The fifth 'Village Hall' was written by Peter Ransley and sees the titular venue taken over by a creative writing class. I used to belong to one of these. They were comprised of mostly elderly people who, though rather pleasant, had delusions of grandeur about becoming the next Shakespeare or Wordsworth. The trouble was none had an ounce of talent between them ( myself included. You only have to read 'When I Get Old' on my profile page to see that ). Egos frequently clashed, leading to numerous vitriolic sessions. The 'Mark Massey' of the title is a fictional detective created by 'Ted' ( Colin Wellland ), one of the group. Having chronicled his adventures for some considerable time, Ted has finally decided to kill him off by having him eaten by an alligator in Sevenoaks! This was because he wanted to switch genres, from pulp private eye to spy stories. His new creation is 'Brent' who is on a secret mission to Berlin. Ted can no longer live a normal life as he fantasises about every day objects - such as ashtrays - being used for espionage purposes. The rest of the group includes 'Hilary ( Gwen Taylor ), joke-writer 'Betty' ( Priscilla Morgan, wife of Clive Dunn ) and 'Mabs' ( Rosamund Greenwood ), who despite getting on in years still fancies men. There is also 'Carruthers' ( Thorley Walters ), an ex-military man turned poet. The newcomer to the group is 'Jack' ( Stephen MacKenna, who was brilliant as 'John Lennon' in 1979's 'The Birth Of The Beatles' ). He is baffled by the strange world he now finds himself in.
As with the preceding four episodes, this is a funny ensemble piece, full of interesting characters and great performances, with Colin Welland's egotistical 'Ted' easily being the stand-out.
Funniest moment - Jack is asked to critique Ted's spy story, and proceeds to rubbish it. Ted is so furious he attacks him!
Strangely, the group lacks a professional tutor. The one in my class was Phil Carradice, who was kinder to my work than he needed to be. If you're reading this, Phil, drop me a line sometime!
As with the preceding four episodes, this is a funny ensemble piece, full of interesting characters and great performances, with Colin Welland's egotistical 'Ted' easily being the stand-out.
Funniest moment - Jack is asked to critique Ted's spy story, and proceeds to rubbish it. Ted is so furious he attacks him!
Strangely, the group lacks a professional tutor. The one in my class was Phil Carradice, who was kinder to my work than he needed to be. If you're reading this, Phil, drop me a line sometime!