Spotlight: Wolfe Morris (Hubbard in Buddyboy)

Wolfe Morris was born on 5^th January 1925 in Portsmouth, Hampshire as Wolfe Steinberg into a family of Ukrainian-Jewish heritage[1]. During his career Morris appeared in several Nigel Kneale productions aside from the Beasts episode ‘Buddyboy’. He had a small role as the Custard Pie Expert in The Year of the Sex Olympics (1968), The Crunch (1964) as Mr Jimson and both the television and film versions of The Abominable Snowman.

Short and stocky (he was only 5’ 4’’ or 1.63 m) with curly black hair Morris was one of nine children born to Morry and Becky Morris. His father had been a professional entertainer in the London’s East End before becoming a businessman specialising in fruit, vegetables and jewellery. As a young child, alongside his brothers and sisters, his father taught his children songs and routines from his music hall days and actively encouraged interest in the performing arts. It was at Portsmouth Northern Grammar School that Morris first demonstrated his acting ability. In one school play when part of the scenery caught fire he extinguished it without faltering on a single word and made the incident look like it had been rehearsed. His younger brother, Aubrey Morris, became an established and distinctive character actor whilst his sisters Sonia and Julia also entered the profession as well.

Wolfe trained on a scholarship at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) from 1941 where he won the Forbes-Robertson and Kendal prizes. On leaving RADA he immediately went into serving with the RAF during World War Two. On being demobbed Morris went into local rep theatre before making his West End debut in 1947 with a production of The White Devil, a Jacobean revenge tragedy. He joined the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, when it was under the direction of Tyrone Guthrie, winning special acclaim for his work in a production of Henry VIII. He rapidly established himself as a reliable character actor specialising in ethnic roles and characters playing a diverse range that included Indians, Arabs, Mexicans and Japanese. He was able to imbue even the smallest and slimmest role with depth and interest, a quality he would also bring to his screen roles.

In the years leading up to his screen debut Wolfe refined his craft on the stage with a plethora of appearances in prestigious productions. For the Arts Theatre, Cambridge he appeared in the play Queen Elizabeth and was then assigned the role of Luigi Bunghi in The Mask and the Face during August and September 1950. During October he could be seen in a production of Queen Elizabeth. April 1951 saw him featured in a production of Saint Joan at the Bristol Old Vic. Further stage work includes the role of Signor Romeo in the comedy play Storks Don’t Talk presented at the Devonshire Part Theatre over May and June 1951, a production of Christopher Marlowe’s Tamburlaine the Great in September and October and, as part of the Old Vic Company, performing in the comedy play The Clandestine Marriage during November and December 1951. During March 1952 he was in a production of King Lear at The Old Vic followed by Timon of Athens during May and Romeo and Juliet during September 1952 at the same venue. January 1953 saw Morris play Tubal in a revival of The Merchant of Venice at The Old Vic followed by a small role as a priest in a revival of Murder in the Cathedral during March and April 1953.

Morris made his TV debut in an episode of the drama anthology BBC Sunday Night Theatre playing a waiter in ‘The Bridge’ (27th September 1953). This was quickly followed with the more substantial role of Ella Petrovitch in his second BBC Sunday Night Theatre episode, ‘Crime and Punishment’ (29th November 1953), an adaptation of the Fyodor Dostoevsky novel. His next TV role was in the BBC drama series A Place of Execution appearing in the final four episodes (10th October – 31st October 1953) in the role of Benda. The plot involved a villain who is due to be sentenced to death for kidnapping the daughter of an MP.  His colleagues issue a threat that if their friend is hung then the girl will be hung at the same time. The death sentence is not commuted and the police have to race against time to rescue the girl. Morris played the first in a long line of untrustworthy foreigners that would make up a sizeable portion of his acting career. Theatre roles for the remainder of 1953 included roles in King Henry VIII at the Old Vic during May and, for the Arts Theatre in London, the play London Actress during December 1953.

He started 1954 appearing alongside his brother Aubrey in a production of Crime and Punishment at the Arts Theatre in London during January. His next television credit was ‘Ambrose Applejohn’s Adventure’ (7th March 1954), an episode of the BBC Sunday Night Theatre series, and based on a play by Walter Hackett. Morris portrayed Horace Pengard. His next role was in the early BBC science fiction series The Lost Planet. Morris appears in the debut episode, ‘Through Corridors of Space’ (27th March 1954), as Andrieff.

Next was a role as a professional ear piercer in an episode of the BBC drama, The Grove Family – ‘The Ears Have It’ (7th May 1954). Morris also appeared alongside Donald Pleasence in the BBC single drama The Coiners (24th June 1954), adapted from a novel by Phyllis Bentley. Just under a month later he featured in another BBC single drama, The Peach Garden (19th July 1954), playing an Asian character called Ming-Y. He continued his association with the BBC by featuring in two episodes of the drama series Six Proud Walkers. Morris played the character Blackie in ‘The Seven Stars’ (11th August 1954), and ‘The Twelve Apostles’ (18th August 1954). His theatrical work for the year included an extensive run of The Teahouse of the August Moon playing a Japanese character, Jane Arden’s Play at the New Lindsey during September and The Immoralist during November.
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Starting 1955 he returned to the character of Andrieff for the sequel Return to the Lost Planet appearing in episodes; ‘A Message from Space’ (8th January 1955) and ‘The Crystal Sand’ (22nd January 1955). With his track record for playing ethnic characters by now firmly established Morris was cast in the BBC Sunday Night Theatre episode ‘The Creature’ (30th January 1955) playing Nima Kusang. The play, written by Nigel Kneale and produced by Rudolph Cartier, starred Peter Cushing and would later become an early Hammer Film production. Another BBC Sunday Night Theatre episode came shortly afterwards with ‘Midsummer Fire’ (17th April 1955) with Morris playing another ethnic role as Pepe. His next BBC Sunday Night Theatre roles were in the instalments ‘The Legend of Pepito’ (5th June 1955, playing a Mexican, and ‘The Weeping Madonna’ (8th January 1956) as yet another ethnic character, Frederico.

Morris made his cinema debut in I’ll Met By Moonlight (Night Ambush in the US) a 1957 film by Powell and Pressburger, which also starred Dirk Bogarde. Morris played the character George. This was followed by Interpol (Pickup Alley in the US) a 1957 crime drama for which he supplied a cameo as a morgue attendant.

He was one of three actors (the others being Peter Cushing and Arnold Merle) to reprise their roles in the Hammer film The Abominable Snowman (1957) which was adapted from the BBC play ‘The Creature’. His TV credits for the year included an episode of the World War Two espionage series O.S.S. – ‘Operation Pigeon Hole’ (19th December 1957). On the big screen Morris made appearances in the Hammer film The Camp on Blood Island (1958) as an interpreter and British comedy films Further Up The Creek (1958) and I Only Arsked (1958) playing ethnic characters in all three productions. On TV Morris had a small role as a wireless operator in the BBC single drama Incident At Echo Six (9th December 1958), the first play by Troy Kennedy Martin who would go on to write the film The Italian Job (1969) and the BBC series Edge of Darkness (1985).

1959 was a busy year for Morris with TV appearances in adventure series Glencannon as Mr Loong in the episode ‘Chinaman’s Chance’, crime series Dial: 999, BBC detective series Charlesworth and the H.G. Wells’ The Invisible Man episode ‘The Decoy’ (31st October 1959) as Andreas the Assassin. He also found time to play Little Man in the five part BBC thriller Ask For Billy King (3rd November – 1st December 1959) and make appearances in three episodes of Armchair Theatre for ABC; ‘Strange Meeting’ (22nd March 1959), ‘The Scent of Fear’ (13th September 1959) and ‘The Golden Horn’ (20th December 1959). On the big screen he appeared as an informer in the Hammer film Yesterday’s Enemy (1959).

At the start of 1960s Wolfe appeared as Professor Godbole in an acclaimed staging of A Passage To India during January 1960 at the Oxford Playhouse and continued to concentrate on stage roles for the following year such as Rashomon as the Birmingham Repertory Theatre during April 1961. He did feature in one of the Merton Park Studios series of Edgar Wallace crime thriller productions, Clue of the New Pin (1961), as Yeh Ling, another of his long list of ethnic characters. His TV roles for the following year took in Knight Errant – ‘King Charles’ Head’ (16th March 1961), The Avengers – ‘The Yellow Needle’ (10th June 1961), No Hiding Place – ‘Silent Witnesses’ (28th July 1961) and Maigret – ‘The Winning Ticket’ (13th November 1961). During September 1961 Morris appeared in a production of Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew at the Aldwych theatre. The Stage enjoyed his performance commenting “Morris plays Biondello with inexhaustible energy, prancing about like a monkey and rattling off his nonsense without pausing for breath[2].”

He reprised the role of Blackie Lilywhite, which he had previously played in the 1954 BBC production, in a new version of Six Proud Walkers transmitted April 1962. For the next few years Morris made his living between stage roles and television which consisted of single plays such as Captain Brassbound’s Conversion (20th July 1962) and No Star on the Way Back (29th December 1963), a single drama from Border Television, which offered a contemporary take on the story of The Three Wise Men. He also took guest roles in ongoing series The Avengers and Ghost Squad.

Morris also continued his association with the work of Nigel Kneale with an appearance as President Jimson in the writer’s nuclear thriller single play The Crunch (9th January 1964). His other single drama appearance for the year was the ITV Play of the Week episode ‘Where Are They Now’ (30th March 1964), written by the actor Alfred Burke under the alias Frank Hanna. Guest spots took in as the uniquely named Choke Hinton in the Z Cars episode ‘Whistle And Come Home’ (22nd April 1964) and Orlando, a spin off series from Crane, in the episode ‘The Black Snake’ (18th May 1965) as the villain of the week, Li Fang. Theatre highlights during 1965 included appearing at the Glasgow Citizen Theatre in John Arden’s Live like Pigs. December 1965 saw Morris undertake the title role in a new adaptation of Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus at the Close Theatre Club in Glasgow. In October 1966 Morris undertook the title role in a new version of Marlowe’s Tamburlaine the Great at The Marlowe theatre in Canterbury. The Stage praised his performance “Wolfe Morris has an exacting part which keeps him on stage for nearly all the three and half hours. He makes an impressive figure and is at his best in his stirring speeches of war.[3]”

He then made two guest appearances in the series Orlando playing two different characters, though both were of Asian heritage; Ti Wang in ‘The Black Snake’ (18th May 1965) and Aloysius Wong in ‘Orlando and A Man Called Moosh’ (8th November 1966). His second appearance in an episode of the ITV Play of the Week came in the episode ‘The Crossfire’ (9th February 1967), a comedy which also featured Roger Delgaldo, Peter Wyngarde and Ian Hendry in the cast.

One of the most fondly recalled roles of his career was perhaps influenced by his casting in the play The Creature and its subsequent film version, The Abominable Snowman, when the producers of Doctor Who cast him in a similar role as Padmasambhava in the Patrick Troughton era adventure ‘The Abominable Snowmen’ during September and November 1967. His association with the work of Nigel Kneale continued with Morris popping up in another Kneale scripted production with a small cameo as the custard pie expert in the visionary play The Year of the Sex Olympics (29th July 1968). His film work for the year included The Other People (1968), a film that has been lost and is listed on the BFI Most Wanted Missing Films list.

Also of note is his interpretation of Gollum in the 1968 BBC Radio 4 adaptation of Lord of the Rings which ran from 29th September to 17th November. The eight part series was written by the actor Michael Kilgarriff. More guest roles as ethnic characters in continuing series followed with parts in episodes of business drama The Power Game – as Mejulik in ‘Standard Practice’ (25th February 1969) – and in the ITC adventure series The Champions – as Nadkarni in ‘The Gun Runners’ (23rd April 1969). He then had a small role as a Chinese Trade Attache in the British sex comedy film The Best House in London (1969). To round off the year the single BBC drama Tower of London: The Innocent (31st July 1969) featured Morris as Doctor Puebla in a cast which also starred John Abineri, Bernard Archard, Peter Copley and a fresh faced Robert Powell. 

In 1970 Morris played Oliver Cromwell amongst a star studded cast in three episodes of the BBC period drama The Six Wives of Henry VIII. During December 1970 and January 1971 he appeared in a stage revival of Ibsen’s Peer Gynt at the University Theatre in Manchester playing several roles in the production including the Troll King. The director was Michael Elliott who had cast him previously in Kneale’s plays The Crunch and The Year of the Sex Olympics. Cinema wise Morris appeared in One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich (1971) adapted from the novel by Solzhenitsyn based on his own experiences as a political prisoner in Stalin’s Russia. More remembered was his film role as the insane owner of the waxworks in the second story in the British horror anthology The House That Dripped Blood (1971). After more guest roles he made just a single onscreen appearance for 1973 as the Malta Police Commissioner in the film The Mackintosh Man.

His TV roles for 1975 included Greg Prince in The Sweeney episode ‘Stoppo Driver’ (6th March 1975), Robert Walpole in the Churchill’s People episode ‘The Fine Art of Bubble Blowing’ (12th May 1975) and as Michelangelo Lombardi in ‘Just My Bill’ (5th December 1975), an episode of the sitcom The Good Life. Prior to his appearance as Hubbard in ‘Buddyboy’ Morris undertook roles in the biblical epic The Message (1976), the Children’s Film Foundation production Seal Island (1976) and in two episodes of the series Killers – ‘The Stinie Morrison Case’ Part 1 (30th June 1976) and Part 2 (7th July 1976).

Post-Beasts work includes his first BBC Play For Today – ‘Rocky Marciano Is Dead’ (28th September 1978) as a punch-drunk boxing trainer, an episode of the ATV high finance drama The Foundation, ‘Intuition’ (12th August 1977). as Jan De Groot and as Fraser in five episodes of the David McCallum starring HTV adaptation of Robert Louis Stephenson’s Kidnapped (1978). For director Michael Elliott he appeared in a stage production of Twelfth Night as Sir Toby Jug at the Royal Exchange, Manchester during January 1978. The following month, February, Morris played the roles of Rabbi Samson and Meyer in a production of The Dybbuk for the Manchester Royal Exchange Theatre Company.

His screen work during this period also includes appearing as Doctor Krause in the Walt Disney film The London Connection (1978), a family spy drama which was later re-edited and renamed The Omega Connection (18th March 1979), and shown as part of the series Walt Disney’s Wonderful World of Colour. He then featured as Ebenezer in two episodes of The Famous Five – ‘Five Goes to Demon Rocks’ Part One (18th July 1979) and Part Two (25th July 1979). Morris could also be seen opposite Sean Connery and Denholm Elliott in the film Cuba (1979) playing another ethnic role, General Fulgencio Batista. 

At the start of the 1980s the theatre work The Dybbuk was adapted into a BBC play (24th February 1980) and Morris recreated his stage role of Meyer for the TV version. More single play roles followed; BBC Play for Today – ‘Beyond the Pale’ (6th January 1981) as Mr Somper, People from the Forest (25th May 1981) as Mikhail Malyarov, the role of Sidney Moss in the BBC 2 Playhouse episode ‘A Pocketful of Dreams’ (12th March 1982).  Escape to the West (18th June 1982) was a single drama from HTV written by Dave Martin and story edited by his former writing partner, Bob Baker. The plot revolved around a TV play that is being made about a Russian dissident. Kubin, a real-life dissident who will introduce the programme, was played by Joss Ackland. Leonard Rossiter portrayed an extra in the in the play. Wolfe Morris played the producer of the play. 

.Morris made no film or TV appearances during 1983 and concentrated on theatre roles such as the touring production of the play Outlaw which began at the Haymarket Studio in Leicester. During 1984 he was back on the television as the character Leister in the Bergerac episode ‘House Guests’ (4th February 1984). Theatre provided the bulk of employment for the next few years with highlights including Breackneck at the Theatre Royal in Stratford during April 1984 and a production of Great Expectations at the Manchester Royal Exchange in November 1984. He made one television appearance in 1985 with the role of Mr Doffman in The Bill episode ‘The Sweet Smell of Failure’ (22nd January 1985). During April 1985 he appeared in a production of Lulu at the Palace Theatre in Watford.
He undertook the role of Rabbi Lionel Weiss in a six episode run of the soap opera Emmerdale during November and December 1987 and had previously been seen in Big George Is Dead (1st October 1987), a Channel Four single drama with Morris in the role of Fat Larry. Dirty Dozen: The Series was a short lived American programme based on the war film The Dirty Dozen (1967). Morris appears as Grimaldi in the ninth episode, ‘Don Danko’ (1988).

Morris had more work with the Compass Theatre Company from May 1988 as part of the cast of a touring production of The Government Inspector which opened in Bath and took in venues such as Birmingham, Richmond and Newcastle. Don Taylor, who directed the Beasts episodes ‘Buddyboy’ and ‘During Barty’s Party’, performed the directing duties. Back on television Morris was Mr Gimson in the first episode of a glossy TV production of Uncle Silas (4th January 1989) though the majority of his employment continued to be in theatre. April and May 1989 he appeared as the head of a family in the drama presentation In the Talking Dark at the Royal Exchange theatre. February and March 1990 saw Morris appear in David Rudkin’s translation of When We Dead Awaken at the Almedia theatre. The play saw Claire Bloom’s return to the London Stage after a thirteen year absence. Morris was next seen on the TV screen in the Channel Four short film The New Look (9th January 1991) as a psychiatrist. His final on screen role was Mr Prager in the HTV single drama Daisies in December (3rd December 1995). Morris portrayed an old age pensioner in a retirement home which was also the home of a colourful cast of characters played by an equally colourful collection of actors including Joss Ackland, Jean Simmons and Barbara Lott.

Wolfe Morris passed away aged 71 on 21st July 1996 in London and was laid to rest at Golders Green Crematorium on 25th July. His daughter, Shona Morris, is an accomplished stage actress.

[1] His grandparents were from Kiev where they fled from the anti-Jewish pogroms (riots) during the late 19^th Century. They arrived in London during the 1890s and moved to Portsmouth shortly afterwards.

[2] The Stage, Thursday 21^st September 1961, page 13.

[3] The Stage, Thursday 27^th October 1966, page 16

Final cover design for The Book of Beasts announced.

 The cover design for The Book of Beasts has undergone a few tweaks to add the publisher's branding and a credit for Johnny Mains who supplies the foreword to the book. 

Johnny was essential in getting this book to see print. He was their from the early drafts offering advice, encouragement and propping me back when I'd fallen. I can't thank him enough so I was really happy when he agreed to write the foreword.

The Book of Beasts trailer

My publishers, Headpress, have released a rather lovely promo video for The Book of Beasts. The video was created by Chris Lince of Hermetic Arts who specialise in producing genre material across the mediums of theatre, film and audio. One of the things I love about the video is that Chris has added tiny audio embellishments to link to Kneale's series. Can you spot the cries of a baby and a dolphin on the soundtrack?

Chris commented on making the video "As a massive Beasts fan, it was a pleasure to put together this trailer for Andrew's book. I wanted to capture the ominous dread that Kneale was so superb at, but also include more playful details in the sound design. Ending with a nod to 'Buddy Boy' was pretty much the first decision I made, and then I worked backwards from there!"

More of Chris' work including his trailers for theatre can be viewed at https://www.stagefrightfilms.co.uk/

 

During Barty's Party in the TV Times

For many ITV regions, including my area Granada, During Barty's Party was the first episode of Beasts shown. To launch the new series the listings magazine TV Times carried an interview with writer Nigel Kneale. However, the issue covering 15th - 22nd October 1976 reserved it's cover slot for the series The New Avengers which also debuted on the same night.

Inside the magazine pages two and three contained an interview with Kneale promoting his new series. Written by Stewart Knowles the article was titled The Great Utility Monster, a reference to the monster featured in the episode The Dummy.

Page two of the interview featured a tantalising first glimpse of the creature, which ignited my imagination and ensured I would be tuning in. 

The listing for Friday provided an episode synopsis which was both enticing and exciting. "The most terrible and irrational beast of all, is the one that hides within ourselves."

"An invasion of poison-proof super rats with human intelligence." To complete the coverage the magazine also provided a boxout with an image of Angie and Roger dressed in some kind of protective gear. Just what was happening? There was no way I was going to miss this. I wasn't disappointed...

Spotlight: Anthony Waller (Production Designer - During Barty's Party / Buddyboy / What Big Eyes)

 Anthony Waller was a production designer and set designer active in theatre and television from the late 1950s until the early 1980s when he was the Head of Design at ATV. Born as Anthony Edward Pratt, and occasionally known as Anthony Wallis, he started as a set dresser for the BBC working on live plays and productions from the late 1940s onwards. During this period he was also toiling away as a set designer in theatre - a notable highlight being his sets for a production of Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice performed at the Library Theatre in Manchester. Sir Peter Hall was the director with a cast that included Frank Windsor, Peter Jeffrey and Clifford Rose. Waller began regular design work for ATV in 1957 working on drama and light entertainment shows, though later on he tended to specialise in drama presentations.

The Market at Honey Lane (produced by future Beasts director John Cooper) was a soap opera set in an open air market in London and can now be seen as shadowing the later successful format of Eastenders. The programme would be a challenge for Waller as over three quarters of each episode were videotaped in a street market constructed in the grounds of Elstree Studios. The Stage trade newspaper interviewed Waller about his creation shortly before the series was transmitted; “John Cooper gave me the basic requirements like the number of stalls needed, sizes and so forth. Then I toured every London street market to see the real thing and sketched what I saw. What we have created is a London street market. Not one, but all of them – combined.[1]”

The set was extensive including a theatre, a betting shop, a pub, a restaurant, a night-club, a strip-joint, a barber’s shop, a bookshop and a mews called Apple Yard which led off Honey Lane[2]. Apple Yard consisted mainly of lock-ups and garages where the stallholders stored their gear. The production design was highlighted by several contemporary reviews including one in The Stage which opened with “Market in Honey Lane looks like the real thing. Filmed, surely, somewhere in Soho, it had as an incidental landmark a sign advertising strip-tease. That, along with the breath clouds on frosty air, was enough to convince me.[3]”

Created by Lewis Griefer Who-Dun-It, was an ATV series that combined mystery thrillers with an element of audience participation. Each week Inspector Jeremy Moon (played by Gary Raymond) would investigate a baffling murder case. Viewers where invited to submit their own solutions to the mystery before Moon would reveal his findings. The series can be seen as a forerunner to the later panel show Whodunnit? which did away with the audience input and instead had celebrities delivering their verdicts. Waller was one of the main designers on the series.

One of the more prestigious productions Waller worked during the 1970s was the period biographical drama series Edward the Seventh (1^st April – 1^st July 1975) which starred Timothy West as the English monarch. Waller oversaw all thirteen episodes alongside his fellow ATV staff designer Henry Graveney and both shared the BAFTA Award for Best Television Design at the 1976 awards ceremony in recognition of their skill and achievement.

During the 1980s Waller undertook design work on The Further Adventures of Oliver Twist (2^nd March – 1^st June 1980), which featured Beasts actor Pauline Quirke in the cast, as well as the biographical drama series I Remember Nelson (21^st February – 18^th April 1982). Both capitalised on his attention to rich period detail in his production design and would be his final credits before promotion. After serving as the head of the design department at ATV Waller retired and lived in Bexhill-On-Sea, East Sussex. He died 1^st June 2003.

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[1] “Series  To Show Harsh Side of Market Life”, The Stage, Thursday 16^th March 1967, page 14

[2] The Stage, Thursday 16^th March 1967, page 14

[3] “New Series Padded Out Too Much” by N Alice Frick, The Stage, Thursday 6^th April 1967, page 12

Spotlight: Don Taylor (Director - During Barty's Party and Buddyboy) Part Two

After four years as a staff director Taylor suddenly found that his contract was not to be renewed. Instead he would continue to work for the BBC on a freelance basis. Towards the end of September 1965 he directed a theatre revival of Fanny’s First Play at the Mermaid Theatre. His first freelance director work for the BBC was And Did Those Feet? (2^nd June 1965), another Taylor / Mercer collaboration. The play was partly filmed on location in a candle lit public swimming at night and was a fantasy essay on madness and eccentricity. The production proved to be costly and Taylor had to request additional resources to complete the project which was noted by BBC Drama Department management and eventually used as an excuse to not employ him for several years. In effect Taylor found himself black listed from working within the department, though this did not prevent him from working for different departments within the corporation.

Theatre work for this period included a revival of the Bernard Shaw play The Philanderer at the Mermaid Theatre during January and February 1966. The cast included his wife Ellen Dryden and Wensley Pithey, who would later play Mr Liversedge in the Beasts episode ‘Special Offer’. Taylor also directed a version of the play The Swallows, written by Ronald Dubillard, at the Traverse Theatre Club, Edinburgh during September 1966 and then the New Arts Theatre Club during October 1966. Taylor then wrote and directed the play Grounds for Marriage presented by the Traverse Theatre Club in Edinburgh during June 1967. This was the first play Taylor wrote for the stage. Taylor also wrote the stage play Sisters which was presented at the Northcot Theatre, Exeter during August and November 1968. The Citizen’s Theatre in Glasgow staged Sam Foster Comes Home, written by Taylor, during October 1969. The play centred on the character Sam Foster who has opted out of society because he refuses to compromise his beliefs.

The Woman From The Shadows (19^th January 1969) was the first of six films that Taylor directed for the BBC Arts Department for the documentary series Omnibus. Narrated by William Hurndall the programme dramatized the life and work of the poet William Wordsworth. Bernard Horsfall, who would appear in the Beasts episode ‘The Dummy’, played Wordsworth. Taylor himself would script several of these Omnibus episodes.Theatre wise Taylor had an immense success with The Roses of Eyam (1970) which was in almost continuous production for several years after it debuted. The play was based on real events that occurred in a small Derbyshire village in the 17^th Century. A bundle of clothes from plague riddled London arrives in the village with disastrous consequences. The village takes the decision to isolate itself from the outside world in a bid to stop the plague infecting over nearby villages. In effect the village voted to succumb to the plague and sacrificed itself to save others. The played debuted at the Northcott theatre on 23^rd September with a cast that included a small role for John Rhys Davies who Taylor would employ to provide radio voices for the Beasts episode ‘During Barty’s Party’.

His second Omnibus episode, It’ll Be All Live on the Night (1^st November 1970), was a documentary that looked at the state of regional theatre in the UK. Taylor scripted the programme which examined the theatres, and their artistic directors, in Exeter, Windsor, Stoke on Trent and Nottingham. The third Omnibus submission was Paradise Restored (2^nd January 1972) which was again written by Taylor. The episode was a dramatization of the life of John Milton, as played by John Neville, which was well acclaimed by critics. Taylor also scripted his fourth Omnibus episode, Actor, I Said (9^th April 1972) which had a solid cast that included Barry Foster and Martin Jarvis

Taylor found himself in the director’s chair for the BBC Drama Department after several years (his line managers who blacklisted him long since departed) for the BBC 2 play Prisoners (7^th April 1971), a two hander starring Edward Woodward as a prisoner and Warren Mitchell as his jailer. The Stage gave the play a glowing review: “The direction, by the author himself, Don Taylor, had the two characters jumping up and down every few seconds and rushing about like mad as is often the case in conversation pieces. But on this occasion it did not in fact jar – it seemed as natural and uncontrived as anyone has the right to expect artifice to be. Some of the camera movements were really quite delicious.[1]”

Next was the play ‘The Exorcism’ (5^th November 1972), a truly disturbing episode of the BBC horror anthology series Dead of Night, which has become a key work in the area of Folk Horror. Taylor dug beneath the usual surface dressings of the genre subverting the material to become what has been described as a “socialist ghost story[2]” when the suffering of long dead paupers impinges on the world of the well to do middle class. The play featured Clive Swift who would later feature in the Beasts instalment ‘The Dummy’.

Taylor also wrote his next directorial project, The Roses of Eyam (12^th June 1973), based on his stage play. The production was nominated for the best original teleplay by the Writers’ Guild. Taylor then returned to the documentary programme Omnibus with the episode The Runaway (18^th November 1973). Taylor’s first directing work for independent television followed with the ATV play The Person Responsible (1974) and Visitors (1974) both written by his wife Ellen Dryden. Taylor was not a fan of independent television, but he relished the chance to produce some of his wife’s work for television.

His final contribution to the series Omnibus was Find Me (8^th December 1974) written by David Mercer. Anthony Hopkins, David Collings and Charlotte Cornwell starred. The production was shot on film during 1973 and was the story of Polish novelist, wartime poet and political figure Marek (Hopkins). This was the sixth Mercer script that Taylor had directed. The stage version of The Exorcism opened at the Comedy Theatre, London in 1975. The production’s main star, actress Mary Ure, died suddenly after the opening night which resulted in the tabloid newspapers having a field day suggesting links between her demise and the supernatural forces present in the play. Despite all the publicity the play only ran for a month before closing. Taylor himself had tried to stop the play as he felt the production company was not interested in the allegorical messages in the drama. Instead he felt that they just wanted to cash in on the then present craze for Satanism and the supernatural amongst the British public and inspired by the film The Exorcist.  Taylor objected to the play being rewritten and sensationalised and tried to prevent production but withdrew not wanting to enter into a public row with the producers.

The two episodes of Beasts were his next directing project and would be a highlight of his experiences working for ITV. Interviewed in The Stage in 1977 Taylor stated “I work very little for ITV, merely because they don’t very often do the kind of thing I want to do. There have been exceptions. I had a very satisfactory association with Nicholas Palmer at ATV.[3]” Palmer was the producer of Beasts.

It was back to the BBC for his first contribution to the BBC 2 Playhouse series writing and directing the episode ‘Dad’ (23^rd April 1976) and this was followed up with the episode ‘The Achurch Letters’ (12^th January 1977). This was also written and directed by Taylor and focussed on the relationship between the writer George Bernard Shaw and a drug addicted actress. During June 1977 Taylor directed a version of Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure at the St. George’s Theatre in Tufnell Park. His first of three contributions to the BBC Play of the Month drama anthology came with an adaptation of the Harley Granville Parker play ‘Waste’ (4^th December 1977), first written in 1907 and immediately banned by the stage censor, the Lord Chamberlain, due to explicit dialogue around the topic of male and female relations and references to abortion. Taylor’s adaptation found little favour with the viewing audience with the majority of viewers watching The Silver Jubilee Royal Gala on ITV.

Taylor then became actively involved in the first season of a new flagship drama anthology for the his old employer. BBC 2 Play of the Week saw three episodes directed by Taylor with two of them also written by him. His first episode was the experimental ‘Flayed’ (22^nd February 1978), which he also wrote, and starred Timothy Bateson and Ian Holm. The action took place in a deserted television studio containing five characters, each there for a different reason. This was quickly followed with a remake of ‘For Tea on Sunday’ (29^th March 1978) which Taylor had originally directed 15 years earlier. This time the play’s destructive ending did not warrant a wave of complaints from the viewers. At the time Taylor said that the play “was meant to foretell the coming rage of a world torn apart by capitalism and terrorism.[4]”
The third play was ‘When Actors Come’ (3^rd May 1978) which was also written by Taylor. Manning Wilson was cast as the narrator of the story. Taylor revised this play for the stage debuting the production at the Forum, Wythenshawe performed by members of the Manchester Library Theatre Company from 2^nd February 1979. Other theatre credits during this period included directing a version of Julius Caesar at St George’s Theatre starring Bernard Hepton as Caesar during April 1979

Taylor then turned his attention to the Arthur Miller play The Crucible (12^th April 1980) directing an epic 165 minute television production which included the seldom performed third act. The distinguished cast included Sarah Berger, making her television debut as Abigail, Denis Quilley, Anna Cropper, Daniel Massey, Eric Porter and Peter Vaughan. Further down the cast list was a young Sarah Sutton who would later feature as Doctor Who companion Nyssa. Taylor’s third contribution to BBC 2 Playhouse was ‘In Hiding’ (15^th March 1980) with Taylor directing and writing a story about a teenager learning about life and death while staying with his aunt during the summer holidays. Denholm Elliott and Tim Piggot Smith featured in the cast.  Taylor’s final BBC 2 Playhouse episode was ‘A Last Visitor for Mr Hugh Peter’ (30^th January 1981) which he again directed and wrote. The story saw Hugh Peter (Peter Vaughan) alone in a prison cell awaiting his fate. He was once a member of Oliver Cromwell’s army and has now been sentenced to death. While he waits he is visited by various characters including Charles I and the black figure of death. Gary Watson, who had provided voice over work for ‘During Barty’s Party’, was cast by Taylor as the personification of Death. The play broke the fourth wall by having the main character suddenly break off and wander over to join a studio discussion about the production half way through the programme.

Taylor made a rare excursion into the ongoing series format when he directed four episodes of Maybury which starred Patrick Stewart as a psychiatrist working at Maybury General Hospital. ‘Not To Worry, Everything Is Under Control’ (23^rd June 1981), ‘Trouble At Home’ (30^th June 1981), ‘Eddie’ (28^th July 1981) and ‘Weekend’ (4^th August 1981). He returned to BBC Play of the Month with two consecutive episodes; ‘The Critic’ (23^rd August 1982) and ‘The White Guard’ (20^th September 1982). October and December 1983 saw a version of Taylor’s play The Exorcism, now based on his original script, toured with Kate O’Mara playing Mary Ure’s role.

His next BBC production was a version of Shakespeare’s The Two Gentlemen of Verona (27^th December 1983). The one off drama The Testament of John (28^th April 1984) was also written by Taylor. The Theban Plays by Sophocles were a trio of dramas all directed by Taylor and also translated by him; ‘Oedipus The King’ (16^th September 1986), ‘Oedipus At Colonus’ (17^th September 1986) and ‘Antigone’ (19^th September 1986). In December 1986 it was announced that Taylor had been appointed as the new artistic director for Compass Theatre, a company led by Sir Anthony Quayle. Quayle and Taylor had met when they both worked on The Theban Plays for BBC 2. His first task was directing a version of King Lear in April 1987. Other productions included The Government Inspector in May 1988

Taylor’s final directorial work for the BBC was two plays for the drama anthology Theatre Night; ‘Bingo: Scenes of Money and Deat’ (30^th June 1990) and ‘Iphigenia at Aulis’ (21^st July 1990) which he also translated. Further episodes were planned but were suddenly cancelled without any obvious explanation. Disillusioned with the medium Taylor decided to withdraw from the industry and he never made another programme. Since the 1980s Taylor and his wife had been running a children’s theatre company near their home in Chiswick. Taking this experience as a basis the couple decided to set up First Writes, a professional theatre company which would produce plays for the radio as well as mount stage productions mostly in East Anglia. He also published a memoir about his career in television and working alongside David Mercer titled Days of Vision.

He still undertook radio and stage work including Retreat from Moscow written and directed by Taylor at New End theatre, Hampstead during January 1993. For Radio 4’s Monday Play strand Taylor wrote Underworld (21^st February 1994) as well as writing and directing Merely Players (29^th April 1996). Further Radio 4 work included Where Three Roads Meet (24^th April 1998) which featured a vicar who had lost his faith in the existence of God. Taylor adapted and directed a three part version of The Decameron for BBC Radio 4 broadcast from 12^th July 1998 and directed a three part radio drama serial, Rites of Passage, starting 23^rd August 1998. Radio 4 transmitted a version of the play Moliere, or the League of Hypocrites (31^st October 1999) directed by Taylor and Ballet Shoes, adapted by Ellen Dryden, for Radio 4 during December 1999. In April and June 2000 BBC Radio 4 showcased a series of dramas written or directed by Taylor. The run included Walking to Africa (April 2000) as well as murder thriller Confessions of a Justified Sinner (April 2000). Both plays were written by James Hogg. In June Radio 4 transmitted Taylor’s 45 minute play about guilt, A Visitation (June 2000), starring John Wood, Julian Glover and Prunella Scales. August saw Taylor directing Losing Rosalind (August 2000) written by Ellen Dryden.

Taylor died on 11^th November 2003 in Banham, Norfolk aged 67 after a long battle with colon cancer which eventually spread to his brain. The Guardian obituary defined Taylor as “a figure of towering purpose and austerity in the years when television drama was the true national theatre[5].”  The Stage proclaimed “Don Taylor was one of Britain’s most innovative and respected television directors.[6]” Taylor had married the actress and writer Ellen Dryden (1938-2022) in 1960 and the union had one daughter, Lucy, and one son, Jon, an actor and writer.

The last play Taylor wrote for radio, A Nice Little Trip to Spain (4^th May 2004) investigated the mystery of why a socialist volunteer in the Spanish Civil War was buried alongside fascists. Taylor’s son portrayed one of the characters in the play. A celebration of Don Taylor’s life and work took place at St Paul’s Church, Covent Garden on Sunday 13^th June 2004. Between June and September 2004 a production of Euripides Iphigenia at Aulis, based on the translation by Don Taylor, was mounted by National Theatre. The company also mounted a version of Women of Troy between November 2007 and January 2008 based on Taylor’s translation of Euripides original play.

Don Taylor was adept across several mediums; theatre, television and radio. His work alongside Nigel Kneale on the Beasts episode ‘During Barty’s Party’ could easily be reconfigured to successfully work in all three of these media. A fitting tribute to a man who broke new ground and was not afraid to grasp the potential of drama to have a profound impact on its audience.

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[1] “Scarcely Flagged and Was Often Sparkling” by John Philips. The Stage, Thursday 15^th April 1971, page 11
[2] “Don Taylor” by Oliver Wake , Dead Of Night DVD Booklet, page 18 (BFI DVD 2012)
[3] “When Directors and Writers Lost Their Freedom”, The Stage, 10^th March 1977, page 16
[4] Don Taylor obituary by Philip Purser, The Guardian, 20^th November 2003, page 29
[5] Don Taylor obituary by Philip Purser, The Guardian, 20^th November 2003, page 29
[6] The Stage, Thursday 18^th December 2003, page 24

Spotlight: Don Taylor (Director - During Barty's Party and Buddyboy) Part One

Donald Victor Taylor was born on 30^th June 1936 in Chiswick, London into a working class background. His first encounter with the medium of television was at the age of 14 when he watched his father assemble a television set from a do-it-yourself kit. His first direct involvement was a few years later when he got hold of tickets to watch a game show presented by Charlie Chester being filmed. Chester picked him out of the crowd and made him sing ‘I Belong to Glasgow’ whilst also standing on his head. This humiliating scenario was witnessed by his then girlfriend who quickly dumped him after the show was over.

After gaining a scholarship he was educated at Chiswick Grammar School and then undertook a degree in English Literature at Pembroke College, Oxford from 1955. Whilst at Oxford he became an active member of the Experimental Theatre Club[1] and in 1957 he directed the world premiere of the play Epitaph for George Dillon by the notable playwright John Osborne. The production gained positive reviews including the trade paper The Stage which notted “Don Taylor’s perceptive direction is fully alive to the impelling qualities of the play, the climaxes being notably well-handled.[2]” He graduated in 1958 and joined the Oxford Playhouse as the theatre director’s assistant but was dismissed after six months. He took on work as a supply teacher to make ends meet.

In 1960, at the age of 23, he joined the BBC as a trainee on a six month contract and undertook the corporation’s director’s training course. This culminated in Taylor directing a twenty minute studio production after just eight weeks tuition. Taylor chose to adapt a Tennessee Williams short play, The Last of My Solid Gold Watches, which was seen by the then head of the BBC drama department, Michael Barry, who praised the production. Barry offered Taylor a contract as a director in the drama department, where he would specialise in directing single plays. Taylor, from strong socialist stock (his father was a trade unionist), felt himself slightly out of step with the established hierarchy within the BBC, though he found a kindred spirit when he began a long association with the writer David Mercer in 1961. Both held strong socialist beliefs and had concerns for how socialism was progressing. Taylor directed three plays by Mercer between 1961 and 1963 – Where the Difference Begins, A Climate of Fear and Birth of a Private Man – that formed a trilogy that overall explored the failure of socialism.

The first single play Taylor directed was The Road to Carey Street (10^th November 1960), a tale of bankruptcy which was well received within the BBC at the time, though Taylor himself felt that the script was poor. Prior to this he had directed two episodes of the police drama Scotland Yard; “Interpol” (31^st May 1960) and “Used in Evidence” (21^st June 1960), which used film to shoot the action and location sequences. These helped bridge between studio scenes which were still shot and transmitted live. Taylor’s episodes required night filming and car chases, something which the director found difficult to complete. Following these episodes the BBC confirmed that his contract was extended by a further two years. He was now an established BBC director and as such he was able to pick and choose what projects he would work on.

More single dramas for the BBC followed with The Dark Man (8^th December 1960) starring Robert Shaw. Written by N J Crisp the play was one of the first dramas on British TV to tackle the subject of racism. Shaw would also star in Taylor’s next credited production, The Train Set (5^th January 1961), written by Midlands born writer David Turner. The play was set in a Birmingham factory where a worker wants to buy his son a model railway for his birthday, but cannot afford it. Written and performed in the area’s dialect the play attracted approval from both critics and the BBC. Further single plays followed including Cheerio Lou (13^th March 1961) and On The Boundary (29^th June 1961), his second collaboration with David Turner, which was centred on the lives of people living on the border between slums and the modern building schemes in the city of Birmingham.

During September 1961 Michael Barry resigned as head of drama. This would eventually have an impact on Taylor’s career and future with the BBC, but for now a caretaking head was appointed the form of former assistant head of department Norman Rutherford. Elwyn Jones stepped into the role of assistant head, and as such became Taylor’s immediate boss as he oversaw the daily work of the drama department.

Further single play credits during this period of change included Summer Autumn Winter Spring (11^th September 1961) and Where the Difference Begins (15^th December 1961), his first collaboration with David Mercer. This play was centred on the political differences between a father and his two sons. Barry Foster appeared as one of the sons with Leslie Sands as the patriarch of a divided family. Comedienne Hylda Baker made her television drama debut in the play following her role in the film Saturday Night and Sunday Morning. Again the play was positively received with both Foster and Sands being singled out for their portrayals. Taylor’s final play produced during 1961 was Choirboys Unite! (21^st December 1961) which featured Manning Wilson in the cast, who Taylor would use as a voice over artist in the Beasts episode ‘During Barty’s Party’. This was another play written by David Turner and was a lighter in tone work about a Birmingham choir going on strike.

‘The Alderman’ (28^th January 1962), about a retiring Labour town councillor, was Taylor’s first contribution to the BBC Sunday Night Play strand. The live production very nearly became a disaster when, shortly before the performance went on air, a camera mounting planned to be used for high shots looking down on the action irreparably broke. With no time to acquire a replacement mounting Taylor instead used the tallest cameraman in his team using a standard mounting to achieve the shots.

Taylor continued with work within the single play format with The Winter’s Tale (20^th April 1962), his favourite Shakespeare play, which again featured the actor Robert Shaw in the cast. This adaptation of the Shakespeare play also starred Patrick Macnee, Geoffrey Bayldon and Ron Moody. Working from another script by David Mercer Taylor oversaw A Climate of Fear (22^nd June 1962) starring John Stratton and Geoffrey Bayldon. This was a potentially politically provocative tale of a young woman who becomes estranged from her husband on joining CND (The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament). The play tapped into the groundswell of support that CND enjoyed as the idea of mutually assured destruction in the event of a nuclear war became increasingly possible as Cold War tensions soared. After this Taylor made a rare excursion into directing for an ongoing series with an episode of Z Cars – ‘Unconditional Surrender’ (31^st July 1962). Directing this episode was a condition that had been laid down when he had approached Elwyn Jones to mount a production of The Winter’s Tale.

A Suitable Case For Treatment (21^st October 1962), another script by Mercer, was a study of the angry young socialist Morgan Delt and his descent into madness after his wife leaves him. The script was funny and original and Taylor was immediately fired up with enthusiasm for the play. However, when he attempted to get it green lit for production Elwyn Jones was not convinced the play would work. This led to heated debates and disputes over several days before Jones relented, but not before threatening that if the play failed then Taylor would forfeit his job at the BBC. The play was found to overrun the sixty minute allocated slot so Taylor, having won Jones round, compromised and cut the length down by ten minutes. Instead of a live transmission the play was pre-recorded to video tape and this allowed Taylor to be extremely inventive with the use of film, visual jokes and dream sequences. The boundaries for the use of sound where also pushed with the use of music acting as a commentary on the play’s events. This was something new and exciting and the critics reacted by praising the production to the hilt whilst Mercer was awarded the Screenwriter’s Guild for best play of the year. Sadly there is no recording of the original play in the BBC archives so Ian Hendry’s interpretation of the role of Morgan is lost forever. However we can still see the successful cinema adaptation from 1966 under the title of Morgan A Suitable Case for Treatment starring David Warner and directed by Karel Reisz.

‘Libel on a Liar’ (25^th November 1962) was Taylor’s next contribution to the BBC Sunday Night Play series. The story centred on a teacher, Stephen Moriarty, who writes a novel about a school where he used to work. Members of staff at the school read the book and identify themselves as inspiration for some of the story’s characters and contemplate a libel action. The Birth of A Private Man (8^th March 1963) saw Taylor produce and direct another script by David Mercer and was the final part in the loose trilogy the duo had begun with Where the Difference Begins. The play, set in Eastern Europe, was a critique of socialism within these countries and Taylor approached Elwyn Jones with the suggestion that he and Mercer visit some of the locations in the script to enable research. Rather surprisingly he agreed. To arrange visas for the visit the pair were interviewed at the Polish Embassy about their political viewpoints for several hours. With the visas granted Taylor and Mercer visited Warsaw, Poland and East Berlin viewing the Berlin Wall which would figure in the conclusion of the play. Plans were drawn up for location shooting in Poland and cast and production crew prepared for the shoot. However, shortly before they were due to depart visas were suddenly withdrawn without any explanation. Mercer quickly rewrote the Polish location sequences setting them on a train carriage (filmed at Ealing Studios) and locations were located within the UK including a cemetery in Wakefield, Yorkshire and a brewery in Watford which doubled for the Berlin Wall.

Taylor did not agree with the appointment of Sydney Newman as the head of BBC drama or of the changes that Newman made on his arrival. These included splitting the drama department into two areas – plays and serial – with the emphasis on increasing the output of serials and steering the tone of plays to become less elitist in order to appeal to a wider audience. Newman also implemented a producer system which assigned directors to scripts, as opposed to the old system where directors could work with the scripts of their choosing. Finally Newman split the roles of producer and director into two individual jobs, something which under the old system had been combined into one. This would leave Taylor with just the role of director on his future projects. Taylor also began to feel his choice of plays were not favoured by Newman and this led to friction between the two.

Taylor’s next BBC Sunday Night Play episode, the first to be made under the new departmental conditions, was another script from David Mercer. ‘For Tea on a Sunday’ (17^th March 1963) was an allegory criticising the tensions boiling beneath the surface of 1960s British society which concluded with the character Nicholas destroying his flat with an axe. To capture this climax Taylor had three identical sets constructed – one for rehearsal and two for possible takes – though he filmed all three acts of destruction as a precaution which paid dividends when he used shots from the rehearsal in his final edit of the sequence. This segment proved to be particularly controversial with a reported 134 calls of complaint about the violence and intensity of the scene made to the BBC[3]

Taylor’s next BBC Sunday Night Play fell foul to direct interference by Sydney Newman. Written by George Target and originally titled ‘Workshop Limits’, the play was about an industrial dispute in a factory. Newman objected to the title and preferred to call it ‘You Can’t Throw Your Mates’ (7^th July 1963) which Taylor refused to do. Newman issued a direct order which saw the name change go ahead despite Taylor’s objections. It was a minor issue but it was the turning point for Taylor as he felt that the new regime did not welcome him.

His final episode of the BBC Sunday Night Theatre was ‘The Full Chatter’ (16^th June 1963) from a script by Hugh Whitemore. This was a comedic story about Frederic Instance, a teacher who hates television, but longs to be a writer. The play utilised the techniques which Taylor had pioneered in A Suitable Case for Treatment with surrealism, dream sequences, mock adverts and voice over and was another big hit with audiences and critics. After this Taylor found he had no further projects assigned to him despite having a contract for another year. Newman then moved him from the plays department to the series department much to the horror of Taylor who had shunned work in series to pursue his beloved area of single plays. Newman then offered Taylor the chance to produce a new series he was setting up for a family slot on a Saturday teatime, something he was calling Doctor Who. Taylor declined.

Frustrated with the lack of projects Taylor looked towards theatre and during November 1964 he directed the stage play Maxibules at the Royal Theatre in Brighton. Back at the BBC after trying, but ultimately failing, to develop his own drama anthology series based around a University Taylor’s final work as a BBC staff director was The Wednesday Play instalment ‘Dan, Dan, The Charity Man’ (3^rd February 1965). Written by Hugh Whitemore and starring Barry Foster as Dan Sankey who is a national celebrity due to his charity work, but what lies beneath the façade? Again Taylor employed unusual techniques to further the narrative and push the medium including silent movie style captions, sped up film and characters who pause the action to address the audience directly.

TO BE CONTINUED...

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[1] The Experimental Theatre Club (ETC) was founded in 1936 as an amateur dramatics society and an alternative to the Oxford University Dramatic Society. Notable previous members of ETC include Rowan Atkinson, Alan Bennett, Lindsay Anderson, Ken Loach and Dudley Moore

[2] “Early Work By John Osborne”, The Stage, Thursday 28^th February 1957, page 10
[3] Richard Sear, ‘Storm at a Tea Party’, Daily Mirror, 18 March 1963, p. 14.