Today is quite a long one. It’s a lot of programmes from Stephen Fry’s Weekend, which I think I’ve edited rather heavily, so there’s probably not going to be a lot of extras. Also, this was a manual recording of the whole night, so the metadata is missing from individual programmes.
The evening opens with Stephen Fry Night – Mark Lawson talks to Stephen Fry. All very interesting.
Media Centre Description: BBC FOUR 19:00
Recorded from BBC FOUR on Saturday 18th August 2007 19:00
BBC Genome: BBC FOUR Saturday 18th August 2007 19:00
Next, Stephen Fry introduces Civilisation, Kenneth Clark’s series on great art and architecture, and their roots in the history of civilisation.
Media Centre Description: BBC FOUR 19:00
Recorded from BBC FOUR on Saturday 18th August 2007 20:00
BBC Genome: BBC FOUR Saturday 18th August 2007 20:00
Next, Fry introduces Fawlty Towers – Waldorf Salad.
Media Centre Description: BBC FOUR 19:00
Recorded from BBC FOUR on Saturday 18th August 2007 20:55
BBC Genome: BBC FOUR Saturday 18th August 2007 20:55
Next, a programme in which Stephen Fry talks about his Guilty Pleasures.
Stephen Fry Night – Stephen Fry – Guilty Pleasures
His choices are: Abba (in which he seems to denigrate A-Ha as somehow lesser, which is rather a blot on this segment).
Howard’s Way
Darts.
The pleasure of hitting Hugh Laurie on screen.
The Music of Wagner.
Swearing on TV.
Delia Smith.
Gibberish, like Stanley Unwin.
The novels of Georgette Heyer.
Poetry, illustrated by Philip Larkin.
Led Zeppelin
Countdown.
Here’s the whole programme.
Media Centre Description: BBC FOUR 19:00
Recorded from BBC FOUR on Saturday 18th August 2007 21:30
BBC Genome: BBC FOUR Saturday 18th August 2007 21:30
Next, Stephen introduces a compilation of The Best of Not Only… But Also…
There’s a remarkably elaborate opening sequence.
A musical performance from Cilla Black.
Pete and Dud discuss the origin of the word ‘asp’. Apparently it was invented by Shakespeare for Anthiny and Cleopatra. “And he’d written this wonderful verse couplet, you see, but the only thing is he only had one syllable to describe the snake. So, viper was too long for the scansion, so he invented the word asp and a very good word.”
Having a bit of a chat about, you know, taking a, you know, a serious interest in the, um, opposite number.
Media Centre Description: BBC FOUR 19:00
Recorded from BBC FOUR on Saturday 18th August 2007 22:00
BBC Genome: BBC FOUR Saturday 18th August 2007 22:00
Next, Stephen introduces an episode of Fall of Eagles, one that I’ve never heard of before.
Media Centre Description: BBC FOUR 19:00
Recorded from BBC FOUR on Saturday 18th August 2007 22:30
BBC Genome: BBC FOUR Saturday 18th August 2007 22:30
The next programme is Wodehouse Playhouse – Portrait of a Disciplinarian. I’m always slightly amazed that a TV show made in the 70s had introductions from P.G. Wodehouse himself. Stephen Fry also talks about writing to him as a young man and receiving a signed photograph and a letter back.
I’ve met Stephen Fry a couple of times, but the first was the most memorable, and vaguely related to this programme, as it was when he was filming an episode of Jeeves and Wooster. They were filming on location, at Gaddesden Place, the stately home which served as headquarters for Computer Concepts, and I was quite excited. I brought in one of the Fry and Laurie script books I had, and when he was in his trailer between scenes, I knocked on the door. He was very nice, and I noticed his Macintosh, and mentioned that we developed software at the house, and he said his first word processor was WordWise, the word processor that basically made my boss enough money to buy the stately home in the first place.
I told him about the software we were working on at the time – a graphics package for the Acorn Archimedes called ArtWorks, and offered to give him a demo of what it could do when he had some free time. “How about now?” he said. So then I had the rather surreal experience of showing Stephen Fry up to my office, and giving him a demo of the program we were writing – lucky it was quite a good one to demo.
When we released to program, I sent him a copy, and he sent a lovely letter back, which I hope I still have in a box somewhere.
Anyway, apologies if I’ve told that story before.
This episode is delightful. John Alderton and Pauline Collins were often paired up, and are so good here as the couple whose long-term engagement was recently broken, but who meet at the home of their old nanny, a frail old lady who switches effortlessly into the stern authoritarian of their childhoods, while the two of them spar over their hurt feelings. It’s lovely. Here’s the whole episode, with Stephen Fry’s introduction.
Media Centre Description: BBC FOUR 19:00
Recorded from BBC FOUR on Saturday 18th August 2007 23:25
BBC Genome: BBC FOUR Saturday 18th August 2007 23:25
The last programme is the 1940 British version of Gaslight. For some reason, I thought this was directed by Hitchcock – I think I was getting it confused with Blackmail. This version was directed by Thorold Dickinson and starred Anton Walbrook. Fry tells the rather shocking story of how, when MGM bought the remake rights, their contract included a clause that all copies of the 1940 version should be withdrawn and destroyed, including the negative, but clearly they weren’t able to carry this through. It’s quite shocking, but sadly not surprising from a Hollywood Studio.
As for the movie, Stephen Fry is not wrong. It’s rather great, and you can see why this (or more likely the remake) has led to the coining of the word Gaslighting. And perhaps because of this, I thought the film was lent a slightly modern edge.
Anton Walbrook is excellent as Paul Mallen, the coercive, controlling husband who is constantly moving things and hiding things in the house then accusing his wife of having moved them, trying to convince her she’s going mad.
Diana Wynyard is also great as Bella Mallen, trying her best to please her husband, and being ground down by his accusations.
Frank Pettingell plays Mr Rough, who runs a stable, but who used to be a policeman, and who recognises Paul Mallen as a different man, Louis Bauer, whose aunt was murdered in the square 20 years ago, apparently for her rubies.
Early on, Mallen hides a cameo brooch he gave his wife in his desk, so she can’t find it, then chides her for losing it, implying she’s hidden it herself. So near the climax of the film, when Rough confronts Mallen about his secret past, saying the evidence of his true identity is hidden in his desk, Mallen angrily opens the desk, thumps the box of letters on the table and tells Rough “Here’s what you want. It’ll give me great pleasure to see you make a fool of yourself… before I throw you out of the house.” Rough thumbs through the papers, but there’s nothing there, then Bella sees her brooch in the box, and realises that Paul has been lying to her. I gasped at this point. And then gasped even louder at another revelation just after this.
Mallen’s behaviour has been so awful, and so unfair, that when Bella finally gets the upper hand, I wanted to applaud. “Knife? What knife?”
I watched this with my daughter, who seems to have inherited my interest in older films, so we also watched the Ingrid Bergman remake. She’s already seen it, and drew this picture of Bergman from it a while ago. I don’t think the remake tells the story as well as this version, although perhaps watching them in this order is unfair, and I was judging it for its differences. The trailer on the DVD is quite something, as it shows almost the last scene of the film. Spoilertastic.
Media Centre Description: BBC FOUR 19:00
Recorded from BBC FOUR on Sunday 19th August 2007 00:00
BBC Genome: BBC FOUR Sunday 19th August 2007 00:00