Show Notes
It was always going to be The XYY Man for letter X, giving Andy the opportunity to finally take the cellophane off his DVD boxset. The series is about a repeat offender called Spider Scott, played by Stephen Yardley, who has an extra Y chromosome, believed at the time to make people more likely to commit crimes, particularly against property. On his tail is Don Henderson's Sergeant Bulman, who would go on to appear in Strangers and his own titular TV series.
When a prominent diplomat finds himself in a compromising situation with Zilda from Robots of Death, Spider is approached to steal a negative from the Chinese Legation in London. But its not altogether clear if Spider is being played. And when both South Africans and Rhodesians become involved its obvious that more is at stake than it first appears.
The series is directed by Ken Grieve (Destiny of the Daleks) and adapted from the books by Kenneth Royce. If Network DVD is to be trusted The XYY Man is a cult classic, but what do Andy and Martin make of it, and specifically, the first three-part story? And what effect will Martin just having had his COVID-19 jab have on proceedings?
Next Time: Yellowthread Street
More from An A to Z of UK Television Drama
[Spoiler alert! This series is almost 50 years old but we will be revealing - around 90 minutes - in who spectacularly dies in the literal cliffhanger to episode 7. You have been warned!]
After a brief hiatus, Andy and Martin resume the second season of A to Z with the letter V. Admittedly cheating a little, their choice was 'Vote, Vote, Vote for Nigel Barton', the second of two autobiographical Dennis Potter plays from 1965 in The Wednesday Play strand. They also cover the first play, 'Stand Up, Nigel Barton'. Both feature Keith Barron as the title character who we follow from childhood, to university, to a reluctant attempt to stand as a Labour candidate in the General Election.
Andy and Martin travel back in time to the summer of 1965 and the adventures of HR consultant Drew Heriot and his sister-in-law Anne as they face up to the machinations of 'Undermind’: aliens who have brainwashed British citizens in order to cause national unrest ahead of their imminent invasion. Their various schemes include: spreading pirate radio misinformation; inciting youth violence in a seaside resort; influencing the works of a popular children’s author; the distribution of suicide-inducing birthday records; interference with the printing of exam papers, and most abominably of all, the assassination of Eamonn Andrews! Yes, really.
This month Andy and Martin review the highly regarded 1987 BAFTA-winning Scottish drama Tutti Frutti, written by John Byrne and starring Robbie Coltrane and Emma Thompson.
Twenty-one years after their first recorded interview on the first Survivors DVDs back in 2003, Andy catches up with Carolyn Seymour who played Abby Grant in Survivors.