A season of five individual teleplays written by Alan Bennett, each a miniature portrait of Northern life.
This anthology series consists of five stand-alone dramas. In “Our Winnie,” an undertaker, Cora (Elizabeth Spriggs), gives a tour of her premises while reflecting on the life of her late, more adventurous friend. “A Woman of No Importance” features Miss Schofield (Patricia Routledge), a fastidious office worker whose monologue about her mundane routine gradually reveals a more complicated inner life. “Rolling Home” follows a troubled young man, Donald (David Threlfall), on a tense car journey with his parents as they drive him to a psychiatric hospital. “Marks” is a study of mild obsession, centred on Marjory (Marjorie Yates), whose sense of self is defined by a particular brand of clothing. Finally, “Say Something Happened” observes the gentle collision between bureaucracy and old age when a social worker (Julie Walters) visits an elderly couple, Mam (Thora Hird) and Dad (Huw Lloyd).
This season of plays marks a significant point in Alan Bennett’s development as a dramatist, establishing the style that would later find its most famous expression in the Talking Heads monologues. Produced by Innes Lloyd, the plays are meticulous studies in character, finding profound comedy and pathos in the lives of the overlooked. Bennett’s precise ear for the rhythms of Northern English speech is on full display, as is his recurring fascination with the inner lives of stoical, often lonely, middle-aged women. The scripts provided formidable actors like Patricia Routledge and Thora Hird with perfectly calibrated vehicles for their talent, allowing them to construct entire worlds from Bennett’s quiet, witty, and deeply humane observations.
Broadcast: BBC Two, 5 Episodes, 12 November – 17 December 1982
Written by: Alan Bennett
Producer: Innes Lloyd
Directors: Malcolm Mowbray, Giles Foster, Piers Haggard
Music: George Fenton, Geoffrey Burgon
Main Cast: Elizabeth Spriggs (Cora), Constance Chapman (Ida), Patricia Routledge (Miss Schofield), Pat Heywood (Molly), David Threlfall (Donald), Marjorie Yates (Marjory), Dandy Nichols (Lily), Thora Hird (Mam), Julie Walters (June), Huw Lloyd (Dad)
