It Sticks Out Half a Mile.....

[salymap]

On Radio4 Extra, on 24th January, 12 noon and 7pm.

A previously unheard 1981 pilot episode. Lowe and Le Mesurier reprise their Dad's Army characters but their positions and social status are reversed.

Sadly Lowe died before the series could be recorded and this episode was shelved.

A'delightful curiosity' says then Radio Times and a one-off chance to hear it.

[Lateralthinking1]

On Radio4 Extra, on 24th January, 12 noon and 7pm.

A previously unheard 1981 pilot episode. Lowe and Le Mesurier reprise their Dad's Army characters but their positions and social status are reversed.

Sadly Lowe died before the series could be recorded and this episode was shelved.

A'delightful curiosity' says then Radio Times and a one-off chance to hear it.

Many thanks for the tip. I will definitely listen to it.

[Nick Armstrong]

Many thanks for the tip. I will definitely listen to it.

Echoed, Lat!

I'd spotted this in the RT and made a mental note which promptly flew out of one ear...

I speak as an unconditional Arthur Lowe fan. I hope it's not too depressing - apparently, he doesn't sound 100% (slurring etc), although the timing is undimmed.

[Stillhomewardbound]

Arthur Lowe had a very decent post-Dad's Army career, to say the least. There was Roy Clarke's Potter and Bless Me Father. The latter ran for three series (very charming and genuinely comical) and saw Lowe get out of the Sam Brown mould.

However, it's terrible to realise that such a good technician was alcoholic and died just 66. The narcolepsy was only the half of it.

What is it about the dynamic of comedy acting that produces such successful, but ultimately, prematurely extinguished careers. Indeed, in the one series there was Lowe, John Le Mesurier and James Beck?

Comedy, as they say, all too accurately, is deadly serious business.

[Nick Armstrong]

On Radio4 Extra, on 24th January, 12 noon and 7pm.

A previously unheard 1981 pilot episode. Lowe and Le Mesurier reprise their Dad's Army characters but their positions and social status are reversed.

Sadly Lowe died before the series could be recorded and this episode was shelved.

A'delightful curiosity' says then Radio Times and a one-off chance to hear it.

I listened to this at the weekend... Made me sad, more than anything. The script somewhat below the Croft/Perry standard - but above all, Arthur Lowe on his last legs, trying to time the lines and find the Mainwaring Magic, but hindered by slurred speech almost à la Patrick Moore in his latter years. A 'curiosity' certainly - but hardly a 'delightful' one

[salymap]

I listened to this at the weekend... Made me sad, more than anything. The script somewhat below the Croft/Perry standard - but above all, Arthur Lowe on his last legs, trying to time the lines and find the Mainwaring Magic, but hindered by slurred speech almost à la Patrick Moore in his latter years. A 'curiosity' certainly - but hardly a 'delightful' one

I switched off Caliban because to me, with tinninus, and no TV picture, the two main characters sounded very similar, although I noticed the hesitations. Yes, rather sad and disappointing IMV

[Don Petter]

Thin gruel indeed. A great pity.

[Lateralthinking1]

I enjoyed it. The fact that it was Snoad and Knowles suggested it might not be a patch on Croft and Perry. I was surprised and rather impressed at just how skilfully the new team had made the characters so similar to the way they had been in Dads Army. Normally an immediate spin-off from a successful show by the same writers is unsuccessful. Here there were not only different writers but there had been a long gap. The latter was the sadness for me - it hadn't been done earlier and completed with Lowe.

The premise that Mainwaring, the senior one, had fallen financially while the other, Wilson, had risen in influence, with the former depending on the latter for money, was a very good one. The dialogue was extremely effective in conveying both the awkwardness between the two because of the altered juxtaposition and the fact that their characters actually hadn't altered much. Mainwaring still had the pomp and the bluster while Wilson remained laid back and was willing to agree to his demands. It worked very well.

I liked the idea that Mainwaring wanted to buy a pier. He was always no-nonsense ambition and bumbling ideas. Yes, Lowe slurred in places but he was unwell. It was a remarkable achievement in the circumstances. And as a listener to R4E, I remembered how Hancock often stumbled for all of his brilliant timing. In other shows of that earlier era, many things were done in one take. A part of their appeal is in that natural quality. The best ones managed errors with ad-hoc humour or, as in Lowe's case, professionalism.

[Stillhomewardbound]

Lateralthinking ... I've tracked down an episode of Bless Me Father. A very pleasant way to pass a half-hour.

http://youtu.be/i6YSPgdAjG0

[Lateralthinking1]

Many thanks shb. I don't recall seeing any episodes of that series at the time. It was very good to see Arthur Lowe in another of his final roles. With one or two exceptions, notably 'Only Fools and Horses', I think that his death came at the end of a golden era of comedy on radio and television which lasted nearly 30 years but there is also a slight feeling that it has improved in the last five.