Film Crew Rob Bank

[DaveK]

Based on the assumption that a film crew is capable of doing anything in order to shoot a film a gang of criminals form themselves into a pretend crew in order to stage a Bank robbery.They get all the permissions and create all the chaos that a location shoot entails and the gang members become so involved with the shooting process that after the robbery has taken place the crook who is playing the sound recordist calls for absolute silence whilst he records an atmosphere wild track. The gang all freeze whilst he records his buzz track and a few seconds into the recording can be heard the approaching sounds of a police car siren...

That is the plot of a short play - perhaps made in the 80's by, I think, the BBC.

Can anyone identify and name it? And maybe even have a copy?

I remember really enjoying it on original Tx and would love to see it again.

Many thanks for any help.

Dave

[Simon Coward]

I remember seeing a play that used this principle, but I can't remember enough detail to recall the the sound recordist action you describe. The one I'm thinking of was

12/03/1982, 21:00-21:35 - Playhouse: Pocketful of Dreams.

Don't have a Radio Times to hand, but a couple of newspaper synopses go as follows:

Jim Hill's comedy stars Michael Elphick and Philip Jackson as the crooks who use movie methods in making plans to rob a bank.
Co-starring Wolfe Morris and Debbie Wheeler.

Michael Elphick and Philip Jackson lead a jolly comedy about a pair of right villains who see, in a casual encounter with a film crew, an idea for the perfect bank robbery.

Pocketful Of Dreams
Written by Jim Hill
Charlie - Michael Elphick
Denny - Philip Jackson
Sidney Moss - Wolfe Morris
Tina - Debbie Wheeler
Frank - James Marcus
Albert - Trevor Laird
Lugs - Matthew Scurfield
Tonka - Dicken Ashworth
Shorty - Duncan Faber
Nigel - Nigel English
Lenny - Peter Benson
Jimmy Green - Mike Grady
Bank Manager - Anthony Dawes
Michael Kaye - Clinton Greyn
Female Clerk - Lilian Rostkowska
Produced by Terry Coles
Directed by Stuart Urban
Originally transmitted 12.03.1982

[GRAEME]

A dead steal of an episode of the 1960's Batman series by the way...

[Tonch]

... and a theme touched upon with various twists ever since, e.g. The Sweeney episode "Supersnout"

[christoph404]

Best variation of that theme has to be "After the Fox" with Peter Sellers masquerading as an Italian film director with his criminal buddies as the crew, Victor Mature turns in a great performance of self parody as ageing has been Tony Powell, we even get to see the manic film they manage to shoot projected on a courtroom wall, both films are brilliant in their own way, the main feature and the film within the film.

[DaveK]

I remember seeing a play that used this principle, but I can't remember enough detail to recall the the sound recordist action you describe. The one I'm thinking of was

12/03/1982, 21:00-21:35 - Playhouse: Pocketful of Dreams.

Don't have a Radio Times to hand, but a couple of newspaper synopses go as follows:

Jim Hill's comedy stars Michael Elphick and Philip Jackson as the crooks who use movie methods in making plans to rob a bank.
Co-starring Wolfe Morris and Debbie Wheeler.

Michael Elphick and Philip Jackson lead a jolly comedy about a pair of right villains who see, in a casual encounter with a film crew, an idea for the perfect bank robbery.

Pocketful Of Dreams
Written by Jim Hill
Charlie - Michael Elphick
Denny - Philip Jackson
Sidney Moss - Wolfe Morris
Tina - Debbie Wheeler
Frank - James Marcus
Albert - Trevor Laird
Lugs - Matthew Scurfield
Tonka - Dicken Ashworth
Shorty - Duncan Faber
Nigel - Nigel English
Lenny - Peter Benson
Jimmy Green - Mike Grady
Bank Manager - Anthony Dawes
Michael Kaye - Clinton Greyn
Female Clerk - Lilian Rostkowska
Produced by Terry Coles
Directed by Stuart Urban
Originally transmitted 12.03.1982

Dear Simon,

Thank you very much for all that information.
It sounds very much like the play I remembered and the Tx date seems highly likely. It really was great fun and for anyone in the industry perhaps even funnier. As I said I'd love to see it again and just wonder if anyone may have recorded it?
Vhs was around in 1982, wasn't it?

Thank you again.

Dave

[Simon Coward]

I'd love to see it again and just wonder if anyone may have recorded it?
Vhs was around in 1982, wasn't it?

I have a feeling I did record it, but the tape ran out before the end - maybe I thought it only ran for 30 minutes. As a result, I didn't keep it - in fact maybe that's why I don't remember the bit about the sound recordist, perhaps I've never seen it all.