Is what was relevant in 1976 relevant today? I didn’t get to where I am today without knowing the answer to that kind of question, but the BBC has answered with an unequivocal yes by choosing to remake The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin. Originally starring Leonard Rossiter, this saw Sunshine Desserts office drone Reginald Perrin gradually finding the boredom of everyday life taking its toll on his sanity. He starts to daydream, having fantasies about his secretary and just about everyone else, including his mother-in-law (always accompanied by a picture of his hippopotamus), and starts to act out in bizarre ways – before eventually faking his own death.
Reggie Perrin, as it now is, stars Martin Clunes as Perrin, now gainfully employed by Groomtech but still finding life to be somewhat disappointing. As indeed, are we.
Not really very head-oriented, today’s Dick Head takes a leaf from Sitting Tennant to leap from last week’s BHS catalogue entry to the DFS catalogue this week to show Richard Armitage sitting on a sofa, while a shadowy photographer tries unsuccessfully to shade his eyes.
Captions, haiku or anything else Richard Armitage’s head (and body) inspires in you and can be set down in writing, please.
Got a picture of Richard Armitage’s head, preferably wearing a hat? Then leave a link to it below and if it’s judged suitable, it will appear in the “Dick Heads” gallery.
The story of Merlin and King Arthur has been around for centuries, so it’s not surprising that every so often, someone wants to retell it*. Most recently, we’ve had the BBC series Merlin, but there have been numerous other retellings including the Sam Neill mini-series Merlin, the movie Excalibur, the Clive Owen historical, King Arthur, and mild American 70s sitcom Mr Merlin.
Back in the 80s though, there was a more subtle adaptation of the myth set in modern times. Starring Patrick Malahide (Minder et al) as the Merlin-esque ‘Magnus’ and Stephen Dillane (Hamlet, Spy Game, Welcome to Sarajevo) as Nick, the King Arthur of the piece, The One Game posited the question: “What would have happened if Arthur had been made King with Merlin’s help – and then Arthur had kicked him out?”
This being the 80s, however, for the retelling Nick was the MD of a games company and Magnus was the creator of his best-selling game, thrown out and sent to a mental asylum after he couldn’t handle Nick’s rejection of his newest invention. Magnus escapes from the asylum and using his near-magical skills, steals all Nick’s company’s assets and plans his further revenge.
What made The One Game so interesting and worthy of being described as a Lost Gem was its then-unique concept: during the course of the four episodes, set over a Bank Holiday weekend, everyone Nick meets – including friends and loved-ones – and everything he does and comes across may be part of ‘The One Game’, a live-action and possibly deadly game invented by Magnus to teach Nick a lesson.
It was only ever shown once on ITV1, was released on DVD but is no longer available. It’s The One Game and it’s a Lost Gem. Here’s the the opening titles to the second episode, Saturday, complete with theme tune sung in Patagonian Welsh and annoying 80s narrator recapping just enough of the plot for you to know what’s going on.
We’re building up quite a collection of writers and publishers here at the blog, so in what has become a tradition here, it’s time to pimp one of their books.
Stuart Douglas – who hasn’t been around here much of late. Bah! – is publishing a collection of Iris Wildthyme stories by the likes of Paul Magrs, Steve Cole, Mark Wright, Cavan Scott and Mags Haliday next month so why not head on over to Obverse Books and place an order? It’s only £10.99 and it’s a hardback.
In case you don’t know who Iris is, she’s a Time Lady who travels the universe in a TARDIS disguised as a Double Decker bus. According to el Wikipedia:
Her stories are in the New Wave mold, characterised by nonlinear, sometimes stream of consciousness narrative, intertextual references to the rest of Doctor Who and popular culture, and themes of unreliable narration. She has a playful, mischievous personality, delighting in baiting the Doctor and getting into trouble.
Although she started off in the BBC Books Doctor Who novels, she’s gone on to have a range of audio adventures, care of Big Finish, in which she’s played by former Who companion Katy Manning, so you might want to nip over to Amazon to buy them, too.
