#SCF was a kind of experimental youth answer to Play for Today; produced at Pebble Mill in Birmingham (the titular

[mariocki]

Second City Firsts: Glitter (BBC, 1976)

"Everybody wants a piece of you, stuffed and hanging on the wall with your mouth open! They may get my body but they won't get my head."

#second city firsts #glitter #single play #classic tv #bbc #tony bicât #toyah willcox #phil daniels #dixie dean #noel edmonds #doremy vernon #colin chisholm #tara prem #nick bicât #with the bbc centenary now in full swing (?) bbc4 have opened up their archives just a crack to let a few choice morsels plop #out on Wednesday evenings for us hungry fans of old tv‚ including a clutch of Second City Firsts (catch them on iplayer while you can) #SCF was a kind of experimental youth answer to Play for Today; produced at Pebble Mill in Birmingham (the titular #second city) and concentrating on first time writers (the firsts aspect) the series is notable for being the first step on the road to #success for many famous faces both in front of and behind the cameras; Julie Walters had her first screen role for the series‚ as did Toyah #Willcox here‚ and Ian McEwan wrote for the series before publishing his first novel. the survival rate of these individual plays is patchy #(28 of the 53 survive) which isn't unusual for single play strands in this era‚ and perhaps especially when there were fewer big names #attached. seeing the survivors hasn't been too easy either so I'm grateful for the opportunity from bbc4 #Glitter was the work of writer director Tony Bicât and starred Toyah in her screen debut opposite Phil Daniels (already something of a #known face thanks to a string of well regarded teen roles (inc. 4 Idle Hands)‚ and the two would be reunited in a couple of years and gain #immortality in 1979's Quadrophenia. there are thematic links between that film and this play too‚ not least in the generational conflict at #play and the idea of music as something quasi religious in effect‚ but this doesn't reach the heights of The Who. actually it's slightly #silly; a girl's dream of being on top of the pops made manifest‚ complete with awkward cameo by Noel Edmonds (game for a laugh #apparently‚ but certainly no actor). it's experimental‚ in the way that sixth form creative writing projects are experimental; I don't know #any of Bicât's other work but I'm afraid on the strength of this I'm not much tempted to seek them out. but that's the single play #they can't all be winners and they can't all launch careers; but then Toyah ended up doing ok in the end anyway