The Cedar Tree

[intervision]

Just wondered if this ATV 1970s TV series still exists and if so, if it is available ?

[Euryale]

name='intervision']Just wondered if this ATV 1970s TV series still exists and if so, if it is available ?

I remember watching some of this and thought it was good - set in the 1940s I think, and had an excellent cast.

The whole series does still exist, but I don't think it has ever had a commercial release. I suppose it must have run to quite a few episodes, so probably little chance of it seeing the light of day any time soon.



E.

[cornershop15]

You must have forgotten your thread from last year, intervision: The Cedar Tree (1976) - Britmovie - British Film Forum

As it's the anniversary of the first screening of The Cedar Tree - 33 years to the

day - I must post this article from the 18-24 September 1976 issue of TVTimes:







A nice cast photo there. Perhaps I should enlarge it for the 'Actors Creating Magic ...' thread? Susan Skipper,

on the floor, later married Anthony Valentine, her co-star in ITV's versions of The Dancing Years and Raffles.

I remember some of those other stars being in the show as well. This is where I first saw, or noticed veterans

Joyce Carey and Cyril Luckham, both of whom I've watched in many things over the years, less so Philip Latham,

but that's all set to change as I now have his earlier series The Pallisers. He has a thread here: Philip Latham



Cyril always seemed such a kindly old man in The Cedar Tree, but he had a few villainous roles in his time!

He and James Bolam were art-forgers in the Public Eye episode I Always Wanted a Swimming Pool (1971).



Listing for first episode, broadcast 20th September:



... when ABBA were at No. 1 with Dancing Queen

Euryale's pessimism about this series being released isn't quite shared by me. Didn't I read somewhere that it was being released by Acorn? Not in one of the earlier posts though. It seems unfair, in comparison, that the Australian serial The Sullivans is gradually being released from the beginning. This was also shown on weekday afternoons in the late 1970s, on ITV, and HAS been repeated since (late nights on Channel 5).



Don't lose hope Euryale and especially threadstarter intervision! The fact that Peyton Place and Emmerdale Farm have also had their early episodes put onto DVD recently means there is a real chance we might see this series again.



EDIT - Wow! Didn't look at the names in that cast photo but the lady lucky Philip has his arm around is none other than the rarely-seen actress Susan Engel, who was in one of my favourite films, Charlie Bubbles, and TV shows, Public Eye (though her episode was not such a favourite!). I DID know she was in The Cedar Tree, having seen her filmography, but never found a photo until now. I can show Susan to better effect tomorrow by including a capture of her from Charlie Bubbles. I was starting high school the same month this series began so maybe I only saw it during Summer holidays? And how come I remember blonde Susan Skipper more than brunette Susan Engel? Unlike me.

[pelam123]

I was pretty sure I saw it as a DVD recently but a search suggests it is not available. I remember it being on in the 1.30 slot (when I was off sick from school or on the wag!), though The Sullivans was better.



In the meantime I'm afraid this might have to do:



[ame=http://www.amazon.co.uk/Cedar-Tree-v-Michael-Hardwick/dp/0552102644/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1253493888&sr=1-1]Cedar Tree: v. 1: Amazon.co.uk: Michael Hardwick: Books[/ame]



(Interesting to see that it was created by Alfred Shaughnessy who produced Upstairs Downstairs)

[cornershop15]

Don't know about The Sullivans being "better" - there were some very distinguished actors in The Cedar Tree, you know - and writers (Alfred Shaughnessy). Didn't think much of the theme tune though ...



Cedar Tree, how big it's grown ...



Thanks for the link. The book's cover photograph is the same one of the cast I posted earlier. Wonderful.

[woody123]

Anyone know if Sally Osborne who played Elizabeth Bourne in some episodes is still acting.She appeared in episodes of Cribb and Survivors but imdb shows nothing after 1987.

[Rick C]

Wonderful series this. As a depiction of a world on the verge of immeasurable change there is no comparison. It was just the thing to settle down with a double gin and tonic to.

[supamum]

Absolutely loved the Cedar Tree - watched it regularly and have thought of it frequently.

[Windyridge]

name='Rick C']Wonderful series this. As a depiction of a world on the verge of immeasurable change there is no comparison. It was just the thing to settle down with a double gin and tonic to.

At lunchtime! Well I never did. (Actually, yes I did. Just not while watching The Cedar Tree).

[Tomwhisky]

We used to watch it regularly too, we did used to joke a bit how the budget would be saved at times with various actors looking out of a window! 'Look I see that the local hunt has arrived (sort of thing)

[cully]

In that pic posted by Cornershop, a very young Susan Skipper is almost unrecognizable as the young girl seated on the floor. I have to admit I wouldn't have picked her out without the cribsheet of the TV Times cast!

[SwingingLondon]

Original drama on in afternoon...how things have changed!

Talking of which, does anyone remember 'Sam'...I think it was from the mid 70s too. About a coalminer...definetely set in Yorkshire.

[woody123]

name='SwingingLondon']Original drama on in afternoon...how things have changed!

Talking of which, does anyone remember 'Sam'...I think it was from the mid 70s too. About a coalminer...definetely set in Yorkshire.

Yes,starred the excellent and sadly missed Mark McManus.

[cornershop15]

I've been waiting for a boxset of the whole series to appear and it STILL hasn't happened yet. This link is for one of the two Sam threads here (where we can continue to moan about it's elusiveness!): Sam - Britmovie - British Film Forum

name='cully']In that pic posted by Cornershop, a very young Susan Skipper is almost unrecognizable as the young girl seated on the floor. I have to admit I wouldn't have picked her out without the cribsheet of the TV Times cast!

I was going to post this at 'Actors Creating Magic ...' (and might still do, as that thread

needs a 'bump'), but Cully has inspired me to enlarge what I think is a wonderful picture:





The Bourne family at home: Nanny (Jean Taylor-Smith), Anne (Jennifer Lonsdale), Alice (Joyce Carey),

Vicky (Susan Skipper, kneeling), Phyllis (Kate Coleridge), Helen (Susan Engel), Arthur (Philip Latham),

Liz (Sally Osborn) and Charles Ashley (Cyril Luckham), carpet (Axminsters - "home of fine carpets")



You may recall the excitement I felt in an earlier post at (belatedly) seeing Susan Engel in the photo.

Apparently she was a recurring character in The Lotus Eaters with Ian Hendry and Wanda Ventham,

and that makes it even more essential viewing for me. There were also important parts in Armchair

Thriller, Doctor Who and We'll Meet Again - all on DVD. Susan was on TV as recently as 2005 .



This is from the haunting cafe scene in the classic Charlie Bubbles (1967), where she played 'Nanny':







There is actually another Susan Engel [II], a multi-talented lady who is

an actress, writer, director, producer, costume designer AND editor! :

One of the films she did most of those things for was a short called Bubbles!

[CaptainWaggett]

name='Tomwhisky']We used to watch it regularly too, we did used to joke a bit how the budget would be saved at times with various actors looking out of a window! 'Look I see that the local hunt has arrived (sort of thing)

Didn't the series end with the eponymous tree burning down offset?

[supamum]

I remember The Lotus EAters - it was great - you are all certainly nudging the old memory

[Mark O]

I vaguely remember this lunchtime soap, I've always had a fondness for Kate Coleridge, though would teenage gals still have needed a 'Nanny'?!!



As I recall Susan Engel's character is killed off but I don't remember how, does anyone here?

[HIPPIEDAVE]

Loved Cedar Tree, should be on dvd, have kept looking for it, Phil Latham is brill also in Pallisers

[woody123]

name='CaptainWaggett']Didn't the series end with the eponymous tree burning down offset?

It was struck by lightning.

[cornershop15]

TVTimes, 22nd November 1976



A great photo of Susan dominates this preview for the episode The Mice at Play:



By contrast, I used to watch a dire show called Top of the Pops @ Play



As herself, in a publicity picture from December 1977:



Both Susan and her future husband, Anthony Valentine,

were at the peak of their television careers at this time.



Much to my suprise (and delight), the rarely-seen actress

has been making a film, entitled Re-Evolution (2010) with

Brian Blessed and Ray Lonnen. Welcome back Susan