... Limited, without originality by Ann Purser Crimes of Passion, ATV, March 15. THE first of a new series of Monday night plays went out last week under the title Crimes of Passion. It was another based on fact drama about a murder committed in France, where crimes of passion exist as a separate classification. It is difficult not to compare this limited, old-fashioned pro duction with the ...

... None of main characters make enough impact by John Lawrence Manhunt, London Weekend, March 20. THERE is no doubt that over the weeks Manhunt has created a certain hypnotic appeal, which increases as one gets to know the characters well, and as they get to know each other better. Even so, it is unsatisfactory, chiefly because it so often fails i.\j nvc u y w iia UWII jjisienuai. To start ...

... Inventive and exciting by John Lawrence Wicked Women, Madeleine July. London Weekend. March 21. THIS, the last of London Weekend's series about wicked Victorian women was about a French actress who, for financial reasons, marries an innocent and virgin butcher, and finds she quite likes him. Her life is ruined when her former lover returns and seduces her. Subsequently as she resists her ...

... Strength lay in descriptive power by Ann Purser The Wednesday Play, Sovereign's Company, BBC-1, April 22. DON SHAW, the author of last week's Wednesday Play, Sovereign's Company wrote from experience, and an unpleasant experience it must have been. Judging by his play, he found Sandhurst a class-conscious, tradition bound boarding school for young adults. Instead of creating an ...

... Too much in a short time by James Preston Thirty Minute Theatre, Revolution: Fidel Castro, BBC-2, April 25. GALTON and Simpson had the answer to the problem when explaining why they wrote Suffer Little Children, their only full length television play. The half-hour slot in which they usually worked gave only time for an extended sketch. This has been the unsurmoun- table problem in recent ...

... Acting to the rescue by John Lawrence Saturday Night Theatre, Anniversary, Anglia, January 10 ANY writer who uses a disintegrating marriage as the subject of a play must accept the fact that by now there is almost no stone unturned in this particular field of human drama, few youthful misdemeanours left to be agonisingly drawn from a repentant partner, no nuance of mutual torture not ...

... An unenlivened and unenlightening piece by Philip Barker Thirty-Minute Theatre, Did Your Nanny Come From Bergen? BBC -2, October 9. DID Your Nanny Come From Bergen? asked Miss Shelagh Delaney in the title of her first play for television in the Thirty Minute Theatre series on Friday last. Well, I never had a nanny, so the enquiry held no personal significance for me--and neither did this ...

... Flaws but had something touching and truthful by Brendan Hennessy The Exiles, Jennie, Yorkshire, October 11. JENNY is exiled first because it makes a neat title for Ray Jenkins's trlogy, of which it is the first play, and secondly because she is mentally accomplished beyond her qualifications and circumstances. At 28 she works in a library and is trapped by her willing dis position into ...

... Despite its overall quality it didn't really achieve anything by John Lawrence Hoddinott Veiling, ATV, August 23 j J £r EACH of the scenes in Janet Burroway's play gave the impression that its purpose was to prepare both the characters and the audience for the events which were to follow. The trouble was, that no events ever did follow, and the play finished, leaving me with a feeling that ...

... Has faults but bears analysis by Patrick Campbell Confession, You and Your Old German, Granada, July 17 THE gap between the harmless exaggeration we all indulge in from time to time to boost our ego and the inability to feel anything at first hand which afflicts those physically or mentally enclosed is frighteningly small. Once could imagine Tom, in Judy Gardiner's intelligent play, ...

... Was simple, direct and predictable by James Preston Tales of Unease, The Old Banger, London Weekend, December 11. AN appropriate homily for international conservation year came out of Richardson Morgan's humorous fragment of science fiction. The Old Baneer. The story line was simple, direct and probably predictable to anyone, like myself, who has an irrational fear of all things mechanical. A ...

... Never recovered from bad start by John Lawrence Happy Ever After, The Woman At The Door, ATV, December 30. IAN STUART BLACK'S play suffered from having to fill a 50 minute spot with an idea that was worth at best half an hour. This was evident right from the start, which consisted of a long and uninspiring film sequence showing the lady who was to be the heroine, arriving at the block of ...