Armchair Theatre (1956 -74)

[cornershop15]

There is another Armchair Theatre thread in the 'Looking for a video/DVD (TV)' section, which is obviously aimed at what's left of this landmark series. I thought I'd start this one in the 'British Television' section.



By the time I was born, 23rd March 1965, more than 300 episodes had gone out (with many more to follow), the latest being A Voice in the Sky (1965), which had a fascinating cast: Jack Hedley, Ann Bell, David Bauer, Morris Perry, Paul Danquah, Paul Maxwell ... Also included was an actor called Richard Coleman, who sadly died a few months ago. He played Wendy Craig's husband in the sitcom And Mother Makes Three/Five, if you remember. With such an interesting mix of actors, it would be great to see this now but, whether it still exists or not, I don't think it will be anytime soon.



I have seen a few of these plays, such as A Night Out (1960), written by and starring Harold Pinter (who also died a few months ago), with Tom Bell and an actress I like very much, Madge Ryan. A Magnum for Schneider (1967) is another one. This introduced viewers to Callan, compellingly played by Edward Woodward and ably supported by Ronald Radd and Peter Bowles. Wheras this survived for younger people like me to enjoy, several episodes from the first two series which followed do not.



My intention for this thread is to pay tribute to Armchair Theatre and, above all, to acknowledge all the WORK that was put into each episode - something those who authorised the ruthless and savage wiping of these and other shows evidently didn't. This article, from the Star TV & Film Annual 1966 (published by Odhams), reveals just how much effort was put in to each production, from the writers, directors and crew as well as some of my favourite actors, a few of which are pictured. This will be of particular interest to fellow-member John Llewellyn Moxey who is one of the directors mentioned and contributed 16 episodes. Thank you:



To avoid confusion with the captions, as pages have to be placed above - rather than next to - each other, I'm going to put the names above each document:



Ian Bannen (what's that from?); Janet Munro in Girl in a Bird Cage (1962); Harry H. Corbett in The Hothouse (1964)



The lovely Mary Peach ; Donald Pleasance in Machinal (1960); a very youthful Susannah York in I Took My Little World Away (1965)*



Playwright Alun Owen and director Ted Kotcheff in conversation; a publicity photo of Jack Hedley



The fantastic Billie Whitelaw; Sean Connery (before Bond) and Alan Bates - unknown stills





* I Took My Little World Away is the play our thatllbetheday was referring to at the John Ronane thread. As if his great presence and that of the dynamic Susannah York wasn't enough, one of my favourite 'Unmentioned Actors' was in it too - Gary Watson. That's a cool show alright, and I was delighted when she (thatllbetheday that is) told me it exists - but will I ever see it? Incidentally, this hidden treasure was broadcast just nine days before I was born. All this and three of my favourite pop songs in the charts too - the Last Time, You've Got Your Troubles and Concrete and Clay. I've had a sad life, missing out on so much.



Dedicated to any of my favourite actors who appeared on the show. My love and best wishes to anyone who worked on this historic series and is reading this. More articles to follow ...

[John Llewellyn Moxey]

A fascinating thread. Thank you



John

[Harbottle]

Superb thread corner! Along with other members I have a number of these, but obviously not enough for example I'd love to see The Hothouse with Diana Rigg and Harry H. Corbett (not lost I hope!). At the time I think this series was derided and nicknamed 'Armpit Theatre', very harsh I think. Some of those I've seen so far have been really excellent like for example The Cupboard (Donald Pleasence), The Trial of Dr. Fancy (Peter Sallis/Nigel Stock) and The Omega Mystery (John Gregson). If some thought these were poor at the time I'd love to know what they think of TV in 2009.

[cornershop15]

Many thanks, Harbottle, and of course to John.



Crunchie has mentioned The Hothouse a couple of times on other threads, and only last week Euryale informed us, at 'Lost ITV Plays', that it DOES exist. Did you know it was written by Donald Churchill? He seems to have had mixed fortunes, regarding his archive status as a playwright. The one I've always remembered, from when I was a teenager, was called Alice Trying, in which he also starred, along with Judy Parfitt. Possibly a 'two-hander'. They spent a lot of time on the telephone with one of them ill in bed I think. I may have seen The Trial of Dr. Fancy, I'm not sure. Why didn't you mention Norman Bird was in it as well?! I saw him in Public Eye a couple of nights ago - what an extraordinary actor he was!



There was an Armchair Theatre season on Channel 4, which included The Trouble With Ivy with Dandy Nichols, among other things, about 20 years ago, but it's all a distant memory now. Like BBC2, C4 used to be good at unearthing old plays. Remember TV Heaven with Frank Muir? That included both the aforementioned A Magnum For Schneider and another 'two-hander', The Lover, starring Alan Badel and Vivien Merchant (I think we can discount Michael Forrest as 'The Milkman'!). They were brilliant in this and have become cult favourites ever since. IMDB doesn't indicate it as an Armchair Theatre production though. Sorry for going off-topic with this and Alice Trying then!



Like Del Shannon, I shall Keep Searchin' for more articles. I only have TVTimes copies from 1966 to 1980 though, and am not sure the man I bought these volumes from is still available. A bit like some of these plays.

[cornershop15]

I contributed a post to the Ronald Lacey thread earlier and discovered that our Mr. Moxey directed him in a play called Dead Silence, which also starred Patrick Allen and Glynn Edwards. I don't know about it's archive status (hope it's good news) but I was disappointed not to have at least found the TVTimes for that week.



A few weeks earlier, and broadcast on the

very day that England won the World Cup,

John directed this curiosity. Apart from the

more famous names, I see Paul Stassino,

Norman Scace and Edward Brayshaw were

in it. All regular faces at that time. Caroline

Mortimer is the daughter of writer Penelope.







Gwen Watford is very topical at the moment after I resurrected her thread.

Thanks for the replies. I look forward to adding this to her credits at IMDB,

where there are no details AT ALL. I mostly remember John Nettleton as the

Gendarme in And Soon the Darkness. Leslie Sands and Clare Kelly

are very well-known to me, being from the North. P.S. John Barcroft AGAIN?!



Here's something I didn't know - it was Frank Finlay who originally played the

Irishman in Never Mind The Quality Feel The Width, NOT Joe Lynch. Amazing.

Dudley Foster is a great favourite of mine - I'd be heartbroken if this was lost.



Never Mind The Quality ... is one of my very earliest (and very dimmest) memories.

I remember thinking, years later, that I could have sworn Milo O'Shea was in it,

even though I knew it centred around an Irish and a Jewish tailor. I eventually found

out that my confusion must have arisen because there was another sitcom from

that era called Me Mammy, which also featured the brilliant Yootha Joyce.

[cornershop15]

It seems I'm the only one who's interested in this programme at the moment. Come on, folks - give us some memories! How about this one? It was called Barrett Keller - His Mark. This is the caption accompanying the extraordinary photograph:



Wrestler Jackie Paganuzzi (Bernard Bresslaw) has a suitcase which belonged to a late "modern" artist. Is there anything of value in it? That's what everybody in Saturday's Armchair Theatre play, "Barrett Keller - His Mark" wants to know.



Left to right: Christopher Sandford, Petra Markham, Sheena Marshe and Bernard Bresslaw



Shelagh Fraser, Leslie Lawton and Christopher Sandford in a scene from the Armchair Theatre production.



Saturday night schedule (Anglia region):



The captions are the wrong way round there .



Sergeant Cork is one of the forgotten ITC series, sadly.

This led to William Gaunt's casting, as Richard Barrett oddly

enough, in The Champions.



Some memories of the cast:

The much-missed Bernard Bresslaw is best known for the Carry On films, of course, and before then in The Army Game. I know he had a hit with Mad Passionate Love but there was a parody of Max Bygraves' You Need Hands that I remember him 'singing' called You Need Feet. I'd be really interested to see his performance in this play as he would have shown a different side to his acting skills.



Petra Markham was still a teenager when the Armchair Theatre play was made, years before her starring role in Ace of Wands. The tragic history behind that show is well-documented but what about this and the other plays she appeared in? Very worrying. Petra's turned up a few times on DVDs I've seen recently, notably a bitchy role in Public Eye - now I can think of her as something other than Michael Caine's not-so-innocent niece in Get Carter! She looked great in that .



Christopher Sandford has an interesting place in Soap history I think. Wasn't he the first actor to have a hit in the charts, in his guise as Walter Potts? As I'm too young to have seen that, I remember him best as one of Tommy Steele's work colleagues in Half A Sixpence. He also played multiple parts in Danger Man, which I look forward to seeing, and The Worker with Charlie Drake. Something else that's caught my eye, at IMDB, is his recurring role in the series Dombey and Son, starring John Carson, with Helen Fraser among others.



The Public Eye connection:

Sadly, Christopher's appearance in Public Eye is in one of the lost episodes, You Can Keep the Medal. Shelagh Fraser, previously in Emergency Ward 10 and later one of the Ashtons in Family at War, is another one I'll miss out on seeing in my favourite series, I'm afraid - Have it on the House has also gone. Happily, the two appearances of Leslie Lawton, in the middle picture above, did survive - he was a Detective Constable who meets the newly-released Marker .



Other stars from Barrett Keller - His Mark:

Clive Colin Bowler is someone I was first introduced to only a few weeks ago in a bizarre episode of Department S. He was The Man in the Elegant Room, a replica of a real one that was going to be robbed, and reminded me very much of Richard O'Callaghan. Edward Malin is surely best known as Walter in sitcom Nearest and Dearest, the recipient of Hylda Baker's catchphrase "Have you been, Walter, HAVE YOU BEEN?"! But it's the realisation just now that Sheena Marshe (in the 2nd and 3rd photos) was the Barmaid in The Prisoner episode The Girl Who Was Death that is going to haunt me for the rest of the day. My God!



I didn't recognise the name or the face when doing my research for this lengthy post, but seeing that credit has given me the 'shivers'. I remember her scene SO CLEARLY. Sheena serves Patrick McGoohan a drink, which has a sinister message at the bottom of the glass: You-have-just-been-poisoned". He immediately orders several drinks to get it out of his system. "You'll make yourself sick!", she says. That was the idea! Ironically, she looks as if she's on the other side of the bar in that photo. What a surprise that was - I can't get over it! Coincidentally, filming began on The Prisoner began the same week this play was broadcast (I think).



Another fascinating cast. Please contribute some thoughts and memories.

[blacknorth]

I loved those episodes of Armchair Theatre I've been fortunate enough to see, about 40 in all. Highlights were Donald Pleasance and Judy Cornwell in Call Me Daddy, I Can Destroy The Sun, Alfred Burke in Edward The Confessor (another Public Eye connection)... actually too many to list, it's all good stuff.



Michael Caine has a tiny role in the episode The Ship That Couldn't Stop. He's absolutely terrible at being a bit-part player, much better acting a star.



I know many eps are lost but I'd really like to see a DVD set of the best of those which survive. Failing that I wish some kind soul would just leak the lot onto the internet. After all, they're just gathering dust somewhere.



Mr Moxey, I watched several episodes which you directed, damn fine job, sir.

[John Llewellyn Moxey]

I loved those episodes of Armchair Theatre I've been fortunate enough to see, about 40 in all. Highlights were Donald Pleasance and Judy Cornwell in Call Me Daddy, I Can Destroy The Sun, Alfred Burke in Edward The Confessor (another Public Eye connection)... actually too many to list, it's all good stuff.



Michael Caine has a tiny role in the episode The Ship That Couldn't Stop. He's absolutely terrible at being a bit-part player, much better acting a star.



I know many eps are lost but I'd really like to see a DVD set of the best of those which survive. Failing that I wish some kind soul would just leak the lot onto the internet. After all, they're just gathering dust somewhere.



Mr Moxey, I watched several episodes which you directed, damn fine job, sir.

Blacknorth, I thank you. It was a great time in British Television. I consider myself very lucky to have been there.



John

[mrs_emma_peel]

Excellent, fascinating thread and researches Cornershop

Prelude to The Avengers …







Rare picture of 26 year old Diana Rigg rehearsing for her television debut … in The Hothouse, Armchair Theatre, Friday 11th December, 1964 … and two stills from the ABC Armchair Theatre production … in which Diana plays millionaire wife, shapely Anita Fender, opposite Harry H Corbett (millionaire tycoon Harry Fender).

This episode of Armchair Theatre was broadcast on ITV on Sunday 13th December, 1964, at 10.05pm.



The Armchair Theatre production of The Hothouse is the television-play that indirectly first brought Diana to the attention of the producers of The Avengers.



Armchair Theatre ... The Hothouse …

‘An ailing mango, two beautiful wives and an ambitious employee … all help to upset a tycoon's weekend in the hothouse.



Donald Churchill's third light-hearted comedy for 'Armchair Theatre' in 1964 starred Harry H Corbett and also saw the television debut of a brilliant, gorgeous young 26 year old actress named Diana Rigg (just a few months before she was offered, and accepted, the role of Mrs Emma Peel in ‘The Avengers’).



Corbett was no stranger to the series and in fact, had made a reputation for himself as a gifted and versatile actor, after a number of appearances on ITV's famous one-off play presentations throughout the 1950s. By the time he made this appearance he was a household name as Harold Steptoe in the hit BBC sitcom 'Steptoe and Son' and this may account for the fact that this particular 'Armchair Theatre' presentation, when broadcast, pulled in an all-time audience record of 8,260,000 homes.



Churchill's previous two 1964 plays had been 'Sharp at Four' and 'The Cherry on the Top,' the latter of which starred his wife, Pauline Yates. This time round, the author took a lead role for himself. In 'The Hothouse' he plays Gordon Parsley, the assistant manager of a supermarket, part of a chain owned by self-made millionaire Harry Fender (Corbett). Hoping to be promoted, Gordon's prospects look bright when, at the annual staff dance, Harry takes a shine to the ambitious employee's vivacious wife, Charlotte (Miranda Connell).



Nevertheless, the boss's interest in Charlotte could spell trouble … especially when Harry's own lovely wife … Anita (Diana Rigg), decides to intervene in the situation.



Anita brings matters to a head by inviting the young couple to spend a weekend at the Fenders' country cottage.

In the hothouse - an enclosed and steamy jungle where Harry tends his precious mangoes and melons … and where Charlotte finds herself alone with the boss … she has been cast in the role of a hothouse passion fruit!

‘The Hothouse’ was a 60 minute play directed by Guy Verney and was an ABC production.’



Sources: Televisionheaven.com/The Avengers Forever

[cornershop15]

Many thanks for that, Mrs. Peel - only just found your contribution. Interesting stuff. I had no idea that Diana got The Avengers through Armchair Theatre - and acting opposite Harold Steptoe too! Nice to read about Donald Churchill as well.



Miranda Connell later presented Play School and might still be married to Edward de Souza, seen recently (looking the worse for wear) as Eileen Grimshaw's father in Coronation Street. I've only ever seen her in an episode of Special Branch, where she was quite a presence. She reminds me of Honor Blackman:

Note the 'advert alert', top right

[cornershop15]

I seem to have been stuck in 1966 the last few weeks, but after a rare excursion

to some TVTimes issues from the 1970s earlier, I came across this listing:





Great to find something featuring Michael Goodlife*, and what a surprise to see Michael Beint, on the left, looking very different with hair. I know the latter Michael best for playing a policeman in a black-and-white episode of Special Branch, where his house was guarded by other officers. His little daughter gave him a parcel, just delivered, that, unbeknownst to her, contained a bomb. When she left him to open in it, in his shed, the inevitable happened. A traumatic experience for the child - and at least one viewer. He was also a butler in an episode of Thriller with Donna Mills and Jeremy Brett. Michael Goodliffe himself appeared in Special Branch not long before this Armchair Theatre production, his second that year.



Rachel Herbert was a regular on TV from the mid-Sixties to the mid-Eighties. I suppose she's best known as Jasmine Bligh, Peter Barkworth's wife, in The Power Game, which I watch on DVD Saturday nights (not the easiest of experiences); yet, I still think of her as the exciteable Foreign maid in an episode of The Prisoner, where she turned out to be the new Number 2 in disguise!



I only know Margaret Rawlings by name I think, probably through her obituary. Judging by her CV, it's unlikely I'll be seeing much of her work, unfortunately, with the notable exception of the film Hands of the Ripper - I must watch that for it's cast.



Poor Michael Goodliffe's life ended in tragic circumstances, as a few here know. I've always remembered, since childhood, that it was soon after filming Sam, which was where I first saw him. Co-star Alethea Charlton also died just after few weeks later.



*Two noticeably similar threads to choose from here:



Michael Goodliffe - Britmovie - British Film Forum



Michael Goodliffe - Britmovie - British Film Forum

[cornershop15]

This is the other play in the series that Michael Goodliffe starred in 1970, only

a month earlier. IMDB suggests it was 11 days earlier, on 6th

November, but this original listing is more reliable I should think:



Michael is way down the cast list here, so I assume he had only a minor part

to play in this. He was in four Armchair Theatre productions altogether.

Peter Barkworth was SO famous once but his death went by totally unnoticed,

by me anyway - I don't think this made the news headlines at all on the TV

and Radio channels I follow (ITV, Talksport, Gold). Correct me if I'm wrong.





I mentioned him in the previous post, oddly enough, as a star of The Power Game. The connections never stop coming as Michael Goodliffe turned up in an episode I saw recently. Peter had a very distinguished career on television and I can remember him bemoaning the current standard of TV in a Radio 2 interview some time in the late 80s and 90s (either Gloria Hunniford or John Dunn). By this time, he had starred in his last TV series, Late Starter (1985). I didn't pay much attention to it, unfortunately - something I've bitterly regretted practically ever since as it was also the last time Julia Foster regularly appeared on our screens as well (another long-time favourite). One of the later shows I did see Peter in was Heartbeat, where I think he hid in a barn with a shotgun. Really sad that he's gone, but DVDs of his series Manhunt and Melissa are available, in adition to The Power Game. Still waiting for Telford's Change to appear ...



Isobel Black also disappeared from our screens a couple of decades ago, after starring in a series called The Castle of Adventure (1990), but her appearances since the early '70s were very infrequent. She was very good in one of the (thankfully) surviving episodes of Adam Adamant Lives!. I'd like to think Isobel will turn up in fantasy releases of The Troubleshooters and Redgauntlet but I'm not optimistic, even less so her storytelling in Jackanory. I'd love to see that. Something she will be seen in, shortly, is an episode of Mystery and Imagination - now on DVD.



This time last year I'd never heard of Edwin Richfield, star of Interpol Calling, The Odd Man and The Man in the Iron Mask on TV, but that was before I watched the cult series The Owl Service, where he played Gillian Hills' father. Sadly died in 1990. Tom Chadbon has had a prolific career since the late Sixties, most recently as a regular in Casualty, so The Company Man was early in his career. Mitzi Rogers I know best from her great performance in The Sweeney episode Night Out (the one where she and John Thaw are forced to spend the night in her pub) and getting married to Dennis Tanner in Coronation Street. Another one who hasn't been seen for 20 years, I'm afraid. Gretchen Franklin would later become famous in old age as Ethel Skinner in EastEnders, of course, but some might remember her as Yootha Joyce's mother in George and Mildred and Auntie Lil in I Didn't Know You Cared, a couple of classic sitcoms from the Seventies.



I haven't posted these listings chronologically as I'm missing quite a few of the TVTimes I have on disc. This spares me the pain of alluding to the dates I'm missing, which is why I've had trouble filling the gaps at the Mystery and Imagination thread. So you can look forward to a completely different date next time I contribute here (for all it's worth )!

[Euryale]

So you can look forward to a completely different date next time I contribute here (for all it's worth )!

:



Well, it is worth it, Cornershop, and very interesting! But I have two problems! The first is that I don't think any of the old TV plays I remember came under the Armchair Theatre banner as such - maybe we need a thread of randomly remembered productions! I could probably warble on forever about some memories of the actors you've mentioned, and therein lies the second problem! You pack so many in to one post that it is probably going to take me a while to sift through them all and to see what I can recall!



E.

[cornershop15]

My goodness, someone who's actually interested enough to post here!



Thank you very much indeed, Euryale. There are a few threads for non-Armchair Theatre productions, including 'Play For Today' and 'The Lost Plays of ITV'. You could also try 'Some Memories of TV', where I act as a regular 'lifeguard', keeping it afloat for a brief while (while others prefer Off-Topic Discussions). I look forward to reading what you have to say!



Did you see my post about Helen Morgan earlier at the 'Film Title' thread, by the way?

[Euryale]

My goodness, someone who's actually interested enough to post here!



Thank you very much indeed, Euryale. There are a few threads for non-Armchair Theatre productions, including 'Play For Today' and 'The Lost Plays of ITV'. You could also try 'Some Memories of TV', where I act as a regular 'lifeguard', keeping it afloat for a brief while (while others prefer Off-Topic Discussions). I look forward to reading what you have to say!



Did you see my post about Helen Morgan earlier at the 'Film Title' thread, by the way?

I expect that the 'Some Memories of TV' section may be best and a lot of the threads cross-reference anyway. I'll have to look in the archives here to see if anything I remember has been mentioned before.



I did see your Helen Morgan post - thanks! I will reply but I just find it virtually impossible to keep up sometimes as the threads just seem to fly!



E.

[Carl V]

My goodness, someone who's actually interested enough to post here!

Can I just add that I personally do enjoy reading information about TV's past, regardless really of what the programme is. I regret to say that I know very little about Armchair Theatre, I just remember it being on but couldn't really recall any details. I do however enjoy reading the articles you post and want you to know your contributions are appreciated.

[Charlie Croker]

I recently saw a great episode entitled The Criminals (broadcast December 58 i think). Superb cast including Stanley Baker, Raymond Huntley and Alan Cuthbertson. Lets hope Network see their way to releasing a boxset at some point, no need for extras just barebones would be fine.

[didi-5]

I'd second that. I'd love to see these as so many appear to have survived, although they are not easy to track down.

[Midwich cuckoo]

Didn't 'The Sweeney' evolve from an Armchair theatre?

[cornershop15]

Hello again, Midwich. It was an Armchair Cinema called Regan. It's just been re-released with the other episodes from that series.



Thanks to everyone for their replies, especially Carl (belatedly). I hope to post some more Sixties listings very soon.