Ask any man who reached the age of 18 between 1947 and 1961 what are his most vivid memories of that period, he will almost certainly answer: 'My two-year stint with HM Forces.' Tonight Acker Bilk, Ronnie Corbett, Nicholas Harman, Michael Parkinson, novelist Gordon Williams and volunteers from the general public relive their National Service experiences. In the studio there'll be music from a jazz group led by Acker Bilk; bandsmen, including journalist Nicholas Tomalin; and from a Russian choir led by Carwyn Jones, manager of the British Lions Rugby Team. Comedy routines by Rogers and Starr, who launched their career as a drag act in the RAF. Dramatised scenes from novels about life in the services: The Camp by GORDON M. WILLIAMS and The Breaking of Bumbo by ANDREW SINCLAIR Also taking part: David Caute Richard Crossman, MP and General Sir Brian Horrocks Producer TONY CASH Film cameraman IAN STONE Film editor HOWARD WATERS Director BEN REA Assistant editor TONY STAVEACRE Editor BILL MORTON
An anthology for November, highlighting some of the month's events in music, theatre, visual arts, books, and film. Introduced by Melvyn Bragg Among the main events: The Merry-go-Round From the Royal Court Theatre, scenes from Peter Gill's adaptation of an early play by D. H. Lawrence, with Derrick O'Connor as Harry Hemstock and Susan Tracy as Rachel Wilcox In the studio, Melvyn Bragg talks to two contributors to a new collection of essays on Lawrence: Barbara Hardy, Head of the English Department at Birkbeck College; and author Alan Sillitoe The Floating World From the Victoria and Albert Museum, an exhibition of Japanese popular prints, which conjure up a dream-like world of beautiful but weird landscapes, warriors, exotically-dressed women, fantasy, and nightmare. Edwin Mullins presents a selection of pictures with music specially written by Karl Jenkins of the 'Soft Machine.' Clay A film for Hallowe'en: an adaptation of one of the stories from James Joyce's Dubliners Adapted by Simon Raven Directed by Jonathan Miller with Children's games for Hallowe'en: the water for a journey, the ring for a wedding, the book for the church and clay for a death ... Georges Brassens From the new Sherman Theatre in Cardiff, a rare appearance in this country of the singing poet of Montparnasse. Welsh Dylan An exhibition celebrating aspects of Dylan Thomas's life in Wales opens in Cardiff next week, the 20th anniversary of his death. For 2nd House, Anthony Hopkins reads 'Fernhill,' and 'Don't go gentle into that good night.' Designer J. Roger Lowe Producers TONY CASH, KARL FRANCIS , GAVIN MILLAR Director BEN REA Assistant editor TONY STAVEACRE Editor BILL MORTON
Introduced by Melvyn Bragg and featuring some of the personalities and activities that are thriving in the city of Liverpool today, ten years after the birth of the ' Liverpool scene '. The programme is linked by a conversation with four writers who come from the city, but now spend most of their time away from it: Alun Owen '... the way people talk in that city: it's jaunty, elegant, vulgar, earthy, precise. I wanted to use it. I did, and it gave me a freedom.' Ted Whitehead ' ... and by the way, it's important to recognise that the explosion of pop culture in the early 60s happened because of an initial impetus in a Northern provincial town....' Neville Smith ' Liverpool is like New York, it's full of bit players....' Roger McGough ' But Liverpool is still a very puritanical city compared with other places ...' The programme will include, from the stage of the Everyman Theatre, Soft or a Girl Scenes from JOHN MCGRATH 'S play about Liverpool With ROGER SLOMAN , TONY SHER , RICHARD WILLIAMS and songs from the Liverpool-based group, PETTICOAT AND VINE ALAN dossor, director of the Everyman, and WILLY RUSSELL , a local writer, discuss the future for the theatre in Liverpool. From the studios of Radio Merseyside Scully A short story by ALAN BLEASDALE about a Liverpool schoolkid ' I wrote Scully on the bus shelter as we walked back. I put Scully wherever I can. It's me name, see.' Read by DAVID LINCOLN From the New Montrose Club, Comedian Jackie Hamilton ' What's the difference between a coconut, a Scotsman, and Bill Shankly ? ' introduced by ERNIE MACK From Liverpool 8, The Granby Festival a film about the summer festival organised by the community of Granby, one of the city areas most affected by redevelopment. From the Customs House Hotel, In My Liverpool Home folk songs from PETE MCGOVERN , FRANK MCCOLL , STAN AMBROSE , and others, in the last session of folk music to be held in this dockside pub before it is demolished to make way for a police sta
A special edition introduced by Melvyn Bragg and featuring Mailer's Marilyn In the studios of KCET, Los Angeles, MELVYN BRAGG meets Norman Mailer to talk about his recently published biography of Marilyn Monroe. Mailer's biography complements a collection of photographs of Marilyn Monroe , who was in her time the most sought-after photographic subject in the world. Marilyn Monroe died on 5 August 1962, aged 33. Despite her extraordinary world-wide appeal, her personality remains enigmatic. Also included in the programme, MARILYN MONROE on film, including scenes from The Prince and the Showgirl, Some Like it Hot and The Misfits. Producers BEN REA. JOHN REYNOLDS Assistant editor TONY STAVEACRE Editor BILL MORTON
Some views of the British Theatre Introduced by Melvyn Bragg In the spring of 1975 the new National Theatre opens on London's South Bank. It will have cost £10-million. Meanwhile, less than five per cent of the population ever find their way into a theatre at all. Tonight 2nd House looks at the British Theatre, the people who go to it and those who don't. ' There's No Business ... ' For most people, theatre means entertainment, in the form of a West End show. Certainly it does to the BIRCHWOOD METHODIST CHURCH THURSDAY CLUB on their outing to the new musical Pippin, and to Pippin's presenter, ROBERT STIGWOOD, Australian millionaire and producer of such hits as Hair and Jesus Christ Superstar.-Stigwood is giving th,e people what they want, and his record seems to prove it. The National Theatre - do we want it? BENEDICT NIGHTINGALE, New Statesman critic, takes a sceptical look at a 100-year-old dream, and PETER HALL, the National's new director, and KENNETH TYNAN discuss plans for the theatre's future. The Other Vic For the people of Stoke-on-Trent, theatre means their subsidised repertory theatre, the Victoria. Under the direction of PETER CHEESEMAN, the Vic tries to solve the age-old problem of meeting the needs of a local community, all of whom pay for the theatre but few of whom want to go. Whatever Happened to the Popular Theatre? For the sceptic, theatre has a lot of questions to answer. It's expensive and much talked about, but still runs a poor third to television and films as a popular medium. KEITH DEWHURST, playwright and journalist, argues that English Theatre has lost the knack of being both popular and serious, and asks what we can do to bring the two halves together again. Film directors SHELDON LARRY. DENNIS MARKS Assistant editor TONY STAVEACRE Editor BILL MORTON.
An anthology for January highlighting some of the month's events in music, books, theatre, film and the visual arts. Introduced by Melvyn Bragg from Morley College in South London Tubular Bells A studio performance of MIKE OLDFIELD 'S rock music composition which has been acclaimed in the musical press as a unique achievement in popular music. Without borrowing anything from established classics, or descending to the discords, squeals and burps of the determinedly avant-garde, Mike Oldfield has produced music which combines logic with surprise, sunshine with rain (THE LISTENER) One of the most mature, vital, rich and humorous pieces of music to emerge from the pop idiom (MUSICAL EXPRESS) A rock masterpiece (THE GUARDIAN) In the 2nd House studio, MIKE OLDFIELD leads a band which brings together some of the country's leading rock musicians, including MICK TAYLOR, STEVE HILLAGE, FRED FRITH and TED SPEIGHT (guitars); MIKE RATLEDGE, JOHN GREAVES and TIM HODGKINSON (keyboards); with PIERRE DE STRASBOURG (percussion). Visually, the music is complemented by images from the tubular steel sculptures of WILLIAM PYE , and sequences from his film Reflections. John Fuller A film profile of the poet and Fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford, whose latest book Epistles to Several Persons is published this week by Seeker and Warburg. The book is a series of verse-letters to John Fuller 's friends: a poet and member of International Socialism, a fellow don, another poet celebrated but feared for his criticism, and a Marxist novelist. Mahler Thirty years ago GUSTAV MAHLER was a musical joke - writing symphonies that needed an army to perform and lasted until the small hours. A cult figure in the 50s, now he's big box-office, due in no small measure to the movies. Death in Venice brought the 5th Symphony to a public unfamiliar with Mahler, and this spring KEN RUSSELL 'S new film biography of the composer opens in the West End. Tonight 2nd House examines the impact of Mah
A topical arts magazine Introduced by Melvyn Bragg S.O.S. The first TV appearance of a newly formed trio which combines three of the finest British jazz saxophonists - JOHN SURMAN (baritone), MIKE OSBOURNE (alto) and ALAN SKIDMORE (tenor). IAN CARR , author of the book Music Outside, talks about the state of British jazz: ' a perpetual Cinderella of the arts.' The Landscape of Britain EDWIN MULLINS reviews the current exhibition at the Tate Gallery: a survey of the art of landscape painting 1750-1850, ranging from the figures of Turner and Constable to lesser-known artists. W.A.G. The Writers' Action Group aims to achieve a trade union of writers whose livelihood, they claim, is severely curtailed by the public library system. BRIGID BROPHY, W.A.G.'s founder, will discuss the scheme, and their immediate plans to ' storm Parliament.' Producers TONY CASH, KARL FRANCIS Studio director BEN REA Assistant editor TONY STAVEACRE Editor BILL MORTON
An Artist's Story Introduced by Melvyn Bragg Lines from a short story by Chekhov, which is the centrepiece for tonight's programme. The story revolves around the confrontation of ideas between Anton, a landscape painter, and Lydia, a young aristocratic girl who devotes her life to good works. And in the 2nd House studio, MELVYN BRAGG discusses the contemporary relevance of Chekhov's story with RT REV TREVOR HUDDLESTON , Bishop of Stepney, and JOHN BERGER The story adapted by JEREMY BROOKS Director DAVID JONES Producers MELVYN BRAGG , GAVIN MILLAR Director BEN REA Assistant editor TONY STAVEACRE Editor BILL MORTON (Brenda Bruce , David Jones. Philip Locke. Patrick Stewart are members of the Royal Shakespeare Company)
' Frank's for the Memory ' This year, a disagreement with the Arts Council has brought to an end Frank Hauser 's association with the Oxford Playhouse, and the winding up of the company he founded 17 years ago to put on new plays in Oxford - the Meadow Players. As a grand finale, many of the celebrated artists who have appeared with the company during its life gathered in Oxford to put on a special show as a surprise parting gift for Frank Hauser. In 2nd House, MELVYN BRAGG introduces highlights from the show and talks to Frank Hauser about his achievements as Director of the Meadow Players, which has mounted 80 premieres in Oxford, 20 of which have subsequently transferred to the West End. The programme will include scenes from: The Wolf by FERENC MOLNAR with Edward Woodward Leo McKern and Judi Dench Antony and Cleopatra by WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE with Barbara Jefford Electra by JEAN GIRAUDOUX with Frank Windsor Also, Barbara Young , Joss Ackland and John Moffatt reading extracts from An Actor's Life for Me, an anthology of writings about the theatre by Tyrone Guthrie , Max Beerbohm. Dorothy Perrott and Charles Dickens. ' Does no other profession occur to you, which a young man of your figure and address could take up easily, and see the world to advantage in? ' asked the manager. ' No,' said Nicholas Nickleby , shaking his head. ' Why, then, I'll tell you one,' said Mr Crummies , throwing his pipe into the fire and raising his voice. ' The stage! ' ' The stage! ' cried Nicholas, in a voice almost as loud. PLUS a special musical composition for the occasion: ' The Arts Council Songs' by Elisabeth Lutyens , sung by RICHARD EASTON , KEN WALLER , JOHN J. MOORE and CAROL HALL. Producer BEN REA Assistant editor TONY STAVEACRE Editor BILL MORTON
Introduced by Melvyn Bragg Common's Luck A film about JACK COMMON , the Tyneside writer who died in 1968. His classic account of a northern working-class childhood - Kiddar's Luck - is soon to be republished. ' The man who ... ... rang the bell in a teashop ' or 'the member of the Athenaeum who wore plus-fours ' are characteristic Bateman cartoon figures, embarrassed by their ignorance of proper middle-class behaviour. 2nd House looks at some original H. M. Bateman drawings from the current exhibition at the Leicester Gallery. Stephanie Bergman The Garage is a new gallery in London, dedicated to showing the work of living artists: currently they are presenting a collection of large ' sewn canvases' by 27-year-old STEPHANIE BERGMAN. EDWIN mullins looks at her work from dyeing, cutting and sewing, to the finished canvases in the gallery. The Fires of London PETER MAXWELL DAVIES , One of Britain's most highly regarded composers, in 1969 created an ensemble which he called THE FIRES OF LONDON. Tonight they play three of his compositions: Antechrist, a concert overture, based on a 13th-century motet. Fantasia and Two Pavanes, from the music of Purcell but updated to the era of the foxtrot. Notre Dame des Fleurs, a miniature opera for three voices. Producers TONY CASH, DENNIS MARKS Assistant editor TONY STAVEACRE Editor bill MORTON
All over the world writers and artists are in conflict with authoritarian rule. Tonight 2nd House presents the work of four individuals whose freedom of expression has, for differing reasons, been curtailed or suppressed. The Axe by LUDVIK VACULIK (an extract from the novel banned in Czechoslovakia after 1968) Adapted by NEVILLE SMITH With BRIAN PECK , RAY LONNEN SUSAN JAMESON and PETRA MARKHAM Vascu is a journalist, Honzo a bus driver. Both have fallen foul of their bosses. Maria Santiago Knowing how artists and singers who supported Allende's Popular Unity Government have disappeared or been murdered, MARIA SANTIAGO dare not return to Chile. In any event her paintings would not be exhibited and her poems would go unpublished. A Matter of Taste by ALEX LA GUMA (a story banned in South Africa) With ALTON KUMALO LOUIS MAHONEY and PAUL JONES ' It's a matter of money, pal. I worked six months in that caf6 and I never heard nobody order sheep's head and beans!' Cancer Ward by ALEXANDER SOLZHENITSYN (an extract from the novel refused publication in the USSR) Adapted by TONY CASH With SARA CRAZE, KEITH ASHTON Plus songs by dissident composers and performers; poems read by ALFRED BURKE ; and an interview with the philosopher STUART HAMPSHIRE, a member of Writers and Scholars International, an organisation which exists to study censorship. The Axe: Director BEN REA A Matter of Taste: Director PETER GILL Cancer Ward: Director BEN REA Producer TONY CASH Assistant editor TONY STAVEACRE Editor BILL MORTON Keeping up with Jones: page 4
Never give a sucker an even break-the catch-phrase of the great W. C. Fields, comic genius anti-hero, whose splendidly idiosyncratic views on politics, big business, marriage, babies and alcohol are legendary. For 2nd House, comedian Les Dawson , himself a W. C. Fields devotee, presents a collection of hitherto unpublished letters, speeches and sketches from Fields's ' intended autobiography,' due to be published in April. The Ragtime King: 75 years ago the Negro composer and pianist Scott Joplin ushered in the ragtime craze to the Maple Leaf Rag. Joshua Rifkin conducts his own orchestral arrangements of Pineapple Rag and The Ragtime Dance; and with choreographer JONATHAN TAYLOR re-creates a ragtime session of 60 years ago. Impressions of- a New City: 100 years ago a society of anonymous artists shook Paris by setting up their own exhibition in defiance of the establishment. EDWIN MULLINS looks at the way the Impressionists and contemporary photographers documented the new city of the 19th century, and at the changing reaction of painters and photographers to a changing way of life. 10.35 Grace: a story from Dubliners by JAMES JOYCE adapted by DAVID STOREY directed by PETER GILL ' Mr Kernan came of Protestant stock, and, though he had been converted to the Catholic faith at the time of his marriage, he had not been in the pale of the church for 20 years. He was fond, moreover, of giving sidethrusts at Catholicism....' Producers TONY CASH, KARL FRANCIS Assistant editor TONY STAVEACRE Edlitor BILL MORTON
Country Music CHARLIE GILLETT presents highlights from this year's Sixth International Festival of Country Music at Wembley - including a performance by TAMMY WYNETTE - and talks about the origins of country music with BARRY RICHARDSON (vocalist with the group Bees Make Honey). Plus scenes from Red, White and Blue Grass, a film made by the outstanding American photographer ELLIOTT ERWITT about the communities of the deep South, where country music is a family tradition. Byron's Letters Yesterday was the 150th anniversary of the death of the poet Lord Byron. Lady Caroline Lamb described him as ' Mad, bad and dangerous to know.' MELVYN BRAGG talks about the Byron legend to one of his biographers, DORIS LANGLEY MOORE , and MIDGE MACKENZIE , the film director. JEREMY BRETT reads extracts from Byron's letters and poems. The New Review IAN HAMLTON is the founder of one of the most controversial poetry magazines of the 60s, The Review. This month he launches The New Review. 2nd House looks at the birth of a new literary magazine with the help of A. ALVAREZ , ROBERT LOWELL , GEORGE STEINER and others. The film is narrated by MARK BOXER , the cartoonist, who has a long experience of magazine journalism. Vortex In 1914, for a few brief years, England was in the vanguard of European art. Painter and novelist Wyndham Lewis collected a group of fiery young artists in a studio in Great Ormond Street , and together they created a powerful abstract style to reflect the dynamism of the new century. This month the Hayward Gallery celebrates the work of these ' Vorticists ' with a retrospective exhibition. Producers TONY CASH. KARL FRANCIS Assistant editor TONY STAVEACRE Editor BILL MORTON
Melvin Bragg introduces a Cornish poet, an electronic painting, the music of Horslips and The Great Money Trick HORSLIPS The Irish jig and the 12-bar blues did not have much in common, until HORSLIPS, a five-piece rock group from Dublin, found a way of marrying the two. Horslips are: CHARLES O'CONNOR JOHN FEAN , BARRY DEVLIN EAMON CARR , JIM LOCKHART Poems for Children CHARLES CAUSLEY has lived and worked in the small town of Launceston, in Cornwall, for most of his life. He is, in the words of one critic, ' a wartime sailor, present teacher, and major poet.' Tonight's film concentrates purely on his work for children based on his own childhood experiences, and on those of the children he teaches today. Entering Tonight the TV screen becomes an artist's canvas, with an ' electronic painting' commissioned from PETER DONEBAUER , who has been doing experiments with colour videotape. The Eye of the Storm An award-winning American film which documents a young teacher's attempt to explain prejudice to her eight-year-old pupils - by experience. On the first day of the experiment, the blue-eyed children were designated as the ' privileged class,' and the brown-eyed children were treated as inferiors. On the second day, the roles were reversed. Guitar Solo From a live concert at Ronnie Scott's Club, a demonstration of the ' blindingly nimble finger-work ' (Sunday Times) of jazz guitarist JOE PASS , who accompanied Ella Fitzgerald on her recent British tour. The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists Immingham, in Lincolnshire, has no professional theatre. So BELT AND BRACES and 7:84, the touring company founded by playwright JOHN MCGRATH , decided to use the village streets. Their show, The Reign of Terror and The Great Money Trick, is a musical based on Robert Tressell's novel, The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists. 2nd House filmed the group in Immingham; in the studio MELVYN BRAGG talks to JOHN MCGRATH about the project. Producers TONY CASH, KARL. FRANCIS Assistan
On Film Introduced by Melvyn Bragg (NORMAN MAILER) More and more people want to make films. Not just home movies, but on a professional level - story films, documentaries, cartoons, abstract, experimental ... Tonight's 2nd House is devoted entirely to showing the work of independent film-makers, and discussing their problems, their achievements and their future aims. Featuring sequences from: Dog by MICHAEL MCCLOY Custard by PHILIP AUSTIN and DEREK HAYES Playing the Thing by CHRIS MORPHET Nothing's Going to Change My World by ROGER LAMBERT Peter and Ruby by COLIN. GREGG Sid's Family by NICK GIFFORD High Row by MURRAY MARTIN Tunde's Film by MAGGIE PINHORN All the Advantages by CHRISTOPHER MASON Home and Away by MICHAEL ALEXANDER My Ain Folk by BILL DOUGLAS Duffer by CHUCK DESPINS Private Enterprise by PETER SMITH Jellyfish by PETER ROBERTS Producers JANE COLES , KARL FRANCIS Assistant editor TONY STAVEACRE Editor BILL MORTON
Introduced by Melvyn Bragg In 1964 a rock group called The Who made their first public appearance at a pub in Harrow. The line-up was PETE TOWNSHEND (guitar), JOHN ENTWISTLE (bass), KEITH MOON (drums) and ROGER DALTREY (lead vocals). Ten years later the same band hold an undisputed position among rock giants. The first programme in a new series of 2nd House examines this phenomenon, and MELVYN BRAGG talks to Pete Townshend , leader of THE WHO.