Feet First

The genre of 'how-did-it-ever-make-it-onto-screen' seventies sit-coms is a fairly extensive one and 'Feet First' is a prime example. Ostensibly the plot concerns young,naiive amateur footballer Terry Prince being signed up for fame and fortune by slightly rogueish first division manager Harry Turnbull.Like most such series,though, the plot is only really a thin device around which to crowbar in all the standard sit-com clichés and routines. Football fans will have been particularly critical of the shoddy representation of all aspects of the game , although,in fairness, the two lead characters were far from the worst examples of football representation on the small screen. Indeed the performances of Lee Montague as Turnbull and Jonathon Barlow as Prince were probably as good as could be expected,given the lazy,uninspired quality of the scripts. Montague was already a well established stock player,called upon whenever a Cockney heavy was required,and the failure of Feet First didn't seem to harm his appeal particularly. Likewise the relative newcomer Barlow,who quickly settled in to a career of regular TV work in light,supporting roles. Sadly the same cannot be said of Jacqui Cassidy who,after appearing as Prince's predictably dim wife Viv,seems to have disappeared without trace as,indeed,did Feet First,pulled after 6 episodes leaving episode 7 unscreened and,frankly,unmissed.