frank-gibbard

I saw this comment here - quote "looking at it from the moral point of view, the Bible, which is the ultimate moral authority, teaches us that homosexuality is wrong, so wrong it is and the matter cannot be up for discussion" this is the worst comment I ever read on this site. Narrow minded zealotry from the arrogant believers in the book who cannot think their own thoughts outside the straight jacket of fundamentalism. This was a good depiction of a true horror story of bigotry (a view of a straight male). How was what happened the best outcome for the child, or natural justice? This was on TV here in the UK today. It is hard to accept society has not advanced to accept things without reference to religious considerations.

Of course this is excellent professional stuff, shown tonight on BBC 4 to showcase Liz Smith. What was said before here I can only endorse fully and what a surprise to find Ben Kingsley appear quite unexpectedly, as a mini-cab controller, showing early flashes of brilliance. Great BBC Play For Today almost polemic in depth of social anthropology conveyed in simple scenes with sparse but exceptionally naturalistic and believable dialogue.

Scare alert - there is a real yuck moment where Liz Smith is required to massage her old husband's extremely hairy back that must have been revolting for her, the unexpected sacrifice of acting. Bernard Hill turns in as usual a convincing performance as an under the thumb husband to Alison Steadman's control freak.

Old style pubs and seedy streets add to the time capsule value of this production which I thoroughly enjoyed, an unexpected treat as I had never heard of this at all before.

Just saw a repeat of one episode on satellite channel Performance and what a good one it turned out to be, pure luck finding it on at all. All I could remember after all the years were star Peter Davison and of course the two mad nuns, a quirky running joke you looked out for (like a Hitchcock appearances in his films) when these were first broadcast originally. This had Timothy West as a literally manic professor consulting the campus Dr (Davison's character)and raging at him on a drunken rampage round the University while popping pills Dr Daker keeps saying should not be mixed with alcohol. It is a typically bravura performance worth an award I felt and shamefully lost in TV's vaults, what an example of top-notch acting, does anyone agree with me I wonder? A companion piece to his Brass efforts in my opinion. This or both series should be run again on a main channel to be seen by more people for all its plusses already cited here. And to see Troughton and Crowden at their very best which is very very good as is the terrific original writing of the great Andrew Davies. Frank