Pandemic Continues

Well, I'm awake at 2.10a.m. It's Wednesday morning, 22nd April. Each day, during the coronavirus pandemic lockdown is merging one day into another. Each day is becoming very much the same as the last and then the next. I couldn't sleep, so I got up to make myself a cup of tea. I turn on the television and, would you believe, someone attempting to sell me a Rug Doctor and telling me it can get rid of all that deep-down dirt, even bacteria. What about viruses? I doubt it. Live television is just boring. There's no excuse moaning about daytime television, constant programmes about antiques, people attempting to sell their house, because they've got more money than sense, so they decide to move to darkest Somerset, Dorset or Yorkshire. Selling their 2-bed semi in Maidenhead, because the kids have flown the nest and they've discovered the house is worth silly money. Then, they eventually move to the country and then discover that the nearest Tesco is a forty-minute drive from their new home, the mobile signal is weak and there's no broadband and that their family doesn't want to visit them, necessitating the new house having too many bedrooms with en suite bathrooms for them to stay in and they don't like being woken at 4a.m by the sound of bleating sheep or cockerels crowing, nor the fact that, if they do decide to drive to Tesco or the nearest town to buy a wooly jumper when it gets cold, they have to get stuck behind a tractor and trailer, crawling along at 5 miles per hour and there's now way they can overtake because the roads are narrow and there's nowhere you can safely overtake.

What I'm saying is, you don't have to put up with all this daytime stuff, just there to fill up space in the schedule. Come on, you've got catch-up television, BBC iPlayer, which has a rich variety of back-catalogue material to whet your appetite, not just more recent stuff, on their from the previous day, but some of it going back several years. (Oher catch-up services are available, such as ITV Hub, as well as streaming services such as Netflix and the newest service, Britbox. Then there's Amazon Prime video.) I scrolled through what was available on BBC iPlayer. There's stuff from the last few days and months, but it seems the BBC has realised that it has a great back catalogue of material which it can upload to iPlayer because people are relying on television for entertainment because of having to stay at home due to the lockdown. Channel 4 has box sets of their own stuff and, as something of a fan of Time Team, there's virtually every episode of that to watch. I have seen two of the first episodes of the original series and I'm shocked that Tony Robinson looks so young! Not surprising as it started in the early 1990's. I watched 'Scarborough,' the new BBC1 sitcom set in the Yorkshire seaside town. Having visited Scarborough on a couple of occasions and done a month in a summer season at the Spa Theatre, I know it reasonably well. This sitcom has a certain reality about it, probably because it's shot on location and it has characters what you can relate to and a good mix of ages, not all young and they have cast older actors such as Stephanie Cole who is probably best know for shows such as Tenko, Waiting For God, Doc Martin and Open All Hours. There isn't the usual studio audience cackling away in the background which there seems no real point in having and wouldn't really work in a show like this. I think she would be described as a character actor, as she can take on a wide range of parts and not get tied to a 'type.' It has a sharp script and the author, Darren Little,obviously has a keen ear for dialogue.

So, it's now 5.15.m., and I'm somewhat bored and still can't sleep, hence sitting and writing this. It's getting light outside and I've done the washing-up and the kitchen is sparkling clean. I'm finding things to keep myself occupied and I've even done the one job I detest above all others, changed the bedding. Putting a duvet cover on is one of the worst jobs but at least it's done and it can go in the wash later this afternoon.

(Thursday) I'm awake earlier than yesterday. It's 4.45, although I was awake far earlier. I've been reading my book, 'The Age of Decadence' by Simon Heffer, covering the period 1880 to 1914. A thick book of some 750 or possibly more pages and written in amazing detail. I have washed up in the kitchen and even had a shave and I have just learnt from the BBC website that social restrictions are likely to go on for the rest of the year. If that's the case, we're just going to have to get used to it, although I'm not sure how church is going to cope and how many people are going to cope if that's how things are likely to remain.

I've done the washing up as well as some other housework. I mentioned yesterday that I'd changed the duvet and bedding. The excitement is too much (irony here) and it's washed and back in the airing cupboard.

I watched the Globe Theatre production of 'Romeo and Juliet,' which is one of the free-to-view theatre productions being streamed via YouTube. I enjoyed it, plenty of good sword fights (I noticed, the fights were arranged by Malcolm Ranson, who was an A.S.M. or at least on the stage management team when I was an A.S.M. at Greenwich Theatre in the early 1970's.) This production had plenty of energy, good chemistry between the actors playing Romeo and Juliet and I loved the use of live music and the singing to underline some of the action. They really brought out the comedy some of which is actually quite raunchy, particularly the way The Nurse is treated. She is usually played by a much older actor  but in this production she is a good deal younger than usual.

I have been watching another episode of one of my favourite, and I think probably the best sitcoms, 'Outside Edge.' I have mentioned it somewhere on here in the past. It was made during the 1990s, by the now defunct ITV company, Central, and is based on the stage play of the same name. It revolves around a village cricket team, although not entirely about cricket (thank goodness, as I can't stand it. Memories of school enough to put me off entirely, unfortunately.) It has Brenda Blethyn and Robert Daws as one couple and Timothy Spall and  Josie Lawrence as two sets of married couples (there are others, but these two are the central characters.) I just think it's brilliant, and not your classic 'sitcom' in the sense that it's not set in a house, no sofas and no cackling studio audience and it's filmed on location which gives it a more realistic feel. I don't know how many episodes there where, but the one I saw earlier would seem to be one I haven't seen before, where the Timothy Spall and Josie Lawrence characters are set to re-take their wedding vows and it's all arranged, everyone is in church ready, and they can't make it to the church because they're in the loft of the lady who lives next door, attempting to find her cat which has decided to get itself stuck. As usual in a sitcom, there are complications and misunderstandings, but it ends up sorting itself out as any decent and respectable comedy should. The recent comedy I mentioned in an earlier blog post, 'Scarborough' is similar in that it doesn't have a studio audience and it's filmed on location. Brenda Blethyn is in an ITV sitcom, set, again, in a seaside town (why so many sitcoms set in seaside towns?) called 'Kate and Koji' and set in a café, although, having watched the first two episodes, I can't say I'm that impressed. It tries to hard and it's not particularly funny or well written. One-set, not particularly interesting group of characters and the storylines aren't that brilliant either.

I ordered some clip files and permanent marker pens from Staples. They don't have a bricks-and-mortar presence any more and the Milton Keynes branch closed some while ago. I went on line to order these items and was expecting them to be delivered in a week or two because of the pandemic and was a little surprised to see the delivery van draw up outside when I looked out of the window. I always ensure that I get the address correct when I order, but the driver thought the address was for another house in Dexter Avenue, so I went down to the front door and got the parcel.

Later. I've just been out with Alfie. As we were walking along Strudwick Drive on our way to Oldbrook Green, Alfie was surprised to see a cat in the garden of Dexter House, through the metal gate which is used by the mowers when they come to cut the grass. The cat was only a few feet inside the garden and laying in the sun, as cats seem to do, and Alfie pulled on his lead and refused to move, and began barking, but the cat steadfastly refused to budge an inch. I had to insist on Alfie moving away, but it took quite an effort of get him away from the gate.

Arriving at the other side of Oldbrook Boulevard, I noticed a group of youths playing football, or at least, some ball game, on the area of tarmac which is partially enclosed by fencing, and to me they didn't appear to be obeying the social distancing regulations.

Friday. I'm watching the National Theatre 'Twelfth Night' which is being streamed free on YouTube. A very clever staging, using the revolve and Tamsin Greig is absolutely amazing as Malvolia. A really stunning performance. Too good to miss. I know the play from doing it for 'O' Level and to degree level. When I first got to know Carol (we met on line.) and she was teaching at Stantonbury. she had to teach Twelfth Night and had no idea how to plan lessons, so I helped because of my knowledge of the play. I have seen quite a few productions over the years (if you know me I have a bit of an obsession about Shakespeare, from the historical as well as the literary angle.). But this one is a real knock-out.

Television comedy 'Outside Edge'

I'm currently watching one of my favourite television comedies of the 1990's called "Outside Edge." It's being shown on ITV Encore. Actually I'm downloading it from ITV Player. I remember it with a certain affection from when it was originally shown, but I think I must be watching later episodes which I've never seen before. It was based on a stage play, also called "Outside Edge" and written by Richard Harris (I don't think it was the actor of the same name who wrote it, but perhaps it was, but I can't be sure of that.)  It was first staged at the Hampstead Theatre, London on 24th July 1979 and then transferred into the West End, at the Queen's Theatre on 11th September 1979. The cast for that production were: Roger- Richard Kane; Miriam- Julia McKenzie; Kevin- Ian Trigger; Maggie- Maureen Lipman; Bob- John Kane; Ginnie- Susan Carpenter; Dennis- Julian Curry; Alex- Martin Wimpish; Sharon- Natalie Forbes.The original one-off television play was  broadcast on I.T.V. on 19th December 1982 and produced by London Weekend Television. In the cast were cast with Paul Eddington as Roger (best known for his roles in "The Good Life" and then "Yes Minister" and "Yes Prime Minister.") Prunella Scales as Miriam, Jonathan Lynn as Kevin and Maureen Lipman as Maggie.) The television series  version was produced by Central Television. 

The series centres around Roger Dervish (Robert Daws) as the pompous captain of a minor Sunday League cricket team. He likes to think of himself as the 'driving force' behind the team, yet he isn't really much good at organisation.

Most of the real work is actually done by Roger's ever-efficient, long-suffering wife, Miriam (Brenda Blethyn, currently seen in "Vera" on ITV).

Kevin Costello (Timothy Spall) is a bit of a slob. He's also probably the nearest thing Roger has to a friend.

Kevin is married to the lovely Maggie (Josie Lawrence), a very outgoing, affectionate woman. She adores Kevin and has a seemingly insatiable appetite for sex (as long as it's with Kevin). They are desperately trying to have a baby, without much success. The series was made entirely on location, and on film, which adds to the reality of the whole thing. Also, it doesn't have a studio audience cackling on the soundtrack and also it uses a clever mix of different classical music excerpts which also adds to the mix very successfully. I remember seeing an amateur version a few years ago as well as a touring version of the play at the Derngate in Northampton, but I think that the television version is better than the original play as there is room to develop the characters and plots further as well as the ability to show the actual cricket matches they play because in the stage version from what I remember the matches are 'off-stage.' Cricket isn't really what it's about, it's the interaction between the characters that makes it interesting.It's very subtle and some of it verges on the tragic-comic, particularly the scenes between Kevin and Maggie, played to perfection by the brilliant Timothy Spall and Josie Lawrence. In some ways it has a lot in common with a lot of Alan Ayckbourn's plays which seem to centre on a set of similar characters and situations which have a good deal more depth to them than your average comedy, television or stage.

A shame that today's television hasn't got the imagination that it had when this series was first aired. Even with umpteen channels we get a very narrow choice of programming. In the 1970's and 80's there were only four television channels, but you did seem to get quite a good mix of what you could watch. In one evening you'd get children's programmes such as 'Blue Peter' and 'Magpie' and later on a sitcom such as "The Good Life", 'Fawlty Towers" or "Yes, Prime Minister." A good one-off drama at least once a week in strands such as "Play for Today" where such writers as Dennis Potter or Alan Plater would give cutting-edge drama, and you could see things like "Vote, Vote For Nigel Barton", "The Singing Detective", "Kathy, Come Home" and so on. It seems that today every day is the same on television. The schedules are exactly the same for each day of the week. You know that 'Pointless' will be at 5.15 every day, and there's going to be an episode even at the weekend. 'EastEnders' is on several times a week, getting more and more monotonous and depressing as the weeks go on. When "Outside Edge" was made, I.T.V. was still made up of smaller companies such as Anglia, London Weekend Television, Central, Granada, Tyne Tees etc etc. Then it became possible for the larger companies to gradually take over the smaller ones, such as Granada and Carlton, until in the early 2000s the government allowed them to merge to just become one conglomerate, I.T.V. plc and run from one place and making somewhat bland programmes. Beforehand, each company had it's own individuality, some having a particular speciality such as Anglia, which made wildlife documentaries such as "Survival."