thisbluespirit | 31x Mr Palfrey of Westminster Icons [repost]

I've never heard of this show, but it looks RTMI - tell me more...?

Oh, have I not mentioned it before to you? It is RTYI! It was script-edited or produced (or both, I forget) by Michael Chapman in 1984, after Enemy at the Door and hits so many of the same notes once it gets going. more even than Public Eye, I think, and contains my favourite invidual ep by Michael Chapman. Alec McCowen is perfect in the title role and his boss is Caroline Blakiston. It takes a little while to get going and there's a Pilot, which is great but v different in tone (and then a sequel pilot tagged onto the end, which we really didn't need at all) but everything in the middle post MC's first episode is just all the ethical/personal dilemmas of EatD only in counter-intelligence. There's very little of it, though.

It seems to be up on Amazon Prime at the moment & I got the Network DVD ages ago. Might be elsewhere as well, idk.

Oh, this does sound fun! Ethical dilemmas in spying are indeed very up my street. I shall have to keep an eye out for it, hopefully my dvd service will have it...

Yay, good luck! <3

Nice Jan Chappell and good phone and tea cup action!

Thank you! Telephones and tea, what we watch old telly for. XD

These are delightful. Love the Jan Chappell and the two end ones in the very bottom row -- are they the same person? The expressions are so good.

Aw, thank you! And, yes, the two bottom ones are both the same person, the character Caroline (Briony Roberts, I think, but I'd have to look it up again) - she does make some very iconable faces! <3

but sovay has been watching Mr Palfrey of Westminster lately (!) and that reminded me that I was thinking I should re-upload those next.

I may have to steal some of these on general principle, even the one I am unlikely to use because I don't favor text icons, but the line was my favorite of the entire episode. Thank you!

Aw, my pleasure and also thank you! <3

The truth is for traitors...ooog, I've been hearing that one a lot lately.

Sometimes things just don't change enough, do they? <3

Apologies for crashing back into your comments, but I need you to know that:

(a) on the strength of Mr. Palfrey my father may be preparing to throw himself on the surviving oeuvre of Michael Chapman;

(b) attempting to divine for my father what the surviving oeuvre looks like has precipitated the discovery that Michael Chapman was the producer of the Edward Petherbridge/Harriet Walter BBC adaptations which comprise the only dramatized version of Peter Wimsey I am willing to accept outside of my longstanding fantasy casting of Leslie Howard;

(c) in this role Michael Chapman figures as the bête noire of a chapter of Edward Petherbridge's memoir;

(c.1) Philip Broadley wrote most of those adaptations which is now hilarious to me, I am totally blaming him for the third part of Gaudy Night;

(d) my mother has seen Public Eye. My father doesn't remember it, but she really thinks so—she has no memory of individual plots, but she reacted with immediate fondness to the title and the premise sounded right to her. She may have seen later seasons if it aired in the U.S., but she thinks it most likely that she saw it in early 1968 when she stayed for six or eight weeks with a friend in London (specifically in his landlady's parlor; there was a bed, she and the landlady got on beautifully, they corresponded for years afterward), which if true means that most or all of the episodes she saw are now lost. There is absolutely nothing I can do with this information but pass it on to you, but my mother hadn't thought of Public Eye for years and is now making thoughtful noises about finding and (re)watching it and I just feel some kind of event horizon has been crossed.

I'll reply to the rest later when I have brain but insta horror of this: (c.1) Philip Broadley wrote most of those adaptations which is now hilarious to me, I am totally blaming him for the third part of Gaudy Night;

!!! Yeah, I'd blame him too. Of all the people in the world I wouldn't trust near Harriet Vane, Philip Broadley is quite high on the list. (I see even in the quotes Michael Chapman is still a shadowy figure! I'll choose to believe that, with Philip Broadley involved, there was good reason to be cutting things down, lol!) I'm not even a particular Wimsey fan and I'm going NOOOOO. There are worse people, of course. He's not Ben Steed or that guy from Survivors who apparently doesn't know how not to be weird about pregnancy and he has good days. But. !!!

(I know nothing about Michael Chapman! It may be better this way. His footprint is really quite compassionate and thoughtful and I appreciate it, and that's all I can tell you.)

I'm not even a particular Wimsey fan and I'm going NOOOOO.

The casting for the series is impeccable, the scenes are beautifully played, much of the transfer from page to screen is even very sound, and I don't know anyone who thinks that Gaudy Night was well handled, including the actors! I saw the series in college, I think, and never gave a thought to its writers, but now I have definitely have opinions.

(It is not actually the reason I love Edward Petherbridge, because that was Newman Noggs in the RSC's The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby, but it did introduce me to Harriet Walter, which I appreciate.)

(a) on the strength of Mr. Palfrey my father may be preparing to throw himself on the surviving oeuvre of Michael Chapman;

!!!

I wish him good luck! As I said, the two that feel the most similar in vibe to me are EatD and Mr Palfrey, but I don't know whether that's necessarily true. I've watched a few of his other things and even where he was just producer (rather than also/or script editor) and they were all interesting to some degree or other and my only regret is that more have not survived or been released yet. I haven't done the early series of The Bill, for which he won a BAFTA and which at least 2 of my flist also highly recommend, because I worry about getting sucked into something that then turned into a soap and I don't want to fall down that rabbit hole. (I probably wouldn't, though. I should do it some time, though.

If your father also ends up grieving over Haunted and other such things, I send my advance sympathies, heh.

I was saying I know nothing about Michael Chapman, but this isn't entirely true; I do also have some clipping where he gives press release type info about his shows, and usually sounds all right! This one here from a miscellany of snippets includes the bit about the customs examination Half Hour Story but also a TV TImes reporter doing a piece on how ACTUALLY Public Eye is worth the men watching it because it has "dollies" in it after all! (Michael Chapman: "They all fit in perfectly with the atmosphere of Public Eye. They bring realism, they all master the accent required, they are professional actresses doing a most proficient job." Reporter: And I say they're all dollies! /o\)

She thinks it most likely that she saw it in early 1968 when she stayed for six or eight weeks with a friend in London (specifically in his landlady's parlor; there was a bed, she and the landlady got on beautifully, they corresponded for years afterward), which if true means that most or all of the episodes she saw are now lost.

Aww! That sounds like almost the most perfect way to watch Public Eye. The only method that could be Frank-approved (if he would approve of people watching him anyway). ♥ And, yes, if it was 1968, there's only 1 surviving s3 episode.

and is now making thoughtful noises about finding and (re)watching it and I just feel some kind of event horizon has been crossed.

!! Indeed. (Btw, if it comes to it and you want any warnings, I can offer them - I mean, it's a very interesting, very clever show - and more Roger Marshall's baby than Michael Chapman's - I mean, there's no surprise Holocaust storyline or anything, but there are some varying degrees of Jewish-related things in three of the episodes, and also one other thing if you were starting with s4 that I found very off-putting coming in there. On the Philip Broadley score, I can say that nobody's life is improved by the second half of "Mrs Podmore's Cat!" and other than that the only other thing is the last ep of s5 which is - and I shudder to say it - like some normal passable episode of TV! How is such a thing in my Public Eye? Oh, and my initial reaction was: I don't know what I'm watching, but it's either the worst or the best thing I've ever seen and I'll let you know later. And I leant it to my parents and got the immediate response that I had leant them an unwatchable thing! And then a few weeks later, a demand for more because they had got addicted. Whether or not, of course, that just says things about me and my family, of course, who knows? But I think it does take a bit of getting used to, which is weird for something so theoretically mundane!)

As I said, the two that feel the most similar in vibe to me are EatD and Mr Palfrey, but I don't know whether that's necessarily true.

Of the definitively surviving stuff, Enemy at the Door looks like the next natural step to me, so I will let you know if it's where my father ends up.

I haven't done the early series of The Bill, for which he won a BAFTA and which at least 2 of my flist also highly recommend, because I worry about getting sucked into something that then turned into a soap and I don't want to fall down that rabbit hole.

You can always tap out before it gets really sudsy. (As I look at the personnel involved, I have never actually seen anything written by Geoff McQueen, but I've heard of The Gentle Touch, usually in conjunction with the American series Decoy (1957–58) for being groundbreaking cop shows with female protagonists. I have seen neither because I don't watch a lot of cop shows, but I am interested in their existence.)

If your father also ends up grieving over Haunted and other such things, I send my advance sympathies, heh.

He probably will. He listens to a lot of vintage radio sf.

the bit about the customs examination

Starring Roland Culver! I would totally watch it. I have a completely disproportionate affection for Roland Culver considering the ratio of actual characters to bit-part government and military types I have seen him play.

but also a TV TImes reporter doing a piece on how ACTUALLY Public Eye is worth the men watching it because it has "dollies" in it after all! (Michael Chapman: "They all fit in perfectly with the atmosphere of Public Eye. They bring realism, they all master the accent required, they are professional actresses doing a most proficient job." Reporter: And I say they're all dollies! /o\)

Yeah, that makes me feel much friendlier toward Michael Chapman than toward the reporter!

That sounds like almost the most perfect way to watch Public Eye. The only method that could be Frank-approved (if he would approve of people watching him anyway). ♥

I will tell her you said so! It will make her happy. She was in London from early February until sometime into March or April, when she left to get lost in a bog in Ireland. By May she was in Paris with a camera in time for the student protests, which is how she sent the famous postcard home to her parents about tear gas being good for the sinuses.

and also one other thing if you were starting with s4 that I found very off-putting coming in there.

What was that?

On the Philip Broadley score, I can say that nobody's life is improved by the second half of "Mrs Podmore's Cat!" and other than that the only other thing is the last ep of s5 which is - and I shudder to say it - like some normal passable episode of TV! How is such a thing in my Public Eye?

I shall consider myself and/or my parents duly warned.

And then a few weeks later, a demand for more because they had got addicted. Whether or not, of course, that just says things about me and my family, of course, who knows? But I think it does take a bit of getting used to, which is weird for something so theoretically mundane!

That's really interesting. Have you noticed the same reaction in not-family you recommend the series to?

Starring Roland Culver! I would totally watch it. I have a completely disproportionate affection for Roland Culver considering the ratio of actual characters to bit-part government and military types I have seen him play.

I have no idea about the survival of Half-Hour Story eps, though. It may well indeed be mouth-drying and palm-sweating! XD And, heh, I had a feeling when I saw it that you knew/liked Roland Culver from stuff.

By May she was in Paris with a camera in time for the student protests, which is how she sent the famous postcard home to her parents about tear gas being good for the sinuses.

The important aspects reported on, clearly! That is brilliant (and impressive). And that also does sound like a time when she might well have seen PE, yes - I think it tended to start in early spring, but I can't really remember at this date (my obsession was all of about 5-8 years ago, although probably only because I haven't risked rewatching it and letting it take over again.)

and also one other thing if you were starting with s4 that I found very off-putting coming in there.

What was that?

Due to the junking of all but 5 of S1-3, it means the first full series is the 7 part serial focusing on Frank's release from prison (after being employed in order to be left holding the stolen goods at the end of s3), before returning to business as usual with s5-7, so of all the places to start, it probably isn't, but I didn't know that.

Anyway, Frank is in a very different state to usual; the series charts his recovery over seven episodes, and in episode 3, there's a running theme of everyone acting out of prejudice/biases of some kind or other (against ex-cons in relation to Frank, but it runs through everybody's actions in multiple ways) until at the end Frank himself, in frustration, spills out his own (otherwise never seen) childhood East End prejudices a sort of "If I'd been x, y or z minorities, people would have helped!" rant (tbf, in context, the response is embarrassment and telling him to shut up), and I had no idea at that point how to take either Frank or Roger Marshall's writing. But then episode 4 turned up, which was so good, and remains my favourite episode of the entire surviving 50+ and I was off! (The whole serial is, but I had no idea what the hell I was watching at that point, so it took rewatches to appreciate how good "Welcome to Brighton" is, and the whole structure, although I do still think ep3 is the weakest, and I could still live without the rant - but I do grudgingly salute Roger Marshall for his usual accuracy about his characters and times.)

Re. the what other people have made of it - my flist if they've tried it haven't persisted till the switch to getting it happens, and Mariocki started with s5 (and idk if

kateoftheangels did as well?) but that seems to be more accessible as an in-point out of what's left... but OTOH it's the most Michael Chapman series and has no Roger Marshall! Honestly, people should just not have burninated stuff, really. Although s1 by all accounts took a little while to find itself, too (fully visible in the surviving very early "Nobody Kills Santa Claus"). But that's not unusual!

Anyway, there's no good way to start PE! lol. Have fun finding your own method, or, indeed, any of the episodes...

And, heh, I had a feeling when I saw it that you knew/liked Roland Culver from stuff.

He plays so many dry, competent figures, he is an absolute delight in On Approval (1944) as the kind of mild-mannered silly ass who trims his mustache to "Ta-ra-ra Boom-de-ay."

Due to the junking of all but 5 of S1-3, it means the first full series is the 7 part serial focusing on Frank's release from prison (after being employed in order to be left holding the stolen goods at the end of s3), before returning to business as usual with s5-7

Oh, that's incredibly frustrating. I'm glad something as emotionally and narratively important as the serial survived, but that is exactly the kind of short-circuit that one wants to avoid with a long-running character: how can you tell what's out of character without having first seen them in? Heads-up appreciated; I am actually fine with sympathetic characters behaving badly in circumstances that would realistically produce it, but it's useful to know the difference between "of its time" and "Frank, what the hell?"

Honestly, people should just not have burninated stuff, really.

Amen.

Although s1 by all accounts took a little while to find itself, too (fully visible in the surviving very early "Nobody Kills Santa Claus"). But that's not unusual!

And much easier to take when there's a second series to get straight onto!

Have fun finding your own method, or, indeed, any of the episodes...

I just checked my local library system and it can do me both series of Enemy at the Door, but none of Public Eye.

but it's useful to know the difference between "of its time" and "Frank, what the hell?"

I spent three episodes just going, "What the hell?" a lot and being all ????? at my flist. But I kept watching it, lol.

And much easier to take when there's a second series to get straight onto!

The NKSC thing is mainly funny - ROger Marshall originally envisaged a loner called Frank Marvin who would fight people if he needed to, but the first producer (or exec producer, I think), who moved on almost immediately after, paused to deliver the genius but entirely unexpected casting of Alfred Burke, who was not only obviously not going to be that character, he specifically asked to avoid that aspect (being a pacifist himself), and the character became the much more atypical Frank Marker. But NKSC is still early enough that Frank gets beaten up and the next scene implies that he must have overcome his attackers - and watching that post the rest of the series meant I was just going, HOW??? Did a comedy iron weight fall from somewhere above?? XD

But, yeah, there's a sort of urban lone ranger in a dirty mac feel to it that it's already lost by the time of the next surviving episode.

I just checked my local library system and it can do me both series of Enemy at the Door, but none of Public Eye.

Yay! For EatD; I knew it had been released by Acorn in the US. Public Eye just hasn't been; I don't even actually know if it was even broadcast over there. (It is rather more localised in interest, so I can see it might not have sold.)

However, if I search YT for PE, there are several collected playlists that look like most of the series, so when and if you or your mother do get to it, there is that method - and if there are any odd ones missing, I can probably oblige. (I do actually have the burninated s1-3 remaining eps and fragments up unlisted on my channel, which I thought I had deleted recently, but I must have just got rid of s4, except I seem to have missed the final episode as that's still there. I was just worried because I don't check the associated email much if ever and I didn't want to suddenly find one day I'd lost my YT account because I wasn't paying attention and someone had come for my illegal full episodes of Public Eye.)

Edited (For being brain dead yet again) 2022-10-03 08:44 (UTC)

the genius but entirely unexpected casting of Alfred Burke, who was not only obviously not going to be that character, he specifically asked to avoid that aspect (being a pacifist himself), and the character became the much more atypical Frank Marker.

Marker is a much better last name, too.

and watching that post the rest of the series meant I was just going, HOW??? Did a comedy iron weight fall from somewhere above??

Hee.

I do actually have the burninated s1-3 remaining eps and fragments up unlisted on my channel, which I thought I had deleted recently

If you continue not to delete it, I may in fact ask if you are all right sharing, because indeed the DVD situation in this region looks like nil. (I am glad no one has come for your channel no matter what, though.)

If you continue not to delete it, I may in fact ask if you are all right sharing, because indeed the DVD situation in this region looks like nil. (I am glad no one has come for your channel no matter what, though.)

I only have the surviving ABC eps, 4.7 and The Man Who Said Sorry from s6 left up, so my playlist is non-optimal!

However, this person seems to have collated all the Public Eye playlists they can find and this looks like pretty much everything with maybe only the odd ep missing (and that I may be able to supply as per Breakaway if it comes to it): https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLgeGcX2U-sIEdl8kSOdC7l3duFhWEINh2

It includes this person's S4-6 collection, but worth noting that the Channel has an impressive collection of old Brit TV up there at the moment: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLw6gg897HVfue9JSiXYlVxTL1yQzvaoPN

The remainder of my little playlist, however, is here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLc8a0KLeTvkrAoc_V0b1FQZ28lZMRV753 (I don't know if the other channel has the two fragments, one from a little interview with Alfred Burke that included some filming of a now-lost episode and the TV taster for "Must Be the Architecture" as they were promoting Zia Mohyeddin's guest appearance on another lost ep. (When I put these up I was so into it I knew what all these titles are and now I don't know some of them any more, lol.)

If you really want to start with an ABC surviving eps and not with s5 or something, I recommend "Don't Forget You're Mine" and "Works With Chess, Not With Life" over the s1 eps.

Edited 2022-10-05 19:39 (UTC)

Such nice faces (and great crops)! I really like the 80s vibe in these. :D

Aw, thank you! And there's nothing like a brightly coloured 80s phone as an accessory to feature in an icon! <3

Hero	Hidden	Compassion	Holding On	Home


Hope	Hot	Humour	Hurt	Inside

AC #1	AC #2	AC #3	AC #4	AC #5

AC #6	AC #7	AC #8	AC #9	AC #10

31x Mr Palfrey of Westminster Icons [repost]

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