The Fox Part 1
16/02/80 W Richard Carpenter / D Gerry
Poulson
“You silly slut!” "Hike off!”
Yes, with a barrage of ripe language and
pacy action season two opens up with a two part story allowing the extra space
several episodes last season could have done with to draw us further into the
story. Picking up from the same point as last season ended with Dick and
Swiftnick’s direction of travel decided upon by the toss of a coin the duo are
en route to London when an old mate of Dick’s called Joe Cutler turns up
mortally injured. Before he dies, he entrusts a key to be given to a woman though
neglects to say who or where she may be though does mention “the devil’s
chimney” and someone called Manderfell. Moments after he’s died a troupe of
well dressed riders capture the duo and take them to the country seat of the
very same Lord Manderfell. Played with icy relish by Donald Pickering, he appears
about to let them go before tricking Swiftnick into answering his name
whereupon their disguise is rumbled.
Manderfell is definitely a more refined antagonist
that Glutton though no less cruel. A significant scene underlines how he beats
his wife and you realise just how close to the bone this episode is. That it
was shown in a teatime slot seems bold and would probably never be allowed now.
Still that’s the fun of it. Richard Carpenter’s ability to pen scripts that
bring a time period to life by filling it with strong characters- both good and
bad- is always a pleasure to watch.
The fox is a recurring motif throughout
even to the point of there being a stuffed fox’s head mounted on the wall of
Manderfell’s dining room. Being a willing participant of fox hunting Manderfell
decides to give Turpin a chance. He’ll be hunted across the vast estate and if
he survives till sunset, Swiftnick can go free. Sooner or later most action-
adventure series reach an episode involving the hero being chased against the
clock and as directed by Gerry Poulson this is a full on affair in which we can
almost smell the grass, mud and dogs as well as feel the blustery wind blowing
around. It’s an interesting choice to show much of this without musical
accompaniment allowing us to hear the sounds of both nature and the pursuit and
it makes the whole thing seem more authentic.
I expect Richard O’ Sullivan must have felt rather for Turpin’s
predicament when he saw this script knowing he’d have to endure a fair amount
of it on camera. As ever he commits himself totally and not surprisingly looks
genuinely knackered as the chase continues.
The episode also flicks back to the
wonderfully monikered Poll Maggot, the “noisy trollop” from season one’s `The
Capture` who betrayed Dick. She was married to Joe and now runs an inn also
called The Fox. She does help Turpin at one stage though then declares they are
even. It’s a good performance from Annabelle Lee who shows Poll as a down to earth
character.
Given the two part format the ending of
this episode does miss the opportunity for a cliffhanger being a rather
perfunctory freeze frame of Dick running away but the benefits of the format
are clear throughout.
The Fox Part 2
23/02/80 W Richard Carpenter / D Gerry
Poulson
“I should have known I’d end up with
nothing”
The art of successfully writing an
engaging two- part story in any drama is to introduce curve balls that the
first part didn’t hint at while keeping the trajectory of the story and this is
a perfect example. Well staged though it was in part one another lengthy
hunting sequence would become repetitive so Richard Carpenter unlocks the story
in two unexpected ways. Firstly he has Swiftnick escape under his own steam
(his lock picking abilities presumably learned very recently) enabling him to
find and help the by now half dead Turpin. Secondly while the viewer and Turpin
had assumed all along that Poll was the woman whom Joe’s dying messages was for
it turns out that it was actually meant for his sister- Manderfells’ wife!
Echoing Turpin’s line last episode about the fox sometimes becoming the hunter
this all sets up a race to find the hidden fortune.
You can forgive the coincidence of
Turpin happening to collapse by the roadside just as Switfnick rides towards
the same spot because the climactic confrontation is so well put together
leading to duel between Manderfell and Turpin (quite how he’s recovered so soon
is best left unquestioned too!). That the episode concludes with another fox
being spotted underlines how well Carpenter has assembled proceedings.
Needless to say there are sterling performances
from all with Annabelle Lee’s feisty Poll being particularly amusing as she
realises she isn’t going to get the money. Donald Pickering is so effective as
Manderfell is determined to keep up appearances even when he is defeated. As
for the devil’s chimney- well it is just an old chimney! What a fantastic way
to start this second season.
Blood Money
01/03/80 W Richard Carpenter / D Gerry
Poulson
“You despicable rogue.” “No traitor
though, am I Sir John?”
Piling on the action from the opening
seconds `Blood Money` is a superb example of how to perfectly fill an episode
with a mix of adventure and character. Now confidentially linking stories
Richard Carpenter brings back Sir John Glutton, now on his uppers reduced to
squatting in his own house along with sheep and an uninvited guest in the form
of wily Isaac Rag. Somewhere there’s an unwritten series about Isaac whose
every scene sparkles thanks to Alife Bass’ interpretation of the role. Rag
knows how to deal with each person he comes into contact with while he and Sir
John are well matched tricksters. Rag agrees to transport letters to Colonel De
Courcey, letters that expose his fellow plotters against the King. It is this
common enemy that eventually brings Turpin and Sir John together in an
increasingly desperate situation.
With his usual style and a generous number
of extras to play soldiers Gerry Poulson navigates the swift turn of events
skilfully. He mixes pacy skirmishes with slower character moments shot mostly
in close up to emphasise the empathic way the actors now react to each other
after working together for a while. As for the athletic fight sequences they
are well staged if a little improbable given it’s Turpin and Swifnick versus
about twenty soldiers. And why hasn’t Switfnick got a sword yet? He seems to
wade into each fight with a large tree branch!
The cast are clearly having a ball
hurling themselves into proceedings with gusto. Christopher Benjamin delights
as the fallen but not beaten Glutton, his eager eyes sensing when opportunity
knocks for Sir John. As mentioned Alfie Bass is excellent as always while there
are some fabulous instinctive reactions from Michael Deeks in this episode. You
have to feel sorry for Swifnick who makes a couple of bad mistakes in this
story but I like the way Carpenter maintains his inexperienced behaviour rather
than turning him into a hero straight away.
Richard O’Sullivan manages to balance Turpin’s sense of fairness with
his irritation at both his sidekick and his pursuer while Michael Culver gets
to yell at his troops and more or less everyone! A lot!
Deadlier Than the Male
08/03/80 W John Kane / D Dennis Abey
“Love is a very good wine. But not to be
drunk too often.”
A young Lyndsay Duncan glistens in this
tale of thief taker Catherine Langford who falls for Dick Turpin even though it
is her actions that cause him to become a prisoner of the vengeful Lord
Faversham. The latter sets it all up to pay back Turpin from a previous
encounter, shown at the start of the episode, but afterward Catherine seems to
realise she likes him. On IMDB this episode scores higher than any other which
is surprising as it is paced awkwardly and repeats the idea of the deceptive
woman which has already been done, much more interestingly, in the first
season. You can see the twists a mile off and without Richard Carpenter holding
the pen, the dialogue comes across as somewhat forced and un-unatural.
That being said it is interesting to see
two actors who would become well known television names nearer the start of
their career. Lyndsay Duncan shows the combination of charm and power that
would ensure she went on to play a lot of memorable roles. Simon Rouse enjoys
himself as the haughty self absorbed Faversham though is ill served by a
narrative that never lives up to it’s words. Faversham’s anger for revenge is
easily side tracked first by Catherine but then by a somewhat silly idea of
having a duel after Turpin has been drugged. This is staged with clumsy camera work
and a bizarre effect meant to show the effects of the drugs on Turpin. There’s
a good enough idea in here somewhere but the finished episode doesn’t find it.
15/03/80 W John Kane / D Charles
Chrichton
“You’ve seen the last of your swag and
I’m a ruined woman” “That’s common knowledge isn’t it?”
They seem to give John Kane the zanier
episodes to write but unlike the previous one, `The Elixier of Life` makes for a
decent enough brew. Holed up in The Fox waiting for fence Harry Simms to return
with their swag, Dick and Swiftnick are joined by the extravagant ridiculously
bewigged Doctor Mandragola who claims, amongst other things second sight and a
life giving elixier. Simms has actually been captured and when troops turn up
at The Fox looking for Turpin, the latter has to affect a disguise in a hurry.
As Dr Mandragola is somewhat inebriated from his elixier, Dick assumes his
role. It’s a romp alright enlivened by some lively performances.
John Junkin affects the worst Scottish
accent you’ll ever hear though whether this is deliberate or not is unclear but
he inhabits the role with vigour. Hilda Braid is the temporary innkeeper Abby
whose reactions are priceless as the character is easily fooled by the magical
shenanigans. The real surprise is a very comedic performance from Michael Deeks
who becomes the Doctor’s simple minded assistant Daft Jamie having to take a
kicking from the soldiers while remaining in character. Add in Michael Robbins
as a second in command whose war stories clearly irritate others and you have a
fun ensemble. Richard O’Sullivan dons the Doctor’s wig to declaim the occult
meanderings Turpin makes up on the spot.
What follows is a breath away from
pantomime as the group try to fool the soldiers while rescuing Harry. There’s a
golden routine in comedy that actors should take their roles seriously whatever
silly things they are asked to do and this applies here. Everyone is on point
and the results are amusing if slightly unbelievable. Would a hardened troop of
soldiers really be fooled by such a thin disguise and the Doctor’s
“paraphernalia”?
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