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Nostalgia Ain't What It Used To Be
May. 17th, 2022 08:33 am You Tube has taken down Mick's Nostalgia Corner- an archive of British TV shows from the 60s onwards- most of them single plays. The page that apprised us of the fact hinted at nameless crimes but I imagine it was all about copyright.
The single play- often issued in seasons under a heading like Play For Today or Armchair Theatre- used to be a staple of the schedules- but is now a great rarity. First rate writers like Alan Bennett, Denis Potter and Jack Rosenthal contributed. I won't say the standard was high, because how could it be?- but even when the artistic quality was negligible the socio-historical value wasn't. I watched three of the plays that Mick had salvaged- all cast in that curious, betwixt and between style- with the actors performing as if on stage- no blurring and slurring of speech or any of your Stanislavskian nonsense- but with occasional cinematic trappings- that you hardly see any more. Two really weren't much cop, but the third, The Mayfly and the Frog- a bittersweet Shavian comedy by Jack Russell- starring those highly distinctive actors John Gielgud and Felicity Kendal - he enjoying his Indian Summer, she just starting out- was- as I remember it being when I first saw it at 15- a complete and utter delight.
I'm not going to say You Tube was wrong to scupper Mick. Copyright is a serious business- and artists deserve to make a few pennies from their back catalogue- but the archive he'd put together was unique- and it's contents rare- and it's a great pity it'll no longer be available.
The single play- often issued in seasons under a heading like Play For Today or Armchair Theatre- used to be a staple of the schedules- but is now a great rarity. First rate writers like Alan Bennett, Denis Potter and Jack Rosenthal contributed. I won't say the standard was high, because how could it be?- but even when the artistic quality was negligible the socio-historical value wasn't. I watched three of the plays that Mick had salvaged- all cast in that curious, betwixt and between style- with the actors performing as if on stage- no blurring and slurring of speech or any of your Stanislavskian nonsense- but with occasional cinematic trappings- that you hardly see any more. Two really weren't much cop, but the third, The Mayfly and the Frog- a bittersweet Shavian comedy by Jack Russell- starring those highly distinctive actors John Gielgud and Felicity Kendal - he enjoying his Indian Summer, she just starting out- was- as I remember it being when I first saw it at 15- a complete and utter delight.
I'm not going to say You Tube was wrong to scupper Mick. Copyright is a serious business- and artists deserve to make a few pennies from their back catalogue- but the archive he'd put together was unique- and it's contents rare- and it's a great pity it'll no longer be available.
