Show Notes
Why, why, why? Jemima!!! This month Andy and Martin plunge themselves head first into the poorly-made Thames drama Jemima Shore Investigates and probably wish that they had not been so curious about it. Andy gets off lightly though, having only watched 3 episodes and the far superior pilot Quiet as a Nun (as part of Armchair Thriller). Martin meanwhile watched it all and may never recover!
Despite some great guest stars including Tom Baker, Stephen Yardley, Norman Jones and Stratford Johns, the main series from 1982 has little to recommend it and has the worst sound production that Andy can ever remember hearing. Martin attempts to be a kinder reviewer and claims to have watched some entertaining episodes, but it is all relative!
Quiet as a Nun is a cosy 1978 thriller that would make the ideal watch at Christmas with Susan Engel, Sylvia Coleridge and Renee Asherson all vying for our attention, but the 12-episode series Jemima Shore Investigates is a bit of a ‘Hodge Podge’ from which even the divine Patricia struggles to escape.
If you want to hear many juicy and terrible Jemima-snippets and want to understand why we end up talking about a young River Song getting her ass whipped, or the relevance of Digby Chicken Caesar to a Jack the Ripper-themed murder mystery, then this is the episode for you.
Next Time: Kessler
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.