... by Marjorie Bilbow A LOOK at the cast list before this play began provoked some surprise at the sight of so many familiar names in addition to the four who were starred. The reason for the choice of such a dependable cast became apparent later: it was a ty it tnis Diend ot high-camp send-up and satire was to make its point without going over the top into farce. Working-class artist Jack ...

... Harrowing beginning by Marjorie Bilbow IT IS no accident that fictional crime dramas involving women of the mid-to-late Victorian eras have had a high success rate. There are few settings to compete with the ornate, claustrophobic gentility of a Victorian parlour for providing an atmosphere in which murder ous passions can be seen to simmer, bubble and boil to such macabre effect. The ...

... Just another spy story by John Lawrence Codename, Kingsmate, BBC-2, April 7.. IT is always a little unfair to judge a new series bv its first episode. Perhaps all one should say at this stage is whether or not one finds the basic premise entertaining, the leading characters interesting, and the production exciting. Much will depend on the individual plot lines ot each individual episode, ...

... Well-acted and amusing by James Preston Confession, Allergy, Granada, August 28. AUGUST BANK HOLIDAY weekend-- that relic of Victorian paternalism-- is taken by all television companies as an excuse to let the brain slip out of gear. Anything goes-- give 'em a circus, an afternoon of sport, that old movie which would not stand a prime time winter showing. The crafty companies, with a ...

... Artificial tension, improbable story by John Lawrence Shadows of Fear, Sugar and Spice, Thames, January 12. SUGAR and Spice, John Kershaw's contribution to this new horror series, was one of those plays whose main ingredient is an intense emotion, based neither on Valid characterisation nor on real story-telling. The point of the play is the emotion itself, and all else must be subordinated ...

... Persuasion: Part One Granada April 18 by Patrick Campbell TO step into a field hitherto leased almost exclusively to the BBC-- the adaptation of the classic novel--demands just the sort of brash self-confidence that Granada personifies. By and large, Howard Baker s production of Persuasion, Jane Austen's last and perhaps most endearing book, manages to avoid the cow pats, thistles and other ...

... Birds on the Wing: BBC-2 June 11 by Patrick Campbell NO comedy scrip for television is ever going to succeed unless the writer can couch dialogue and action in such a form that the particular actors who will interpret it are able to convey the author's exact intentions to the audience. Judged by this yardstick alone, Birds on the Wing is likely to be a resounding success. Peter Yeldham, who ...

... Seasons of the Year The Three Graces Granada. June 14 By Donald Sartain THE standards of a television company are seriously in question when extensive advance publicity for a play proves to be unjustified. The disappointment of the viewers causes a breach of the trust which could exist between producers and audience and prove a strong 'ife force for the medium. Granada spread its publicity ...

... Paper Roses: Granada June 13 by Patrick Campbell THE trouble with Dennis Potter nowadays is that he doesn't know when to stop. Like Browning's thrush, he sings his songs twice over and in so doing contrives to lose the first, fine careless rapture. Less tnan nairway tnrougn Paper Roses the points had been clearly made: Fleet Street is obsessed with sex and animals (and always has been), and ...

... The Switch: Anglia June 6 by John Lawrence PRINCIPLES are all very well in theory, but what happens when a man who is only too quick to criticise others is placed in a position where he is asked to live up to them himself. This was the basic question posed by Maurice man s play about the torturing of a Vietcong prisoner of war. Unfortunately, as a subject for a play, it was not really ...

... Out of the Unknown: The Chopper BBC-2. June 16 by John Lawrence GHOST stories on television, and in the cinema come to that, can usually make use of most of the technical facilities which the camera has to offer in order to achieve the impression of the supernatural. They also frequently have recourse to sucn devices asi me napping curtain, moving furniture, creaking door, and so on. In ...

... The Guardians: Appearances London Weekend, August 14 by Donald Sartain IT WAS depressing to watch good actors wasted in such a boring exercise in scatty totalitarianism as last week's Appearances, in The Guardians series. The recipe was simpiy take the obvious trends of today and exaggerate them: anti-communism, anti-pollu tion, anti-noise, violence lead ing probably to greater state control ...