Talking Heads

A wonderful collection of Alan Bennett penned monologues.

Everyone has their favourites - 'A Chip In The Sugar' is mine.

Well worth re-watching ahead of the new interpretations airing on BBC soon.

Alan Bennett's writing shows us once again that there is something the English have about their language that only a very few American writers sense. I suppose its kind of like those English lawns: its only dirt and a bit of grass seed but you have to mow it for 600 years before you have it.

Bennett is a complete and real treasure!! His writing here is just wonderful-real and grounded in reality. Everyone that has posted here (and it is so very few) have really said all there is to say. The performances in all the monologues are exceptional but worthy of special mention is Patricia Routledge in A Lady of Letters which I quote in my summary line. She also is great in A Woman of No Importance. The characters were kind of templates for her less enjoyable Hyacinth Bouquet but so so much better and much more real. Alan Bennett himself does what he might call" a good turn" in a Chip in the Sugar. Some of the best of British talent fall over themselves to do his plays Julie Walters, Maggie Smith, Stephanie Cole , Anna Massey and Thora Hird all do his writing justice and then some.

A series of 6 monologues, by Alan Bennett ranging from 25 to 40 minutes, made for the BBC. These wonderful character sketches are very simply done. The actors speak directly into the camera, in very basic sets that look designed more for stage, than film. No pretense of naturalistic reality here.

There are 5 pieces for women, all performed by some of the best actresses around; Maggie Smith, Thora Hird. Patricia Routledge, Julie Walters and Stephanie Cole. The lone piece for a male is performed by Bennett himself, who acquits himself quite admirably. I usually think of him as a writer first, actor second, but he does a terrific and touching job interpreting his work.

As in any collection of short pieces the quality of the tales is somewhat variable, but none are less than good, and a few are exquisite; heartbreaking, funny, capturing the poetry of modern life in the Bennett has proved himself so good at. It's especially wonderful to see Maggie Smith getting to play a character so subtle and understated. While she has always had tremendous range, in recent years much of what she has done has been on the broader side. So being reminded of just how powerfully quiet she can be is a treat.

A couple of the pieces hang on a last minute twist, but more of them are really about peeling away the layers of ordinary life to show the pain and confusion under the masks we all wear.

An excellent use of the intimacy of television, where lengthy close ups and simple visuals are more effective and less fatiguing than they can be in theatrical features.

The original Talking Heads had such an incredible impact on everything that followed, that it is almost impossible to know where to begin. I can remember watching this, on its first showing: I was at school, and everyone talked about it the next day. This is not the kind of thing you would normally expect teenagers to discuss, but there is no getting away from the intelligence, originality and sheer power of these six plays.

The monologue format allows Alan Bennett's genius for capturing natural speech and realistic characters to shine. His own performance, as Graham in "A Chip in the Sugar" is a treat, as Graham obviously has no idea of his own snobbery. Patricia Routledge's upright and constantly indignant Miss Ruddock, in "A Lady of Letters", has no concept of her own isolation, and the effect gradual effect it has on her.

The subtlety and care in the script, and the gloriously tender and believable performances tug the heart-strings. Each of these six characters are so utterly real that they could be living next door: indeed, one of the recurring themes is that people do not know their neighbours anymore, and so much suffering could be alleviated if we were more community spirited.

Thora Hird is the one everyone remembers: Doris, in "A Cream Cracker Under The Settee", has suffered a fall, and gradually realises that no-one will come to her aid. Her reminiscences about happier days, when the neighbours greeted each other and there was no need to lock the door, will bring a lump to the most cynical of throats. The superb turn of phrase moves from laugh-out-loud to tear-in-the-eye and back again: the writer and his actors have us in the palm of their hands. Add to this, Stephanie Cole finding her husband's death having far reaching effects on her family, but still keeping a brave face and "Soldiering On" ("bloody psychiatrist!"); Julie Walters as a bit-part glamour girl, offered the break she's always wanted in "Her Big Chance"; and Maggie Smith, suffering in silence and finding extra-curricular activities to fill her time, as a vicar's wife whose congregation can't stand her.

One of the most influential, pivotal, groundbreaking TV series of all time, and not one to be missed. You'll be quoting the highlights for weeks afterwards. Well, fancy! There's a cream cracker under the settee! Can't remember the last time I had cream crackers! That Zulema...