You and 42

https://who-dares.co.uk/shop/you-and-42-the-hitchhikers-guide-to-douglas-adams/

A couple of years back, I responded to a notice from Watching Books, asking if people were interested in contributing to another of their You and Who-style charity publications, this time one focussing on the life and works of Douglas Adams, to be called You and 42. For most people who know me it will come as no great surprise that I leapt at the chance and, thankfully, both my pitches were accepted, swiftly written and submitted.
 
Due to various circumstances (none of which are relevant or in any way my business) the project has taken a couple of years to see the light of day. But it's not been left to stagnate during that time. Co-editors and general froods, Jessica Burke & Anthony Burdge, have continued to gather new contributions, spreading the net wider and wider within the fan community, and noted Adams biographer Jem Roberts ( https://www.amazon.co.uk/Frood-Authorised-Official-Hitchhikers-published/dp/B01BOED098/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1523869681&sr=8-3&keywords=jem+roberts ) has given a preface which perhaps lends the venture more of the sense of legitimacy that it deserves.

The other major change across that hiatus period is that now the book is being published by Who Dares instead of Watching Books. It's still a charity publication, with proceeds going to Save The Rhino ( https://www.savetherhino.org/ ), a charity for which Douglas was a Founder Patron (we contributors receive nothing, in case you wondered - not even a free copy).

The book is 300+ pages covering the whole gamut of Douglas Adams' life and various works and endeavours, told from the personal perspectives of a large number of contributors. That's the point of these You and... books, they tell the personal stories of fans relating to, or being affected by, these works.
My pieces cover Douglas' time as script editor of Doctor Who, and then my encounter with Life, The Universe and Everything during GCSE English about ten years later. His time on Doctor Who, and then the severe backlash immediately after, was the last time I found the programme either scary or utterly enthralling for years after, and the last time it was ever classed as required viewing by the other children at my school. About ten years later the Hitchhiker's Guide books were an absolute breath of fresh air amongst the turgidity of Far From The Madding Crowd or whatever else my dull grey smear of an English teacher felt fit to bore us with that week. It showed me that English could be fun, and despite my teacher's best efforts I've never looked back since. 

Those are just my stories, of course, but there are loads more besides, and Who Dares have done the book proud with a smashing cover and some wonderful interior artwork to complement the words. The book is out later in April and you can find out more about it, as well as pre-ordering it, on this link:  
https://who-dares.co.uk/shop/you-and-42-the-hitchhikers-guide-to-douglas-adams/
 In some ways the book's publication is very timely; not only have we just had the final HHGTTG series, The Hexagonal Phase, broadcast on BBC Radio 4, but just a few short weeks ago it was reported that the last surviving male Northern White rhino had died ( https://www.fauna-flora.org/news/worlds-last-male-northern-white-rhino-dies?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI0qu788a-2gIVhj8bCh0MIg8kEAAYASAAEgLxjfD_BwE ). The species will become extinct when the few remaining females die. Raising money to help save other species of these magnificent animals may allow future generations to appreciate them, and their beauty, as more than simply pictures in a book, or a footnote in human development. It would be a shame if all the hard work that's gone into getting this book out into the world doesn't then feed something worthwhile back to a charity that was so close to Douglas' heart. I would urge any fans of Douglas Adams' work to buy a copy of You and 42.

Thanks.

The Crunch… and other Stories, by Nigel Kneale

This Network DVD release brings together three disparate stand-alone television plays by Nigel Kneale, made for ITV networks.

The Crunch, 1964, dir. Michael Elliott (ATV)

Unnatural Causes: Ladies Night, 1986, dir. Herbert Wise (Central)

Gentry, 1988, dir. Roy Battersby (Central)

Kneale may be best known for the 1950s Quatermass serials and his other BBC work, but he wrote a lot for ITV too – notably the 1976 anthology series Beasts and the 1979 John Mills Quatermass Conclusion mini-series. The three television plays in this collection are a welcome addition to Kneale’s legacy in our home collections. 

Kneale’s television work has many hallmarks: it is often challenging – both technically and narratively. It is often uncompromising in the way it faces up to the realities of the modern world, and the vagaries of human relationships. These three plays are, on the whole, representative of this, but I think they show us most tellingly how the changes to television production over the years affects the viewer’s perception of the stories they have to tell. 

The Crunch is Kneale at his uncomfortable best. A nuclear catastrophe is threatened at a London Embassy, by an ex-British colony seeking reparation for their island being economically and culturally raped in the name of progress. It is dark, ponderous at times, and directed with an edge of realism and a feeling of immediacy – shown, in particular, through the POV external films sequences. Quatermass fans may struggle with uniformed Anthony Bushell, who looks exactly the same here as he did as Colonel Breen seven years previously in Quatermass and The Pit. But as a bonus you can look out for a pre-moustachioed young Peter Bowles giving a fine turn. It’s a great play, very much of its time and easily the gem of the set. 

Then we leap forward 22 years, and into colour. 

What Ladies Night and Gentry have in common is very much a 1980s ‘sheen’. The incidental music is upbeat, jaunty and – unfortunately - prominent in them. Glossy production values give both plays an unwanted theatricality, so we are aware of the act of watching TV (if that makes sense) which means the plays have to work harder to suck us in to their world, and the audience has to work harder to see through the veneer. They both look and feel like episodes of Only Fools and Horses, frankly. But beneath that the scripts are still sharp, still insightful. 

Fiona Walker steals the show in Ladies Night, although Nigel Stock is always immensely watchable. Alfred Burke’s old misogynist, Colonel Waley (who reportedly saved Herman Goering’s life as a matter of honour), doesn’t want ladies in his gentleman’s club, but is a little two dimensional, a little too one-note, to be truly believable. And, unfortunately, Kneale’s work always relies very much on the audience believing in all the characters they meet as real people.

Ladies Night is The Worm That Turned meets Love Thy Neighbour, building to a punchline that shouldn’t surprise the audience and only exasperates the old Colonel. Yes, it’s clearly a satire, an exaggeration of the old Gentleman’s Club world as its outmoded ethos struggles to attract new membership in a society that no longer values the kind of hunting, empire-building, chivalrous old gent of yesteryear. But the overt staginess of the production, drawing attention to itself as ‘television’, means the satire falls flat. 

Gentry is also a satire, this time on 1980s society and materialism, as the loss of community values and social consciousness creates starker gaps between classes and ideologies. This is personified by Gerald, Duncan Preston’s conservative, unscrupulous – but perhaps not unscrupulous enough – lawyer, versus Susannah, his wife with her decent, socialist values, both of whom are then posed against the desperate lower / rougher end of society in Roger Daltry’s thief, Colin, and his accomplices.

I’d argue that Duncan Preston is miscast. He did a lot of good work with Victoria Wood, and he certainly looks the part, but in a drama like this he’s just a caricature - you can see him acting a lot of the time, whereas by contrast most of the others sell themselves as real characters. Phoebe Nicholls, Michael Attwell and Roger Daltry are all excellent and totally inhabit their rolls. But here again the unsubtle theatricality of the look and feel of the play means that the satire falls flat. 

I couldn’t help getting a sense of these 1980s pieces being like ‘A’-Level theatre studies devised pieces, or dark adaptations of old Whitehall farces, with their limited settings and clear two-act structures – particularly in Gentry where the play works around the arrival or revelation of certain characters. I very much wanted these plays to take a bolder step into discomfort at times – Michael Attwell and Roger Daltry come closest - just to set them at a remove from the comparison.

I didn’t dislike Ladies Night and Gentry and they’re definitely worth another viewing, but I wanted to like them more than I did. Their glossy ‘80s sheen serves to undermine their dramatic impact. It suggests cosy drama rather than gritty realism. Tastes change, I know, but personally I consider that a piece like The Crunch stands the test of time far better than these latter two.