70s play with peter barkworth

[medwayman]

<div> I was looking at Peter Barkworth's imbd page and suddenly remembered
seeing him in a television play in the early/mid 70s? I'm pretty sure
that the play was aired midweek and not too late in the evening. the only vague facts that i can
remember about it is - a group of people meet in a tiny flat (i don't
think it was a party, more like a neighbourhood watch sort of thing)
Peter barkworth starts to recall some memories of his schooldays and a
young woman (young enough to be his daughter) quickly becomes obsessed with him.
later she furtively visits him at his flat. I can't remember anyone else who was in it. The only title i can see in his imbd list that has a remote connection to the above, is 'the Saturday Party' but this has Judi Bowker in it and i would have thought i would have remembered her. I'm 99% certain that it was barkworth in this role but as my mind plays tricks on me now (increasingly) it is possible that another actor in the same mould such as denholm elliot played the part. Sorry not much to go on! <br></div>

[CaptainWaggett]

Maybe Come into my Parlour from Shadows of Fear

[man-in -the-moon]

Could it be Late Starter from 1985 where Peter Barkworth? He plays a professor who finds himself living in a small bedsit and has to start his life over again.It also starred Julia Foster.

[medwayman]

Maybe Come into my Parlour from Shadows of Fear

Hi captain

thanks for getting back to me. Don't think it was 'come into my parlour' as Barkworth's character was quite amiable - it was the young girl who did the pursuing. The Shadows of fear DVD looks very interesting i think i'll get that - looks like it has some very interesting stuff on it.

[medwayman]

Could it be Late Starter from 1985 where Peter Barkworth? He plays a professor who finds himself living in a small bedsit and has to start his life over again.It also starred Julia Foster.

Hi man in the moon

thanks for your reply. the situation sounds right (living in a bedsit) but the year of production 1985 is far later than when i think it was shown. I'm sure i saw this at my parents home when i was still living there - i think i was about 12 or 13 at the time and didn't understand all that was going on in the play (the adult subtext of the play) in 1985 i was much older and married - i definitely would have understood what was going on then! But your post has made me realise that the Barkworth character must have been in reduced circumstances, living in a tiny old flat (perhaps recently divorced) because he was going on about his time at a posh public school and had the air of someone who was used to the finer things in life.

thanks again

[jaycad]

I was looking at Peter Barkworth's imbd page and suddenly rememberedseeing him in a television play in the early/mid 70s? I'm pretty surethat the play was aired midweek and not too late in the evening. the only vague facts that i canremember about it is - a group of people meet in a tiny flat (i don'tthink it was a party, more like a neighbourhood watch sort of thing)Peter barkworth starts to recall some memories of his schooldays and ayoung woman (young enough to be his daughter) quickly becomes obsessed with him.later she furtively visits him at his flat. I can't remember anyone else who was in it. The only title i can see in his imbd list that has a remote connection to the above, is 'the Saturday Party' but this has Judi Bowker in it and i would have thought i would have remembered her. I'm 99% certain that it was barkworth in this role but as my mind plays tricks on me now (increasingly) it is possible that another actor in the same mould such as denholm elliot played the part. Sorry not much to go on!

Sounds like a cross between 'Come into my parlour' as already mentioned and the 'Tales of the Unexpected' episode 'The Stinker'(starring Denholm Elliot who reminisces about his public schooldays and has a much younger wife) is it not possible the two are being confused?

[jaycad]

I was looking at Peter Barkworth's imbd page and suddenly rememberedseeing him in a television play in the early/mid 70s? I'm pretty surethat the play was aired midweek and not too late in the evening. the only vague facts that i canremember about it is - a group of people meet in a tiny flat (i don'tthink it was a party, more like a neighbourhood watch sort of thing)Peter barkworth starts to recall some memories of his schooldays and ayoung woman (young enough to be his daughter) quickly becomes obsessed with him.later she furtively visits him at his flat. I can't remember anyone else who was in it. The only title i can see in his imbd list that has a remote connection to the above, is 'the Saturday Party' but this has Judi Bowker in it and i would have thought i would have remembered her. I'm 99% certain that it was barkworth in this role but as my mind plays tricks on me now (increasingly) it is possible that another actor in the same mould such as denholm elliot played the part. Sorry not much to go on!

Sounds like a cross between 'Come into my parlour' as already mentioned and the 'Tales of the Unexpected' episode 'The Stinker'(starring Denholm Elliot who reminisces about his public schooldays and has a much younger wife) is it not possible the two are being confused?

[medwayman]

Sounds like a cross between 'Come into my parlour' as already mentioned and the 'Tales of the Unexpected' episode 'The Stinker'(starring Denholm Elliot who reminisces about his public schooldays and has a much younger wife) is it not possible the two are being confused?

I might be confused about who played the role (99% sure it was Barkworth but have to admit have been 99% sure before and been wrong) I've looked up 'the stinker' and definitely haven't seen this play (sounds good though). In the play i saw, the barkworth character was not married and the girl who becomes infactuated by him (or his stories) is much younger than him and on the surface is rather shy and reserved - but i think appearances prove to be deceptive as she pursues him. I wish i could remember something else about the play which would give something else to go on.

[jaycad]

I might be confused about who played the role (99% sure it was Barkworth but have to admit have been 99% sure before and been wrong) I've looked up 'the stinker' and definitely haven't seen this play (sounds good though). In the play i saw, the barkworth character was not married and the girl who becomes infactuated by him (or his stories) is much younger than him and on the surface is rather shy and reserved - but i think appearances prove to be deceptive as she pursues him. I wish i could remember something else about the play which would give something else to go on.

Well,the majority of your plot sounds like 'Come into my Parlour'-the girl is shy/timid and in an attempt to meet people and gain confidence she applies for and gets a job as an 'Avon' girl through which she meets Barkworths much older character who then,after initially unnerving her with his seemingly odd ways,begins to charm her with flattery and tales of his previous job as a barrister/solicitor-this all takes place in Barkworths flat,apart from the fact you remember the girl doing the chasing it sounds a pretty good fit! Even if it isn't what you're looking for,the 'Shadows of Fear' series is highly recommended.

[medwayman]

Well,the majority of your plot sounds like 'Come into my Parlour'-the girl is shy/timid and in an attempt to meet people and gain confidence she applies for and gets a job as an 'Avon' girl through which she meets Barkworths much older character who then,after initially unnerving her with his seemingly odd ways,begins to charm her with flattery and tales of his previous job as a barrister/solicitor-this all takes place in Barkworths flat,apart from the fact you remember the girl doing the chasing it sounds a pretty good fit! Even if it isn't what you're looking for,the 'Shadows of Fear' series is highly recommended.

yes i've been looking at this series it does look rather good. My wife has a birthday coming up, i think i'll get it for her! On the imdb page for 'come into my parlour' under the trivia section it says this is a remake of the armchair thriller, 1967, play 'will you come a little closer' with freddie jones and Caroline mortimore starring. Strange that they remade it so soon after?

[jaycad]

yes i've been looking at this series it does look rather good. My wife has a birthday coming up, i think i'll get it for her! On the imdb page for 'come into my parlour' under the trivia section it says this is a remake of the armchair thriller, 1967, play 'will you come a little closer' with freddie jones and Caroline mortimore starring. Strange that they remade it so soon after?

Is that so?It must've been considered a decent play! A similar think happened with a Robert Muller play-Armchair Thriller has it titled 'Man and Mirror' in 1960 and the BBC remade it as part of their 'Supernatural' series entitled 'Lady Sybil',both star Denholm Elliot as 'Dr Manners'.

[Jack Gurney]

That often happens. TALES OF THE UNEXPECTED features a remake of Wendy Toye's classic short THE STRANGER LEFT NO CALLING CARD, as well as several Dahl stories, such as A DIP IN THE POOL, that had been filmed in the 50s and 60s as part of ALFRED HITCHCOCK PRESENTS. Also, OUT OF THE UNKNOWN and JOURNEY TO THE UNKNOWN both contain versions of the story STRANGER IN THE FAMILY, both starring Richard O' Callaghan, one in colour and one in monochrome.

There's also a 70s play with Barkworth entitled MR SMITH, which I haven't seen- is it in any way similar to the plot described?

[medwayman]

Interesting info thanks jack. Just read the synopsis of Mr Smith sadly not the play but the right era i think. I'm beginning to think it must have been someone else in the role that i think Peter Barkworth played - probably my memory playing tricks on me. The only other thing i can dredge out of the memory bank, about the play, is when barkworth (or whoever) is regaling the young woman with stories of his schooldays, he used a strange word to describe his beating from a music master - it might have been castigation - a word that i had no idea the meaning of, as a 10 year old, but obviously the young woman had no such linguistic problems and became implausibly attracted to the barkworth character!

[medwayman]

Interesting info thanks jack. Just read the synopsis of Mr Smith sadly not the play but the right era i think. I'm beginning to think it must have been someone else in the role that i think Peter Barkworth played - probably my memory playing tricks on me. The only other thing i can dredge out of the memory bank, about the play, is when barkworth (or whoever) is regaling the young woman with stories of his schooldays, he used a strange word to describe his beating from a music master - it might have been castigation - a word that i had no idea the meaning of, as a 10 year old, but obviously the young woman had no such linguistic problems and became implausibly attracted to the barkworth character!

[Folkal Point]

Could it be "Cupid's Darts", a play from 1981 with Robin Bailey and Leslie Ash.

[medwayman]

Hi FP

Thanks for the suggestion - but i don't remember anything about darts in the play and it seemed to take place in an old victorian house converted into 'bed sits' (bit like rising damp). This play sounds good tho - i like David nobbs stuff especially 'a bit of a do'. i see that he recently turned this play into a novel.

[Jack Gurney]

There's also THE LAST CHAPTER, written by John Fowles, in which a teenage Susan Penhaligon bewitches, strips for, and then thoroughly takes the piss out of a cynical ageing writer played by Denholm Elliott- this has now been issued as an extra on Flipside's PRIVATE ROAD DVD- and a PLAY OF THE MONTH entitled EVELYN, in which the late great Edward Woodward, playing a repressed middle aged clerk, has an affair with an extremely promiscuous young woman played by the equally late and great Angela Scoular....any similarities?

[medwayman]

Again these two plays sound very watchable but are not the play i'm looking for. In the play the young woman is very shy and seems primarily interested in the schoolday memories that the barkworth character was spouting i didn't realise at the time but i guess she finds them a turn on. then later she furtively enters his upstairs flat - don't think you see anything that goes on between them - left to the imagination i suppose - i wish i could remember any of the other cast members but it's too long ago and at that age i don't think i would have known there names - except for Peter Barkworth which hope is correct!

[Euryale]

This is a long shot or probably no shot at all, but there was a play broadcast at 9.00pm on Wednesday 21st February 1973 in the ITV series Love Story.

It was called Home for the Holidays and starred Denholm Elliott and Tracy Hyde, who had appeared in Melody. It was about a neglected 13-year-old girl who befriends a 50-year-old man, but with the people surrounding them jumping to the wrong conclusions. It's almost impossible to find any information about this show - the IMDB only lists the two actors in the cast, but I suppose there were others:

IMDb - "Love Story" Home for the Holidays (TV episode 1973)

The Daily Mirror for that day gives this synopsis:





And the Daily Express advertised the play with this picture of Tracy:



I suppose it is possible that their relationship was made to look furtive through the eyes of their neighbours, although it was all completely innocent in reality.


E.

[Simon Coward]

There's not much in TVTimes for this play either: