Roads To Freedom (BBCTV, 1970)

[Conchis]

I was only 3 when this series was originally broadcast in 1970 and was still too young for the repeat run later in the decade.

Everyone I know who saw it remembers it as an outstanding piece of tv drama and a great adaptation of Sartre's trilogy.

The series still exists at the BFI and was given a showing at the NFT in 2012: I wasn't able to see it, being out of the country at the time.

Anyone on here got any memories of it? Was anyone at the BFI showing?

Here's the memorable 'theme tune', sung in perfectly idiomatic French by the non-Gallic Georgia Brown (the original Nancy in Lionel Bart's 'Oliver!')

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFnY-TP8468

[aeolium]

I dimly remember watching some episodes of the repeat in the 1970s but didn't really understand it. The acting of Michael Bryant and Daniel Massey stood out for me, but I would welcome a chance to watch the whole series properly. I didn't know about the BFI showing in 2012 but almost certainly would not have been able to go to London specifically to watch it. It is strange that there seems to be an embargo on its resale by the BBC - there is even a "conspiracy" discussion about this on the web!

[Stanley Stewart]

Hazy but happy memories here, too, of David Turner's adaptation - 13 x 50 mins parts and I still had a monochrome TV in the early 70s so visualise it in black and white. In early 1972, as a thesp, I went on tour with a play starring Alastair Sim and Michael Bryant who played a leading role in the Roads to Freedom. I used to organise 'comps' at cinemas in Brighton and Newcastle where we could attend early afternoon screenings before being treated to a meal at Alastair's posh hotels. Lots of hilarious conversations and, discussing the huge success of Roads to Freedom, Michael despaired at the shortage of contemporary roles as 'they only want me for intellectual characters'. Coincidentally, Nicholas & Alexandra (1971) Michael played Lenin, was also featured at the Newcastle, Odeon, and we were seated in splendour in the vast Royal Circle by the management. Michael's regular appearances being greeted sotto voce by Alastair, "Ugh...what a boring actor", in his incomporable intonation, accompanied by my dig in the ribs! I last saw Michael (he died in 2002) in John Gabriel Borkman at the RNT, in the mid-90s and he took me onstage at the Olivier stage to demonstrate how to use its notorious acoustic - the craft lies in a slow swivel of the head as you speak. I'd certainly rate him as a great actor as well as a direct and genuine character.

Let's hope that The Roads to Freedom eventually makes its way to DVD.

[aeolium]

I last saw Michael (he died in 2002) in John Gabriel Borkman at the RNT, in the mid-90s and he took me onstage at the Olivier stage to demonstrate how to use its notorious acoustic - the craft lies in a slow swivel of the head as you speak. I'd certainly rate him as a great actor as well as a direct and genuine character.

Definitely a great actor, SS - some outstanding performances in Shakespeare and Ibsen, as well as plenty of TV dramatic roles e.g. in M R James' The Treasure of Abbot Thomas. I think I last saw him on the stage in Stoppard's The Invention Of Love as Charon with John Wood playing the old A E Housman.

[gradus]

I remember 'La route est dure mais je suis fort' sung by Georgia Brown and the excellent Daniel Massey but time has somehow erased Michael Bryant from my memory but I would love to see the whole thing again.

[Conchis]

Definitely a great actor, SS - some outstanding performances in Shakespeare and Ibsen, as well as plenty of TV dramatic roles e.g. in M R James' The Treasure of Abbot Thomas. I think I last saw him on the stage in Stoppard's The Invention Of Love as Charon with John Wood playing the old A E Housman.

You might be thinking of David Ryall, who certainly played that role when i saw TIOL at the Haymarket.

[aeolium]

You might be thinking of David Ryall, who certainly played that role when i saw TIOL at the Haymarket.

I thought it was Michael Bryant - if you mean the role of Charon - and it's mentioned in this obituary of Bryant by Michael Billington:

http://www.theguardian.com/news/2002/apr/30/guardianobituaries.michaelbillington

John Wood, another fine actor, certainly played A E Housman.

[Conchis]

I thought it was Michael Bryant - if you mean the role of Charon - and it's mentioned in this obituary of Bryant by Michael Billington:

http://www.theguardian.com/news/2002/apr/30/guardianobituaries.michaelbillington

John Wood, another fine actor, certainly played A E Housman.

It was definitely Ryall when I saw it (late 1998), although Bryant might have originated the role. Did it start at the NT and then transfer? Bryant was permanently employed by the NT for the second half of his career.

[aeolium]

It was definitely Ryall when I saw it (late 1998), although Bryant might have originated the role. Did it start at the NT and then transfer? Bryant was permanently employed by the NT for the second half of his career.

Yes, I saw it at the NT, presumably before it transferred.

[Study Session]

My shocking search skills may be to blame, but can't find any mention of the recent repeat on BBC4. Scheduled very oddly, in batches of 4/5 episodes a time over three weeks - they presumably didn't expect anyone to watch three hours at a stretch in the dead of night? Anyway, on I Player now for more leisurely viewing.

[Serial_Apologist]

My shocking search skills may be to blame, but can't find any mention of the recent repeat on BBC4. Scheduled very oddly, in batches of 4/5 episodes a time over three weeks - they presumably didn't expect anyone to watch three hours at a stretch in the dead of night? Anyway, on I Player now for more leisurely viewing.

Sartre was a big influence on me as a teenager - I recall purchasing Being and Nothingness, and just about managing to figure out the ideas it contained before progressing on to the Critique of Dialectical Reason, which I still haven't completely managed to get my head around! Somewhere along the line Mr Sartre depassed me by!

[eighthobstruction]

Sartre was a big influence on me as a teenager - I recall purchasing Being and Nothingness, and just about managing to figure out the ideas it contained before progressing on to the Critique of Dialectical Reason, which I still haven't completely managed to get my head around! Somewhere along the line Mr Sartre depassed me by!

....Sartre was a big influence on me as a teenager....I made a decision never to be that intense....

[Serial_Apologist]

....Sartre was a big influence on me as a teenager....I made a decision never to be that intense....

Simone de Beauvoir always made the greater sense, to me.

[Nick Armstrong]

I last saw Michael (he died in 2002) in John Gabriel Borkman at the RNT, in the mid-90s and he took me onstage at the Olivier stage to demonstrate how to use its notorious acoustic - the craft lies in a slow swivel of the head as you speak. I'd certainly rate him as a great actor as well as a direct and genuine character.

I treasure the memory of seeing Michael Bryant (3 times, the production was so wonderful) as a mesmerisingly lugubrious Fool in (?)1997 in the NT King Lear with Ian Holm as Lear - it was in the Cottesloe, so very close-up… Unforgettable.

[eighthobstruction]

Simone de Beauvoir always made the greater sense, to me.

....very good for anagrams I'm sure....(well I possibly think so)