Clayhanger

The best approximation of the Victorian novel that I know of on the big or small screen. Based on Arnold Bennett's Clayhanger trilogy, this is brilliant television. Yes, it's slow, perhaps to the point where younger viewers might just shut it off, but the slow pace of life in the nineteenth century is I think accurately portrayed. A brilliant cast of characters flesh out the drama. As the story begins, Edwin Clayhanger (Peter McEnery) is leaving school at 16 to work in his father"s (Harry Andrews) printing business. A clash of generations immediately becomes apparent when when Edwin declares he wants to be an architect and Darius the father says he must work in the family business. Without going into more detail. the story follows Edwin into middle age, his relationship with his father up to his demise,and his tempestuous marriage to an early suffragette. Douglas Livingstone did the adaptation and it was a brilliant job. The actors apart from the above range from Janet Suzman to Dennis Quilley to Clive Swift to Denhom Elliott. Miss Gailey played by Renee Asherson was a memorable poignant character, though among many others I cannot rank this production more highly. Along with Winston Churchill The Wilderness Years, Edward and Mrs Simpson, and the Jewel in the Crown for example, it stands as an exemplar of British TV production in the1970s and 1980s

I cannot find anything to criticise about this series. Although I haven't read the book, and I doubt that I would need to having regard to manner in which it has been dramatised. The sets provide the necessary atmosphere and the acting particularly of Peter McEnery and Harry Andrews is nothing shirt of perfection. I particularly enjoyed the out loud and hidden thoughts of the Edwin and Hilda characters. I can see that compared to the usual costume dramas of the time: Duchess if Duke Street, the Forsyte Saga, it didn't contain the colours and costumes, but here we had what I took to be the grittiness of the period. Plenty of familiar faces. I won't criticise as some have done, of Janet Suzman who played a much younger woman, because it is all about the acting.

It is a shame that really excellent UK series, like this one with Janet Suzman, Louise Purnell, et al, are buried and forgotten. This was shown on UK TV in the 70s, and has not been heard from since.

Other forgotten gems:

The Gravy Train (Ian Richardson), a wonderful spoof on the European bureaucracy. This was shown on Canadian TV, but as far as I know, never in the US.

The Gravy Train Goes East (Ian Richardson), continuation of the series above.

Porterhouse Blue, (Ian Richardson), a satire on college life at Oxbridge.

The Glittering Prizes (Tom Conte), a wonderful series about a group of Cambridge students and their later lives and careers. I think this was shown on Masterpiece Theater when it came out in the 70s.

Added: Dec. 2009: Fortunately the last four series are now available, and highly recommended. Unfortunately, Clayhanger is still hanging.

Yes, this was an excellent series, but got critically attacked at the time. It ran for months at 9.00 one weekday and had I think about 26 episodes like the Forsyte Saga, but it just did not have the array of characters now the sweep of time that that series had done. People thought it dragged; but it really deserves to be revived. For it is a fine drama.