Talking Heads

[lotusbell]

Anyone remember the original and will you be watching the new one? I studied it at A Level and still have my copy with all my notes in.

I think I'm gong to pass on the ones I haven't watched so far as ultimately these stories are about women being grotesque/stupid/pathetic/gullible. Even Martin Freeman's is about his mum being a gullible old woman.

I didn't recognise the misogyny of it as a teenager in the 80s but I see it now and can't quite see the enjoyment of it, despite the stellar acting.

I've only watched 4 so far (Imelda Staunton, Sarah Lancashire, Harriet Walter and Jodie Comer.)

I normally love Sarah Lancashire but I hated an ordinary woman. I found it completely unbelievable. Someone on here once said watch how men write women - it's very illuminating and I think the situation described must be so rare as to be unrelatable. Even with her friend agreeing with her like it was normal to fancy your teenage son. Bizarre. I wonder where that came from with Alan Bennett. I thought it seemed like a profound misunderstanding (through a male psyche) of a mother son relationship.

Was looking forward to the Jodie Comer one as I like her too but agree with @HUCKMUCK that her accent was bizarre. She starts off old-fashioned "posh" - as you say like Keira Knightly, and segues into gentrified Yorkshire about a quarter of the way through. I actually went back to see if it coincided with a new scene, as though they'd maybe gone through it once in posh, and the director had said now try it in Yorkshire. But it isn't. It's when she starts quoting the guy in film at the party (Ha I've just checked again and it's at 5.48 on iplayer).

It's just after she says "I collect people". Do you think it is intentional? I agree with another pp JC is normally excellent at accents so I'm not sure why this was done. It's so obvious.

Looking at it again, it does sound like she's imitating Julie Walters for some of the bit before. I didn't see the originals so I hadn't known who had done it before.

Oh @Walkingtheplank, I didn't see your message before I posted (how?!) but you are right. I completely agree with you.

Oops, just read the Times review and the accent slip is deliberate. I'm obviously just a thicko.

I still agree with your point, walkingtheplank. Will stop multiple posting now.

Oops, just read the Times review and the accent slip is deliberate. I'm obviously just a thicko
I said that earlier, it was in the Radio Times. She was putting on a posh accent and then reverting to her own.

Couldn't take to the Jodie Comer one at all yet people were raving about her performance on Twitter ! She tried to do both Julie Walters and Patricia Routledges way of speaking but it didn't work v boring !

I was disappointed in this one, too.

And also found the final one - "The Shrine" - a bit meh! It didn't seem to have the bite of the others. Was it one of the new scripts? I didn't recognise it at all.

I thought the Martin Freeman one was very good. What happens in “ Creamcracker under the settee”?

I also really liked 'Miss Fozzard finds her Feet', Maxine Peake brings something different to Patricia Routledge, but both excellent.

I agree! I think it was the only one I enjoyed as much as the original. Different, but equally good.

"A Cream Cracker under the Settee" wasn't among them Brandy - unless I somehow managed to miss it (I watched them over a few days and might have jumped one by accident).

I'll have to check now - I loved Thora Hurd in that. It was so sad.

@BrandyandBabycham

I thought the Martin Freeman one was very good. What happens in “ Creamcracker under the settee”?

Cream Cracker under the settee involved Thora Hurd (an elderly actor at the time) lying on the floor having fallen. It is not a happy ending. They didn't do it this time because they didn't want to bring an actor of that age out of shielding.

I didn't feel that the Martin Freeman one was about his Mum being a "gullible old woman".
Surely, it was about the co-dependent relationship between MF (with all his issues) and his physically and mentally frail Mum?
Caring for her, gave his life meaning and purpose and the prospect of not having her to "look after" was terrifying for him.
The bit where he tells us about her getting ready to go out with her new male friend and MF says to her "don't leave me", was just so sad.

It wouldn't do for us all to like the same things though.

Even with her friend agreeing with her like it was normal to fancy your teenage son. Bizarre.

It was pretty clear that the friend thought Gwen was joking.

I didn't feel that the Martin Freeman one was about his Mum being a "gullible old woman".
Surely, it was about the co-dependent relationship between MF (with all his issues) and his physically and mentally frail Mum?
That's the way I saw it. It started out that he was looking afrer her but really she was looking after him just as much. They were mutually dependent, I can't blame her for clutching at the chance to rekindle an old flame but he was relieved it came to nothing.

She has given a great deal (most of it, reading between the lines) of her life to supporting him and then a bit of her past comes back to charm her. Her encroaching dementia is separate from his proprietary attitude to her.

I'm surprised they didn't re-do A Cream Cracker.....an actress over 70 could surely have had it filmed in her own home, with a family member setting up the camera, like that series of very good short dramas filmed in early lockdown.

I really loved the originals, and remember them as classics. I think they must have been very much of their time, though, as I can't help feeling the pieces haven't aged well in spite of the equally stellar actors this time round. The characters seem less familiar than they did then, somehow, and some of the situations less likely.

@CaptainMyCaptain I also felt there was an allusion to the late father having abused the daughter, who had made a good recovery since his death.

Graham was effectively married to his mother, underlined by the last line "She put her arm through mine".

Havent watched them all.

The Outside Dog was good but just kept reminding me of Sonia Sutcliffe? I remember reading she was a teacher and very houseproud and Sutcliffe would come home late and do all his own washing, but people couldnt understand how she didnt suspect him. I think Alan Bennett was probably influenced by that in this story.

[quote OneFootintheRave]@CaptainMyCaptain I also felt there was an allusion to the late father having abused the daughter, who had made a good recovery since his death. [/quote]
That was the Harriet Walter one. Yes definitely

How good was Tamsin Greig in Nights in the Gardens of Spain?

That was one of my two favourites from the original Talking Heads, along with The Telegram (which I assume that they haven’t remade because it needs an older actress, although frankly I can’t see Thora Hird being bettered).

I loved the Penelope Wilton version and didn’t think anyone could equal it, but Tamsin was brilliant. Brought tears to my eyes and was entirely believable as Rosemary.

Oh, dear god I wish I'd read this thread before watching these with almost 15 year old DS!

'Ooh, I studied a couple of these for A Level,' I said. 'They're brilliant.'

So he decides to watch along as he was bored. He thought the first one was brilliant ('Has the person who wrote these actually met Grandma? It's exactly how she moans about her neighbours!'). He left the room ten minutes into the second one...

[quote OneFootintheRave]@CaptainMyCaptain I also felt there was an allusion to the late father having abused the daughter, who had made a good recovery since his death. [/quote]
That was my take too - plus she safely kept her inheritance which enabled her to start a new life.

I definitely got the impression that the father had been abusing Margaret. We never actually see her, but I felt for that character so much. Her crooked brother was probably jealous of the attention she got because of her illness too.

Lesley Manville was great in "Bed Among the Lentils" too. The attention to detail in the story about the church ladies and the flower arranging was so funny and true.

I think the abused daughter had been put in the nice, private hospital paid for by the father so she could be sedated and kept quiet. The NHS psychiatrist actually got to the bottom of it and helped her. She seemed to have come through OK with a secure income. The golden boy son, on the other hand, was a wrong 'un. I felt very sorry for the woman' soldiering on' putting on a brave face while she lost everything (even more so for the daughter obviously).

The Outside Dog was good but just kept reminding me of Sonia Sutcliffe? I remember reading she was a teacher and very houseproud and Sutcliffe would come home late and do all his own washing, but people couldnt understand how she didnt suspect him. I think Alan Bennett was probably influenced by that in this story.

I thought that, too. I mentioned earlier that it seemed to me to be the Yorkshire Riper story.

I remember at the time there was a lot in the newspapers about Sonia Sutcliffe driving him to murder because she was so cold and controlling - because, of course, no adult man is ever responsible for his own actions, is he? It's obviously the fault of a woman. If it wasn't Sonia's fault, you can bet his mother would have had something to do with it.