Rent The Crunch and Other Stories (1987)
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- Synopsis:
Best known for his pioneering 'Quatermass' stories and harrowing adaptation of George Orwell's 'Nineteen Eighty Four', as well as later TV triumphs 'The Stone Tape' and 'The Woman in Black', Nigel Kneale is widely regarded as one of Britain's greatest scriptwriters. Making his name at the BBC in the 1950's, he subsequently wrote acclaimed dramas for ITV over the following decades - of which three are presented here. The plays on this set showcase some of Kneale's most enduring themes: a deep sympathy for the plight of the individual facing an unimaginable threat; the unease and paranoia of the Cold War era, and fears of an uncertain near-future; and the volatility and potential menace of the crowd.
The Church stars Harry Andrews as a prime minister attempting to avert a nuclear catastrophe in London; Maxwell Shaw, Anthony Bushell and Peter Bowles are among his co-stars.
Ladies' Night is a chilling story of misogyny as members of a gentlemen's club turn on a woman who ridicules them; a strong cast includes Alfred Burke, Ronald Pickup and Bryan Pringle.
Gentry stars Roger Daltrey in a blackly comic suspense drama in which a couple buy a shabby house in an up-and-coming area but find themselves drawn into the aftermath of an armed robbery.- Actors:
- Roger Daltrey, Phoebe Nicholls, Duncan Preston, Michael Attwell, Tim Condren, Ben Thomas, Christopher Wild, Terence Plummer, Richard Austin
- Directors:
- Roy Battersby
- Producers:
- Nicholas Palmer
- Writers:
- Nigel Kneale
- Studio:
- Network
- Genres:
- British TV, TV Dramas, TV Political
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Reviews (1) of The Crunch and Other Stories
A Greater Darkness - The Crunch and Other Stories review by CH
The threat of nuclear war appeared in many films in the Fifties and Sixties, perhaps beginning with Seven Days Till Noon (1950). An unsual take on this is Nigel Kneale's The Crunch (1963), whose fifty minutes turn around a former colony's embassy threatening to detonate the bomb which has been created in its London basement.
England has a sober Prime Minister while the colony has a beserk President who is kept in check, almost, by an Ambassador.
Preposterous, but, as usually ther case with Kneale's work, one is carred along. Here is a corner of a deserted London with car horns parping throughout offscreen while the Prime Minister sits it out with the Army and Police while tanks are to the ready (although one is left to wonder what these could do).
Dark-hued, dense, it is involving - even if a late turn remains puzzlingly fantastic -, and leaves one eager for the later films on this disc. One of them at a time feels best.