Black and Blue (TV series)
| Black and Blue | |
|---|---|
 Title screenshot from episode one | |
| Genre | Drama |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 6 |
| Production | |
| Producer | Mark Shivas |
| Running time | 60 minutes |
| Original release | |
| Network | BBC 2 |
| Release | 14 August – 18 September 1973 |
Black and Blue is a BBC TV comedy-drama series, first broadcast in 1973. Its overall title refers to the black and blue humour of the episodes.
The show consisted of 6 television plays of 50–60 minutes duration, each being separate and self-contained from the others, the only connection between them being the two types of humour.
The first episode was broadcast on 14 August 1973,[1] with the last episode airing on 18 September 1973. The episode "Secrets" was wiped,[2] only surviving because a domestic videotape copy was made from the mastertape by its producer, Mark Shivas.
Episodes
[edit]| No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Secrets" | James Cellan Jones | Michael Palin and Terry Jones | 14 August 1973[3] | |
|
Three employees working at a chocolate factory accidentally fall into a vat of chocolate for the company's 'Secrets' assortment. When sales start to soar, it turns out that British consumers have a taste for cannibalism.
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| 2 | "The Middle-of-the-Road Roadshow for All the Family" | Mark Cullingham | Philip Mackie | 21 August 1973[4] | |
|
A Wardour Street movie tycoon accidentally hires the wrong script-writer to pen a film about the life of Queen Anne and pays him £500,000, and now has to figure out how to get the money back.
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| 3 | "High Kampf" | Michael Apted | Hugh Leonard | 28 August 1973[5] | |
|
When a wealthy member of a family lays dying in his bed, a bunch of unscrupulous relatives show up and circle him like a pack of vultures waiting for him to die.
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| 4 | "Rust" | Waris Hussein | Julien Mitchell | 4 September 1973[6] | |
|
When a flu pandemic sweeps over the country and threatens to wipe out civilization, a drug concocted by a British pharmaceutical company might just be the answer, but alas, it does have a side-effect: it renders people impotent.
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| 5 | "Soap Opera in Stockwell" | Tim Aspinall | Michael O'Neill and Jeremy Seabrook | 11 September 1973[7] | |
|
When a possible and accidental baby-snatching occurs in front of a launderette, all hell breaks loose. In this episode, all the women over 35 are played by men.
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| 6 | "Glorious Miles" | Ian MacNaughton | Henry Livings | 18 September 1973[8] | |
|
A millionaire decides to hire a butler just so he can impress his friends, but the butler thinks he has been hired for a much deadlier and sinister purpose.
| |||||
References
[edit]- ^ Hollman, Ken (14 August 1973). "Hard To Swallow?". TV Preview. Liverpool Daily Post. p. 2.
- ^ "Black And Blue Series 1, Episode 1 - Secrets". British Comedy Guide.
- ^ "Black & Blue - Ep1 - Secrets". BBC Two. 1973.
- ^ Hollman, Ken (21 August 1973). "The Wardour Street Blues". Liverpool Daily Post. p. 2.
- ^ "Vulture Heirs". Viewing Highlights. Derby Evening Telegraph. 28 August 1973. p. 4.
- ^ "Black and Blue". Television and Radio Entertainment. Liverpool Echo. 4 September 1973. p. 2.
- ^ "BBC TV 2". Television and Radio. Burton Mail. 11 September 1973. p. 8.
- ^ "BBC TV 2". Burton Mail. 18 September 1973. p. 8.