In this four-part BBC serial, a mysterious stranger transforms the fortunes of a struggling London firm and the lives of its employees.
The London firm of Twigg and Dersingham, dealers in veneers, is facing collapse. For its loyal cashier, Mr Smeeth (Maurice Denham), the future looks bleak until the sudden arrival of the energetic Mr Golspie (Sydney Tafler). Claiming to have a cheap source of high-quality veneers from the Baltic, Golspie injects new life into the company, transforming its fortunes. His presence disrupts the staid lives of the small staff, including the lonely spinster Miss Matfield (Margaret Tyzack) and the timid clerk Turgis (Alec McCowen). When Turgis becomes infatuated with Golspie’s vivacious daughter, Lena (Catherine Feller), the consequences are disastrous. Just as quickly as he arrived, Golspie vanishes, leaving the firm in ruins and its employees facing an uncertain future.
Constance Cox’s four-part adaptation of J. B. Priestley’s 1930 novel was a significant dramatic undertaking for the BBC. The story is a study of London life lived under the menacing shadow of the Great Depression, a context made explicit by the author himself. The plot’s engine is the desperation of the firm’s employees, for whom the loss of a job meant a swift descent into poverty in the period before the welfare state. The mysterious Mr Golspie is a figure of tantalising but ultimately false hope, and his arrival injects a dangerous energy into their mundane routines. His equally abrupt departure reinforces the novel’s bleak message: that for ordinary people, financial security is fragile and easily shattered.
Broadcast: BBC, 4 Episodes, 28 December 1957 – 17 January 1958
Adapted by: Constance Cox
Based on the novel by: J. B. Priestley
Producer: John Jacobs
Director: John Jacobs
Main Cast: Maurice Denham (Mr Smeeth), Sydney Tafler (Mr Golspie), Margaret Tyzack (Miss Matfield), Alec McCowen (Turgis), Maureen Pryor (Mrs Smeeth), Catherine Feller (Lena Golspie), Edwina Rendell (Poppy Sellars), Irene Handl (Mrs Mitty), Robert Scroggins (Stanley Poole)
