I really enjoyed this excellent drama and the follow-up documentary on BBC Four last night.
Previous comments by some that the subject wouldn't be treated seriously were unfounded. Julie Walters gave an excellent portrayal of Mary Whitehouse: a woman genuinely struggling to come to terms with the new liberal media and the loose morals she witnessed.
Although I don't agree with any of her views, and they look archaic 40 years later, the character certainly engendered sympathy from the viewer and you had to admire her determination and energy, if nothing else.
A very well made drama, and it was nice to see the follow-up programme on BBC Four which explained alot about why many of Mrs Whiteshouse's generation had difficulty in accepting the BBC's sudden change in policy during the 60s.
A shame this was put up against 'Britains Got Talent' because i think it might suffer in the ratings.
Brilliant drama, and a great performance by Julie Walters. It was odd seeing the clip of the real Mrs Whitehouse on Newsnight afterwards, because i swear it could have been Julie Walters shot on an old black and white film camera.
I was surprised that the drama chose to portray her in a positive way, though not disappointed because i always believed she had the best intentions of the nation at heart, but as soon as you try and force your opinions onto other people you're going to get a backlash. At the end of the day she should have probably promoted the idea of adults controlling what TV their kids watch as opposed to trying to treat adults like kids and restricting what they can watch. Adults can make up their own mind about what they watch and whether they want to watch it depending on its content, kids are more impressionable.
I'm surprised this was shown on BBC Two actually - it seemed more like the sort of thing to be shown on BBC Four, very like the Curse of Comedy dramas.
She was instrumental in the introduction of the watershed and was an early campaigner against child pornography ....so don't judge too hastily ..unless you think that it doesn't matter what's shown when on tv.
I think this is she was Correct about this! I still believe in the watershed, but half the view did go over broad/over exstrem!
Am I the only person who doesn't really rate Julie Walters? She seems very experienced now at playing nice old women (or just older women, as last night proved).
I far preferred her performance in Educating Rita.
Well back in 1983 (or whenever ER was released), she was a young lady-- not considered 'mature' enough to play older women I guess?
I think she's good at playing nice old women, hence the casting. I remember Parky once remarking on this, and Julie explained it was because she modelled herself on her late grandmother, who was a bit "dotty".
Interesting to hear about Max Miller and also Gavin's story about Brian Conley's material. Always reminds me of Julian Clary and his Norman Lamont joke in 1993-- he didn't work on telly for a few years afterwards if I recall! It shows how just one ill-judged comment can haunt a TV personality's career I suppose.
It's a difficult thing to balance, and I can see both sides of the argument. On the one hand, Mary Whitehouse is only trying to do the decent thing by stopping people's minds from being subverted if they see words like "bloody" or discussions on pre-marital sex shown well before the watershed. Of course, her sons seemed to suffer from being a bit too mothered, and as her campaign went on, she did seem to try and find fault with anything and everything, though this may have only been to challenge those in control like Hugh Greene. Then again, if she did this with every director-general, then it's hardly a personal grudge. She did seem afraid of change and what the general public wanted to hear, thus being seen as a bit of a mad old bat, but in a way I suppose we all don't like change.
On the other hand, we have Sir Hugh, who, apart from making his mark on the BBC, seemed to delight in pushing boundaries and bringing the corporation into the "modern" age. However, his eccentricity and liberal attitude to pretty much everything couldn't go on forever. It's both commendable and abhorrent at the same time, just as Mary's protests were dignified, yet ultimately barmy. I hate to sit on the fence, but I do see both sides of the argument, and the drama seemed to favour one over the other, probably because Mary Whitehouse hasn't been shown in the most flattering light in the last couple of decades.
Anyway, what I'd like to know was who sang the cover of "Pee Po Belly Bum Drawers" (or, for the more conservative among us, "P** P* B**** B** D******") by Flanders and Swann? The composer was credited as Norvell and Green, but I don't think a recording exists...
For the BBC to steer the more central ground, which it did after Green, they needed to replace Reith with somebody quite the opposite.
Following the "dismissal" of John Reith in 1938, the Director Generals of the BBC for the next twenty-two years were
Frederick Ogilvie 1938-1942
Cecil Graves and Robert W. Foot (joint Directors-General) 1942-1943
Robert W. Foot 1942-1944
William Haley 1944-1952
Ian Jacob 1952-1959
Hugh Green was not appointed until 1960.
In your opinion, were the six director generals of the BBC for the twenty-two years from 1938 until 1960 merely clones of John Reith?