Two Pipe Problems: Richard Briers, Stanley Baxter with Geoffrey Palmer – S03E02 – Have You Come Far
BBC4 Comedy Drama
Radio 4 comedy drama focusing on two resident sleuths living in a retirement home. Stars Stanley Baxter, Richard Briers, Geoffrey Palmer, Jillie Meers and Tracy Wiles
Drama by Michael Chaplin featuring William and Sandy, residents of The Old Beeches retirement home for elderly thespians and former co-stars of a 1960s TV series
Michael Chaplin’s comedy dramas focus on two ‘inmates’ in a retirement home for members of the entertainment industry.
Whiskey Blues Vol. 4 – 1 Hour Collection of some of the finest relaxing slow #Blues/#BluesRock tunes.
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Excellent cast
Malcolm Sinclair stars as Noel Coward; Eleanor Bron as Lorne Lorraine his devoted secretary; with Tam Williams as Cole Lesley as his valet, in Marcy Kahan’s quintet of biographical comedies for radio.
A Bullet at Balmain
Coward is in the post-liberation Paris of 1948 to play the lead in his own play, Present Laughter, in French. But the murder of a promiscuous mannequin provides a stylish distraction. Director/Producer Ned Chaillet Ginette: Linda Marlowe Monique: Susy Kane Beatrice: Jaimi Barbakoff Chester Everal: A Walsh Jean-Marc: William Hootkins Vendeuse: Frances Jeater
Set in 1948, this haute couture mystery was set in Paris, at a time when Noel Coward (Malcolm Sinclair) was about to perform his hit play Present Laughter in French. The plot itself involved a murdered mannequin, a harassed fashion house maitresse – Coward’s devoted friend Ginette Spanier (Linda Marlowe) – and a psychopathic French murdeer and sugar-daddy (William Hootkins) who ended up holding Coward at gun-point just as the Master was about to perform the third act of Present Laughter to an audience almost entirely comprised of Parisian high society. Needless to say Coward escaped, due in no small part to a deux ex machina who ensured that the killer was safely despatched before he could caused the Master any harm. A Bullet at Balmain’s offered some incidental pleasures, centred chiefly on dramatist Marcy Kahan’s analysis of Coward’s character. While determined to pursue experiments, even if they involved a hair-raising amount of work – such as learning Present Laughter in French, Sinclair’s Coward betrayed certain insecurities. He could not do without the regular company of Cole Lesley (Tam Williams) and Lorne Lorraine (Eleanor Bron), both of whom were devoted to him. Neither of them could be described as his lovers; they were just his permanent companions. Coward’s true lover, the actor Graham Payn, was back in London performing on the stage, leaving Coward bereft of true affection. However, as a basically resourceful person, Coward amused himself by becoming involved in the murder mystery; it provided a pleasant diversion, even if it involed a certain degree of danger. Although a patriotic Englishman, Coward was also genuinely cosmopolitan; he could make himself at home in any part of the world he chose. Hence his fondness for visiting and performing in Paris. In later years he would make his permanent home as a tax-exile in Jamaica, preferring the sunshine and sea to the grey conformity of early 1960s England. This entertaining drama, punctuated with nostalgic extracts from Coward’s original song recordings, was directed by Ned Chaillet.
Pie In The Sky: #10- S01E10 – Endangered Species – Richard Griffiths, Maggie Steed, Malcolm Sinclair
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Newhart is an American sitcom that aired on CBS from October 25, 1982 to May 21, 1990 with a total of 184 half-hour episodes spanning over eight seasons. The series stars Bob Newhart and Mary Frann as an author and his wife who own and operate an inn in a small, rural Vermont town that is home to many eccentric characters. TV Guide, TV Land, and A&E named the Newhart series finale as one of the most memorable in television history. Newhart was recorded on videotape for Season 1, with the remaining seasons shot on film. The theme music for Newhart was composed by Henry Mancini.
Bob Newhart plays Dick Loudon, an author of do-it-yourself and travel books. He and his wife Joanna move from New York City to a small town in rural Vermont to operate the 200-year-old Stratford Inn. Although the town’s name was never specified in the show, some media sources identified it as Norwich The outside shot of the house is the Waybury Inn in East Middlebury.
Dick is a sane, mild-mannered everyman surrounded by a community of oddballs in a town that exists in an illogical world governed by rules that elude him. Near the end of the second season, Dick began hosting a low-rated talk show on the town’s local television station. As the series progressed, episodes focused increasingly on Dick’s TV career and the quirky townsfolk.
Watch soon, it might disappear
Great series
When the Boat Comes In is a British television period drama produced by the BBC between 1976 and 1981. The series stars James Bolam as Jack Ford, a First World War veteran who returns to his poverty-stricken (fictional) town of Gallowshield in the North East of England. The series dramatises the political struggles of the 1920s and 1930s and explores the impact of national and international politics upon Ford and the people around him.
The majority of episodes were written by creator James Mitchell, but in Series 1 north-eastern writers Tom Hadaway, Sid Chaplin and Alex Glasgow contributed episodes, and in Series 3 Jeremy Burnham and Colin Morris shared writing duties with Mitchell. Mitchell also wrote three tie-in books to the T.V. show: When the Boat Comes In, When the Boat Comes In: The Hungry Years and When the Boat Comes In: Upwards and Onwards. The final book brings the reader up to date with the end of the second series of the TV show.
The traditional tune “When The Boat Comes In” was adapted by David Fanshawe and sung by Alex Glasgow for the title theme of the series. Fanshawe also composed the incidental music. The BBC revived the series in 1981, with the fourth series telling the story of Jack Ford as he returns to Britain penniless, after six years spent bootlegging in the United States, and follows him as he sets up in London
Core Cast
- James Bolam as Jack Ford (1976–77,81 / Series 1-4 / 48 episodes)
- James Garbutt as Bill Seaton (1976–77 / Series 1-3 / 39 episodes)
- Jean Heywood as Bella Seaton (1976–77 / Series 1-3 / 39 episodes)
- John Nightingale as Tom Seaton (1976–77 / Series 1-3 / 39 episodes)
- Edward Wilson as Billy Seaton (1976–77, 81 / Series 1-4 / 35 episodes)
- Malcolm Terris as Matt Headley (1976–77 / Series 1-3 / 34 episodes)
- Susan Jameson as Jessie Ashton née Seaton (1976–77, 81 / Series 1-4 / 30 episodes)
- Madelaine Newton as Dolly (1976–77 / Series 1-3 / 30 episodes)
- Basil Henson as Sir Horatio Manners (1976–77 / Series 1-3 / 25 episodes)
- Geoffrey Rose as Arthur Ashton (1976–77 / Series 1-3 / 18 episodes)
- Rosalind Bailey as Sarah Headley née Lytton (1977, 81 / Series 2-4 / 23 episodes)
- William Fox as the Duke of Bedlington (1976–77 / Series 2-3 / 13 episodes)
- Lois Baxter as Lady Caroline #2 (1977, 81 / Series 3-4 / 15 episodes)
Bruce Springsteen – Tougher Than The Rest
Bruce Springsteen – Glory Days
Saturday Night at the Movies
1 Doctor In The House (1954) – Dirk Bogarde, Muriel Pavlov, Kenneth More, Donald Sinden, Kay Kendall, James Robertson Justice
Classic British comedy of the 1950s with a great cast
2 Shout At The Devil – Roger Moore, Lee Marvin, Ian Holm, Barbara Parkins,
3 The Adventures Of Tartu – Robert Donat,Walter Rolla, Valerie Hobson,Glynis Johns
4 Q Planes (1939) – Valerie Hobson, Ralph Richardson, Laurence Olivier
Excellent series, good casts
Watch soon as may disappear
The Inquiring Mind 
Putin’s Parade – Topical Toon – Blower
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