodes, but it is all relative!

Quiet as a Nun is a cosy 1978 thriller that would make the ideal watch at Christmas with Susan Engel, Sylvia Coleridge and Renee Asherson all vying for our attention, but the 12-episode series Jemima Shore Investigates is a bit of a ‘Hodge Podge’ from which even the divine Patricia struggles to escape.

If you want to hear many juicy and terrible Jemima-snippets and want to understand why we end up talking about a young River Song getting her ass whipped, or the relevance of Digby Chicken Caesar to a Jack the Ripper-themed murder mystery, then this is the episode for you.

Next Time: Kessler

This time Andy & Martin delve into Ngaio Marsh's Alleyn Mysteries which aired on the BBC in the early Nineties.

Having watched the 1990 pilot 'Artists in Crime' and a 1993 episode 'Final Curtain' they are able to compare the performances of Simon Williams and Patrick Malahide in the title role. Belinda Lang is thankfully a constant as his artist 'friend' Agatha Troy, as is the characterful William Simons as Fox.

While underwhelmed by the pilot, they are bowled over by the OTT Final Curtain especially due to the presence of Graham Crowden , Eleanor Bron, Michael Sheard and Michael Bilton and many more. Crowden even threatens to out-chew Soldeed here!

If you like your murder mysteries, campy, period and full of over-the-top artist or actor-y types this is the drama and podcast episode for you.

Their exploration meanders as usual as they also remember Moondial, M*A*S*H, 2 Point 4 Children and Victoria Wood Presents. There's even a guest appearance from Ru Paul.

We also have a question to ask you all, inspired by this episode: "Do you design for the theatre?'

Enjoy!

We return from our Christmas break for more of our second season of an A to Z of UK TV Drama...

We begin 2023 by looking back at the Granada mini-series Harry's Game. First broadcast in 1982, this hard-hitting drama is best remembered now for it famous end credits theme by Clannad, however, it has much more to recommend it.

Set during the height of The Troubles in Northern Ireland, the series follows British agent Harry Brown (Ray Lonnen) attempts to uncover and arrest an IRA gunman Billy Downs (Derek Thompson), while his nervy handler Davidson (Benjamin Whitrow) tries to keep him alive from back in England.

Written by former journalist Gerald Seymour and directed by Lawrence Gordon Clark, Harry's Game covers a bleak period of recent history and is a stark reminder of the fragile peace reached through the Good Friday agreement, currently under threat due to the self-serving machinations of Brexiteer politicians.

Andy & Martin find much to enjoy here but fail to resist the temptation to break into some 'Norn Irish', for which they can only apologise.

This month Andy and Martin review the 1989 adaptation of Oswald Wynd's novel The Ginger Tree, a 4-million pound co-production with NHK Tokyo and WGBH Boston. Starring Samantha Bond and Daisuke Ryu, this 4-part series tells the tale of Mary Mackenzie's experiences in Manchuria and Japan in the first half of the 20th Century, first as an unhappy wife and then, effectively, as a concubine to a Japanese Count. After her son is taken from her Mary finds some self-worth as a dress designer but the Second World War is about to change Japan forever...

Andy is rather surprised not to get on with this series despite having watched it on first broadcast and first-time viewer Martin too has misgivings. They agree that the subject matter is interesting but also that the way it is presented is not always compelling despite beautiful cinematography and several good acting performances, particularly by Samantha Bond.

Still they find more than enough here to encourage discussion of its key themes: the patriarchy and oppression of women; colonialism and nationalism; and suicide and death. Yes, not always the cheeriest series!

If you want to find out why its called The Ginger Tree you like the viewers of the series you have to wait some way into the podcast, but only you can decide if the wait is worth it.

Next Time: Harry's Game

Andy & Martin get their cock-er-nee on as they explore the London-set family saga Fox, executive-produced by Verity Lambert. Written by Trevor Preston (The Sweeney) and directed by Jim Goddard (Out) and boasting a stellar cast - Peter Vaughan, Elizabeth Spriggs, Bernard Hill, Rosemary Martin, Ray Winstone and many more - Fox was expected to be a big success but just did not catch the imagination of the ITV audience back in 1980.

Fox is a curious beast, with its ambition to be a sprawling epic despite only covering a period of 8 months and its incredibly off-putting musical content which really has to be heard to be believed. Its also a difficult watch in places principally due to its casual depiction of domestic violence and terrible treatment of its female characters. Achingly toxic masculinity aside, Fox also has a proto-Eastenders obsession with family and loyalty and yet is populated by characters who are much less engaging than those in Albert Square.

If you’ve never watched Fox we still invite you to hop in this televisual music-filled black cab to the East End of 1980 in order to muse in a pre-Brexit daydream why fings aint wot they used to be...

For those who appreciate wisteria and sunshine... an advertisement in a newspaper captures the attention of two constrained and unhappy women from the London of the early 1920s: Lottie Wilkins (Josie Lawrence) and Rose Arbuthnott (Miranda Richardson). Their joint goal becomes this seemingly impossible holiday in Portofino, Italy, and together with two guests, to share the financial burden, Mrs Fisher (Joan Plowright) and Lady Caroline Dester (Polly Walker) they make their dream a reality. Once there, all four women will experience changes in their lives that none of them could have foreseen during this truly enchanted April.

Andy has always loved this adaptation of the classic tale by Elizabeth Von Arnim while Martin faces his perennial fear of another period costume drama. However, once again, Martin discovers this piece to be a wonderful surprise (one day he might actually start to trust Andy's choices!). The pair discuss its themes of love and friendship, magic, class, and choosing life, whether its the right length, and if its more television or film.

If you've not seen this 90 minutes of uplifting character-led drama, which had its first TV showing in 1991, then we encourage you to track it down and discover the magic of Portofino for yourself. We can both still smell the white acacias even now.