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sillymovietrailer · 5 years

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Doomwatch

After discussing the Scarred for Life books, I thought I’d cover a few bits and pieces mentioned in there, starting with the feature film spin-off of quite a popular show back in the day. Doomwatch was created by Dr. Kit Pedler & Gerry Davis, a team that had worked with the BBC before on Doctor Who, most notably creating the Cybermen. The original concept was sort of based on concerns about the rise of new methods of medicine, including organ replacement systems etc., and if you look at the original Cyberman designs, that’s very obvious. So the show Doomwatch was born out of similar thinking, although in a more grounded way, and definitely for a more adult audience. It was a show that worked with a “five minutes into the future” SF approach, although it had a very British take on the material (translation: a lot of the time it was really depressing and miserable!).

The basic idea of the series is that in response to the rise in new scientific advances, an official “Department for the Observation and Measurement of Scientific Work” (nicknamed Doomwatch) is set up. It is actually a tiny group, really underfunded, basically existing so that the Government can look like it’s doing something about the issue without really doing something about it. However, the leader of the team Dr. Spencer Quist, played by John Paul, was a driven idealist, as he had earlier been seconded to the Manhattan Project, which resulted in his wife dying of radiation poisoning, and so he leads the fight against red tape to make Doomwatch do some real good in investigating all kinds of issues. These ranged from things fairly realistic matters, like effects of jetlag, noise pollution from planes, and the effects of violent content in the media (an episode that actually got banned!), to more out there stuff like microbes deliberately bred to eat plastics getting loose, and intelligent rats on the rise. That last one was fairly memorable, as though it had truly chilling moments, like when characters find that the traps they set were deliberately disarmed with tools, the scenes of the characters wrestling with plastic rats on their trousers just looks ridiculous (although there are some truly shocking make-up effects for the rat’s victims, the most shocking being the very end of the episode). Yeah, this didn’t even have the same effects budget as Doctor Who did, but the show was quite well written, even if it did go into ME AM PLAY GODS territory a lot, the ideas were good, it pulled no punches at all when it came to darker material, and it had a fair three season run. It had a season finale that was a real watercooler moment of the day, as one regular character has to defuse a nuclear weapon, and succeeds, but realises too late that the conventional explosive component is still armed... Sadly, that episode is lost now, another victim of the great BBC archive purges, but the season two opening follows straight on, and recaps the moment. You can get a box set of all the surviving episodes (which ironically includes that banned one) now, and it is worth a goosey if you get the chance. Well OK, maybe not the episode The Battery People, where the writers seem to have confused being impotent with being gay, where the clue that gets Doomwatch involved is when a group of men start drinking pink gin. Yes, really. Why couldn’t they have lost that one when they had the chance...?

So what about this film then? It was produced by Tigon, a smaller film distributor/producer, made a few notable horror titles like Blood on Satan’s Claw and Witchfinder General, and this was one of their last actual productions before they purely shifted to distributing... more adult fare. Now I have to stress something; that trailer is lying, this isn’t really a horror story. It keeps pretending to be, with lots of shots of suspicious locals and the like, some tension building moments, but really it’s more a mystery of what’s happening, which later goes into more dramatic territory as the human cost of what’s happening is revealed. Slight spoiler here, but the actual threat here is that the islanders have started developing en masse the condition acromegaly, a pituitary gland disorder that induces uneven growth throughout the body, most notably in the facial features. What’s causing it, and how to treat the problem, is where the film goes in it’s central section. Incidentally, it’s only in that middle bit that the main TV cast actually gets involved; Ian Bannen’s character is created for the film, he’s the man in the field whilst Dr. Quist and everyone stay in London to talk to ministers, members of the Navy and such. This does mean that the film feels very oddly paced, like you have a higher budget episode of the show being sandwiched between a folk horror-ish opening and closing section. Also, it means that the regular cast get swizzed out of getting a higher billing. Not cool Tigon.

All this isn’t to say that the film is bad, it’s just that if you go in expecting a full blown 70s style horror romp, you may be a bit disappointed. If you go in expecting an intriguing Doomwatch story, with issues of environmental pollution and the like, you might enjoy it, but be a bit annoyed by them forcing in stuff that’s there purely to look scary in the trailers. Also, I for one found the idea of the trailers marketing this as an island of “monsters” when they are simply people suffering from a medical disorder more than a tad tasteless. It’s recently got a Blu Ray re-release, so it’s worth a look. One last slightly ghoulish thing about this though; the cast includes George Sanders in a small roll (but big billing) as an Admiral involved in the mystery. This was actually the last film of his released before his suicide in 1972, with his very last film Psychomania released about a year later. Sanders was quite a fascinating figure, although I don’t entirely mean that in a complementary way, he had quite the complicated personal life.

To end on a cheerier note, two extra things; Channel 5 tried a revamp of Doomwatch in 1999, with a TV movie pilot called Winter Angel. I think I saw part of it, but I don’t remember the whole thing; it was quite warmly received though (surprising since Channel 5), I think I will track down a DVD to have another look. Last thing, here’s the later VHS trailer for the film.

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#Doomwatch #Ian Bannen #Judy Geeson #George Sanders #John Paul #BBC #Tigon #Scarred for Life #Kit Pedler #Gerry Davis #Clive Exton #Peter Sasdy #Joby Blanshard #Simon Oates #Jean Trend

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papermoonloveslucy · 7 years

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Lucy in London

October 24, 1966

Synopsis

Lucy Carmichael wins a trip to London in a jingle contest. It is a whirlwind, one day tour, with Anthony Newley as her guide. They visit such landmarks as Madame Tussaud's, Carnaby Street, London Bridge, the Palladium Theatre, and an English country manor. On her tour, Lucy gets to sing with the Dave Clark Five, act Shakespeare with Peter Wyngarde, and model mod fashions to a Phil Spector song!

Cast

Lucille Ball (Lucy Carmichael) was halfway through her fifth season playing Lucy Carmichael on “The Lucy Show” (1962-1968).

Anthony Newley (Anthony Armstrong Fitz-Faversham) was a London-born actor and singer who was perhaps best known for his collaboration with Leslie Bricusse on the film scores for Doctor Doolittle (1967, in which he also appeared) and Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1970, in which he also appeared singing the break-out hit “The Candy Man”). In April of 1966, just a month before “Lucy in London” filmed but before the special was aired, he released the film version of Stop the World - I Want To Get Off, a musical which he wrote (again with Bricusse) and starred in as Littlechap in London and New York. In 1965, he starred on Broadway in another musical he co-wrote with Bricusse The Roar of the Greasepaint – The Smell of the Crowd.

Anthony Armstrong Fitz-Faversham is Lucy's tour guide from Royal Luxury Tours Ltd.

Frank Thornton (Customs Official) will be forever remembered as Captain Peacock, the imperious floor walker on “Are You Being Served?” He was also well known for playing Truly for 13 years on “Last of the Summer Wine.” Thornton died in 2013 at the age of 92.

Winifred Hyde White (Hawkins, Madame Tussaud's Guide) was a Gloucestershire-born actor who will probably be best remembered as Colonel Pickering in the 1964 film My Fair Lady. He was twice nominated for Broadway's Tony Award as Best Actor in 1957 for The Reluctant Debutante, and in 1973 for The Jockey Club Stakes.

James Robertson Justice (Madame Tussaud's Manager) was known for his bushy beard and booming voice. He is perhaps best remembered as Lord Scrumptious in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1963).

The Dave Clark Five (Themselves) was an English pop rock group made up of Dave Clark, Lenny Davidson, Denis Payton, Mike Smith, and Rick Huxley. Their single "Glad All Over" knocked the Beatles' "I Want to Hold Your Hand" off the top of the UK Singles Chart in January 1964. In 1966 they were regular performers on TV's “Shindig.”

Peter Wyngarde (Himself / Petruchio) was born in France to an English father and French mother. Lucille Ball personally asked Wyngarde to appear in the special having seen him on Broadway in Duel of Angels starring Vivien Leigh in 1960 (while she was appearing in Wildcat). She was said to have been smitten by him, and was determined to find a way for the two of them to act together.

“Lucy may’ve thought I was kidding, but if she wanted to play this straight she would be a marvelous Kate. Her looks are absolutely right as is her vitality. And she’s a good enough actress to be able to do it.” – Las Vegas Sun, October 23, 1966

Edna Morris (Woman at the Shakespeare Festival) was a Lancashire-born actress whose screen acting career began in 1946 at the age of 40.

Dennis Gilmore ('Pops' the Stage Doorman) was a Middlesex-born actor whose screen career spanned from 1953 to 2010.

Joby Blanshard was a Yorkshire-born actor who was seen on stage and screen from 1954 to 1986. He is perhaps most famous for playing Colin Bradley in 32 episodes of the early 1970s 'science-fact' series “Doomwatch.”

Jenny Counsell has just three other screen credits (as per IMDB) the last of which was an uncredited appearance in Carry On Again Doctor (1969).

Bonnie Paul was the step-daughter of Burl Ives.

John Stone was a Welsh character actor and playwright.

Twiggy was born Lesley Lawson. She became the world's number one model at the time, so named for her slender figure. Twiggy eventually turned to acting on both stage and screen.

Chrissie Shrimpton was a model who (at the time) was dating Mick Jagger. She is the sister of Vogue model Jean Shrimpton.

Jenny Boyd was a fashion model and the sister of Pattie Boyd, who was then married to George Harrison of the Beatles. Boyd left modeling and took up transcendental meditation.

Samantha Juste became known on British television in the mid-1960s as the "disc girl" on the BBC’s “Top of the Pops.” In 1968 she married Micky Dolenz of the Monkees.

Roy Rowan (announcer) was the off-camera announcer for every episode of “I Love Lucy” as well as “The Lucy Show” and “Here’s Lucy.” He was also the voice heard when TV or radio programs were featured on the plot of all three shows. He made a couple of on screen appearances as well.

This special was part of Lucille Ball's 1966-67 contract negotiations with CBS. She was supposed to star in three such 'travel' specials, but this is the only one that was ever realized. Ball originally planned to co-star with Mitzi Gaynor as two nuns touring Europe, followed by a French-based production called “Lucy in Paris,” and a Middle Eastern-set comedy called “Lucy in Arabia” or “Lucy in the Desert.”

This CBS special (in color!) first aired on October 24, 1966 in “The Lucy Show” time slot, but because it ran one hour, it pre-empted “The Andy Griffith Show.”

This script was written by Ron Friedman and Pat McCormick. This is Friedman's only time writing for Lucille Ball. Also in 1966, Friedman was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for an episode of “The Danny Kaye Show.” McCormick went on to write one episode of “Here's Lucy” in 1969. The special was co-produced and choreographed by David Winters, who had played A-Rab in the 1961 film West Side Story.

The budget for the special was $500,000. It came in under budget.

The special was produced and directed by Steve Binder, who specialized in award shows, concerts, and TV spectacles. It was sponsored by the Monsanto Company.

Regular Lucy viewers may remember that Lucy Ricardo went to London during season 5 of “I Love Lucy” although the cast and crew never left Hollywood to film, as they do here. “Lucy in London” was Desilu's first international film project, not counting some second unit footage of Cuba and Mexico gathered for “The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour.” Like Lucy Ricardo, Lucy Carmichael also visits the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace and spends some time at an English country manor home located just outside London.

This special was a follow up to “The Lucy Show” episode “Lucy Flies to London” (S5;E6), which was filmed in September 1966, four months after the May location shooting of “Lucy in London.” Lucille Ball later said that May was her favorite month anywhere in the world. “Lucy Flies to London” (S5;E6) was shot completely at Desilu Studios in California, while “Lucy in London” was shot completely on Location in and around London.

The cast was supposed to include actor Laurence Olivier, but he withdrew from the project before filming began. Lord Olivier was mentioned on “I Love Lucy” in “Lucy Meets Orson Welles” (ILL S6;E3).

Lucille Ball went through 15 different wigs during the production. Cleo Smith, Ball's cousin and the executive in charge of this production, later recalled that problems arose in photographing the star on the London locations, where the use of heavy stage make-up and filtered lighting that was employed for her studio-based program could not repeated. Ball's biographer Geoffrey Mark Fidelman would later remark that the actress "looked old" throughout the show due to difficulties in establishing flattering lighting for the outdoor sequences.

Under the supervision of Cleo Smith, Desilu sent a second unit crew ahead to film scenes with doubles of Lucille Ball and Anthony Newley as they traveled through London and environs on their motorcycle and sidecar.

The special is divided up into acts, like a play, with titles on the screen – in Old English font, naturally!

The opening sequence of Lucy stepping off the Pan Am jet used only still photos shot by Life Magazine's Bob Willoughby. His photographs were used in a montage format until Lucy meets her tour guide when traditional film storytelling begins. Director Steve Binder says that this was a creative decision due to the notoriety and artistry of Willoughby, not a cost-saving measure. The sequence also reflects a typical tourist like Lucy's snapshots of their trip, an idea reinforced by the fact that Lucy wears a camera around her neck for much of her time in London.

The sequence involving Lucy de-planing from the Pan Am clipper jet had to be accomplished in between flights already on the tarmac at Heathrow. No planes were available to be grounded for a day of shooting. Coincidentally (or perhaps not) Pan Am (which is no longer in existence) was also the carrier when Lucy Ricardo flew home from Europe and from Miami to Havana on “I Love Lucy.”

To ensure that Heathrow and other London locations were accessible to the film crew, a former Buckingham Palace official with the proper 'connections' was engaged by Desilu. It is unclear whether anyone was 'bribed' to open doors, but some locations did charge a user fee, which Desilu gladly paid. When Desilu asked about police protection for Lucille Ball during their shoot near London Bridge, Scotland Yard replied that they didn't do that for anyone – not even the Queen! They did, however, guarantee that if the crew did not block traffic and cause any pedestrian problems, they would be sure all went well.

Newley sings “On a Wonderful Day Like Today” as he zooms off on his motorcycle with Lucy in his 'top drawer' sidecar. A chorus of schoolgirls on bicycles join in singing “The Beautiful Land.” Newley then sings a bit of “Sweet Beginning” as they drive through Piccadilly Circus. These songs are all from the musical The Roar of the Greasepaint – The Smell of the Crowd, which Newley co-wrote with Leslie Bricusse and starred in on Broadway in 1965. This is the show that gave Cleo Smith the idea to cast Newley, who only had a two week opening in his Doctor Dolittle shooting schedule to film the special with Lucy.

On the banks of the Thames, Newley quickly sings a bar of “What Kind of Fool Am I?” a song he wrote and performed in Stop the World – I Want To Get Off. Speaking of banks, Lucy says she works in a bank back home where “her boss” makes her report at 8am. Interestingly, not much of Lucy Carmichael's home life is discussed other than this.

The stunt where Lucy and Anthony Newley sink into the River Thames was supposed to be shot in another location due to the fact that the Thames was reported to be polluted. At the last moment, Lucy decided it was funnier to actually do the stunt on location, despite the risks involved. As she did in “Lucy at Marineland” (S4;E1) and various other times in her career, Lucy did the stunt herself, not employing a stunt person or effects.

As Lucy and Tony's punctured raft is sinking in the Thames, Newley salutes the Union Jack and sings a chorus of of “There'll Always Be an England,” an English patriotic song written in 1939 by Ross Parker and Hughie Charles, and famously sung by Vera Lynn. In “Lucy Flies to London” (S5;E6), the episode of “The Lucy Show” that preceded this special, Mr. Mooney quotes the same song, dreading his secretary's frenetic presence in England's capital city.

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Bronx-born singer / songwriter Phil Spector was commissioned to write and perform the title song “Lucy in London,” to which is set a montage of Lucy in and around London wearing mod fashions. A demo single of the song was recorded by Spector, but never released. The song comes about 15 minutes into the special and mentions The Dave Clark Five, who have actually not performed yet on screen. The montage features Lucy in mod fashions of the time and has cameos by top fashion models like Twiggy. The musical montage ends Act I.

Several scenes were cut for time. The first was Lucy stepping out of Mary Quant's London boutique Bazaar with packages and mod sunglasses. She gets into Newley's sidecar and the two drive off.

The second involved Newley donning a tall black fur hat and demonstrating to Lucy how silly the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace is. Both scenes turn up on the “Lucy Show” season 5 DVD documentary about the special.

Another scene was filmed where Newley takes Lucy for a lunch of fish and chips, riding on a bicycle built for two. Only still photos remain of the scene which had Lucy trying to talk like a Cockney to a genuine London-born chip stall owner.

Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum was (and still is) one of London's busiest and most popular tourist attractions. The production was only allowed to film inside once the museum was closed and the last tourist had exited the building. In the Museum sequence, a wandering Lucy gets separated from her tour guide (Winifred Hyde White) and must be led to the Chamber of Horrors by the manager (James Robertson Justice) to catch up with her group. The scene called for a frightened Lucy to hit him over the head with a bottle. The production supplied candy glass prop bottles for the stunt, but somehow Lucy managed to pick up an actual glass bottle and Justice had to be hospitalized for stitches. Presently, Madame Tussaud's Wax Museums in New York City and Las Vegas feature figures of Lucille Ball as Lucy Ricardo.

Before they go inside the waxworks, Newley teases Lucy that inside she'll find Cleopatra and her Mark Antony. Lucy played Cleopatra onstage back in Danfield with Viv as her Mark Antony. Before going in Newley says “TTFN.” When Lucy asks what that means, he replies “Ta ta for now.” TTFN was a favorite expression of Winnie the Pooh's pal Tigger. The voice of Tigger, Paul Winchell, guest starred on “The Lucy Show” just prior to this special. He once claimed that it was his idea to have Tigger say TTFN.

Inside the museum, Lucy tweaks the nose of Prince Philips' wax 'figger'. Prince Philip was mentioned recently in “Lucy with George Burns” (S5;E1) and several times on “I Love Lucy.” She also sees waxworks of Napoleon and Josephine. On an episode of “Here's Lucy,” Lucy Carter and Harry (Gale Gordon) play Napoleon and Josephine during a séance.

Great Fosters (not Grace Fosters!) is an English country manor from the Tudor period located in Egham, Surry, just outside of London. There is evidence that the de Imworth (later Fosters) family lived there as early as 1224. Now under the ownership of the Sutcliffe family, the historic building became a hotel in 1930, as it remains today, hosting tourists, wedding parties, and those looking for fine dining. When Lucy arrives they are hosting a Shakespeare Festival at their theatre in the gardens. Lucy brags to one of the actors (Peter Wyngarde) that she did Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing in high school. Lucy and Wyngarde rehearse a scene from The Taming of the Shrew with Lucy as Kate (her only line is “Never!”) and Wyngarde as Petruchio.

After Lucy flees taming by 'Petruchio' and runs from Great Fosters, Anthony Newley jokingly does an imitation of Stan Laurel saying “Well, Lucy, that's another fine mess you've gotten us into.”

In front of Lucy, Newley, and The Dave Clark Five (in morning suits and top hats) perform a medley of “London Bridge is Falling Down” and “Pop Goes the Weasel.” It is interesting to note that the London Bridge seen in the background is the old London Bridge (1831-1967). A year after filming, this bridge was dismantled and sold while a new version (that still stands today) was built to replace it. The old London Bridge was reassembled in Lake Havasu City, Arizona, opening in 1971, where it remains the number one tourist attraction.

In Act IV, pulling up to the London Palladium, Lucy and Tony see the marquee for a show called London Laughs starring Harry Secombe, Jimmy Tarbuck, Thora Hird, Freddie Frinton, and Russ Conway. Instead, however, Newley takes Lucy to The Scala Theatre on Charlotte Street, off Tottenham Court Road. The theatre opened in 1903 seating 1,139 and boasts a large stage. Three years after “Lucy in London” filmed there, it was destroyed by fire and demolished. Today the site is the location of an apartment block.

On the Scala stage, the special takes a slightly surreal turn with Newley suddenly presenting a full scale musical one-man show with lights, scenery, costume changes, and orchestra. He first sings “Fine Day in London” then “I'm Gonna Build a Mountain” (from Roar of the Greasepaint). He follows with “Once in a Lifetime” from Stop the World and “Nothing Can Stop Me Now,” also from Greasepaint.

During “Look at That Face” (Greasepaint) he sings directly to Lucy, the Queen of Comedy, “the face that the world adores” and she becomes the Queen of England sitting in the Scala Theatre’s royal box. He ends the medley with “This Dream” (Greasepaint) and Lucy becomes the (male) orchestra conductor. After Newley leaves the stage, Lucy reappears as an Eliza Doolittle-type flower girl sitting in the front row of the balcony eating a piece of fruit.

The special then takes on an even more dreamlike quality with Lucy on stage doing a pantomime in a spotlight. It looks like Lucille Ball is wearing the same over-sized suit that she wore as the Professor in the “I Love Lucy” pilot and “The Audition” (ILL S1;E6). The very end of the special, still on the Scala stage, singing about her “One Day in London” Ball seems to drop the Lucy Carmichael character and speak directly from the heart as she addresses the camera. It is some of the most moving acting Ball has done on television thus far.

Although nominated as Best Actress in a Comedy for “The Lucy Show,” Lucille Ball was not able to attend the Emmy Awards Ceremony on May 22, 1966 as she was filming “Lucy in London.” In any case, she lost to Mary Tyler Moore in “The Dick Van Dyke Show.”

Viewership was high for the special (finishing as the most-watched telecast of the week) but critical responses were very poor, with Variety complaining: "What had promised to be one of the season's major specials turned out to be a major disappointment." Perhaps because of this, Ball opted not to pursue the creation of the remaining two specials in her contract. If the critics did not approve of her stepping outside of what she was known for, she would give them more of what they expected.

“Lucy in London” was aired just once – on October 24, 1966 - and was not seen again until the DVD release of the official fifth season of “The Lucy Show” as bonus material. As with “The 'I Love Lucy' Christmas Special,” “Lucy in London” was not included in “The Lucy Show” syndication package and is not counted in the official episode tally.

Although this special marked the only time Lucille Ball was seen on a London stage, after more than 50 years Lucy will once again be in London (sort of) when Lee Tannen's autobiographical play I Loved Lucy returns to London’s Arts Theatre during the summer of 2017. Sandra Dickinson plays Lucy and New Jersey's own Matthew Scott is Lee.

“Lucy in London” rates 4 Paper Hearts out of 5

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