70s play with peter barkworth

[medwayman]

Hi Euryale and Simon, thanks for taking the time to upload these interesting clippings. Sadly not the right play - the young woman was in her early20s and although her conversations with barkworth (or whoever) started innocently enough I'm sure it led onto something not very innocent!

I'm the same age as Tracy Hyde and saw the film Melody (or S.W.A.L.K. as it was marketed then) back in 1971 - it was a great little film with some fantastic cameo performances -i remember thinking at the time how accurately they had captured 'school life' as it completely mirrored my secondary school experience. same chaotic dinner times, crushes on girls, not doing homework, playing truant, and of course strangely similar sadistic teachers.

I had no idea that Tracy was in other things after Melody, i thought that was her one and only screen appearance but seeing her IMDb listings, she was in quite a lot - i probably just didn't recognise her. I think I'll buy a copy of Melody and wallow in a couple of hours pure nostalgia.

[Simon Coward]

What about Petra Markham? Not much plot listed here...
theregulars.jpg
(click to enlarge).

[medwayman]

Brilliant! Thanks Simon you have cracked it! Was beginning to think i had imagined the whole thing. As i read the synopsis it just felt right (the tea party bit and about the right number of guests) and then when i checked out who Petra markham was, her image fitted almost exactly to the girl in my mind's eye - this has to be the play. Can i ask what year it was broadcast? sadly i suspect that nothing remains of this play now, which is a real shame, i'm really intrigued to find out what happened as i don't think i even watched the end of it back when it was broadcast. many thanks again for your detective work.

martyn

[medwayman]

Hi Simon

just found out that it was broadcast on 26th January 1973 - again the right period, so it fits perfectly. written by Roy Clarke (presumeably of last of the summer wine fame) don't remember it as being a comedy but perhaps it was, and i was just too young to understand it, or perhaps Roy hasn't always done comedy?

[Simon Coward]

Hi Simon

just found out that it was broadcast on 26th January 1973 - again the right period, so it fits perfectly. written by Roy Clarke (presumeably of last of the summer wine fame) don't remember it as being a comedy but perhaps it was, and i was just too young to understand it, or perhaps Roy hasn't always done comedy?

I think he's generally tended towards humour, but certainly not always out-and-out comedy. In his early days he often wrote for drama series like The Troubleshooters, The Power Game and Manhunt as well as slightly more tongue-in-cheek programmes like The Misfit, Mr. Rose and Spyder's Web. One of his editions of the usually straight BBC plays series Menace was on the just four days after the pilot to Open All Hours, so he certainly liked to mix it back then. I think he's just got pigeon-holed as a comedy writer following Last Of The Summer Wine, Open All Hours, Keeping Up Appearances and so on.

A couple of other things I've learnt about "The Regulars": it was originally scheduled as one of six plays London Weekend was contributing to ITV's Sunday Night Theatre series and was supposed to go out on 6th August 1972 (the other five were shown between 04/06/1972 and 13/08/1972). No idea why it was bumped by around six months to January 1973. Also, sadly, only four of those six plays still survive and "The Regulars" is one of the two that seems to have been wiped.

[medwayman]

I hadn't realised that Roy Clarke had written so many diverse scripts - quite an impressive CV. I don't think there was any humour involved in the regulars,i seem to remember there was an air of suspense and intrigue attached to it. What a shame that it has been wiped, are all of these messages i would really like to watch it now! I suppose there is an outside chance that somebody videoed it back in 73 - not many people had recorders back then but maybe a member of the cast asked someone to record it for them - if a video does exist its probably up in an attic somewhere never likely to see the screen of a TV again.

It's nice to know that my memory isn't completely clapped out and i did see Peter Barkworth in a (unlisted IMDb) play - was really beginning to think it must have been someone else. Wonder why they didn't show it with the others - perhaps it needed a later start time or deemed unsuitable for aSunday - probably just a scheduling mishap.

[cornershop15]

Well done, Simon. I've mentioned The Regulars a few times at Petra's thread and really should have figured it out ages ago. I posted that TVTimes listing as well but was unhappy with the photo that accompanied it. Just for you then, medwayman, hoping this brings back a memory:

The other programme is General Hospital. I'm afraid that episode is also "missing".

[medwayman]

Thanks cornershop for posting the pic! I see from the blurb below the photograph that the guests are all people who have put a postcard advert in the shop window. I'm wondering now if petra's character was a prostitute (i gather this was a way of publicising their services in the local area with postcards for 'french model' or 'masseuse' etc) Perhaps i misread the whole situation and she was targeting peter barkworth's character as a prospective client?