Play About A Dead Novelist Brought Back To Life

[Blanche Fury]

I vividly remember a play I saw on tv, probably in the mid 70s (it could have been a repeat, of course) in colour. It could have been just half an hour long, but it, and especially the final image, has stayed in my mind ever since. Can anyone tell me what it was, and if it is obtainable? I might not have all the details 100% correct – I saw this only once about 35 years ago.



It was sort of science fiction, set say 30 or 40 years in the future, and I think all the action takes place in a single room, a laboratory. We gradually become aware that in the laboratory is the body of a famous novelist (though we don’t see him till the very end) who was killed in a car crash 30 or 40 years ago. At the time they didn’t have the technology to keep him alive, but his body was preserved in the hope that one day he can be brought back to life. That day has now arrived, and we see the white-coated scientists working feverishly to achieve their goal. We see banks of complicated-looking machinery with lots of dials registering various things such as his heartbeat, breathing, etc. The scientists are getting excited because for the first time ever a body is being brought back to life (and they’re going to be famous and probably rich). All the dials are beginning to flicker, as the novelist slowly revives. But there is one dial that refuses to move, the one registering emotion. The scientists are concerned about this, and wonder what to do. In the end they decide to bring his wife in. She comes into the laboratory, now a very old and frail woman, with who can guess what thoughts and feelings going through her mind as she enters. She stands by the bed.



The scientists gather round the emotion dial, and, sure enough, it starts to flicker, just a little at first, but then vigorously. The scientists go mad with joy, slapping each other on the back (this was before ‘high-fives’ became the norm), shaking hands, shouting with delight, etc.



The final shot is of the whole room seen from above, with the celebrating scientists on all sides. In the middle is the bed and next to it the aged wife. On the bed is the body of the novelist. He is one of the most disgusting, alienating, shocking things you have ever seen: he is naked, emaciated, and almost every square inch of his body is connected to a wire. Only his face is relatively free of wires, and we can see that down his cheeks are running two fat tears.

[penfold]

This sounds a lot like Cold Lazarus, the Dennis Potter swansong....

[Nick Dando]

name='penfold' date='29 June 2010 - 10:57 AM' timestamp='1277805450' post='445784']

This sounds a lot like Cold Lazarus, the Dennis Potter swansong....

That was my initial thought, but the requestor does mention a body. It was Albert Finney's head that was wired up and it as a four-part series, linked into Karaoke. Perhaps Dennis got his idea from the original play? And that it what we still need to find.



Nick

[Blanche Fury]

Many thanks for this suggestion, but apart from anything else 'Cold Lazarus' (1996) is much too recent.

[sippog]

It's not a proper answer but I'm pretty sure this was a story episode in one of those series like OUTER LIMITS, TWILIGHT ZONE, NIGHT GALLERY etc. The trouble is there are so many of them. If I remember where I saw it, I'll let you know.

[jaycad]

Possibly an 'out of the unknown' episode?