Aug 25, 2021
ITV Playhouse: Mr. Axelford's Angel (Yorkshire Television, 1974)
"I'm helplessly in love with you. Odd, isn't it? Love is like an illness. I'm sick at heart for you, Angel."
#Mr. Axelford's Angel#ITV Playhouse#Single play#Yorkshire Television#1974#Peter whitbread#John frankau#Julia Foster#Michael Bryant#Lally bowers#Robert raglan#Jacqueline stanbury#Katy wild#donald sumpter#Matthew Guinness#Sally ducrow#Ruth seglow#Tariq yunus#Whitbread was first and foremost a stage actor who took odd jobs on TV to keep the coffers full; as a screenwriter he had only a handful#Of titles to his name (most notably a clutch of Emmerdale Farm episodes and the creation of well remembered children's series The Flockton#Flyer)‚ and yet he somehow hit paydirt with this freelance script for ITVs drama anthology series: Angel would go on to win rave reviews‚#Getting a repeat showing the following Valentines day‚ was nominated for two BAFTAs and won the emmy for best fiction programme 1974#A considerable coup for a modest romantic comedy‚ filmed mostly on video tape on a couple of simple sets with a small cast. Bryant was one#Of the uks most versatile and talented character actors‚ tho he wasn't exactly a star‚ and Foster was popular but never quite broke out the#Way she should have. So why so much fuss for such average acorns? Hard to say. Not that this isn't a good play; it's very sweet‚ a classic#Culture clash romance in which working class secretary and stuffy titan of industry find themselves drawn together. But there isn't very#Much to set it apart from any other play from ITV‚ or indeed the BBC‚ in this era. These were the years of the single play‚ hundreds#Produced each year‚ and yet this is the one that for whatever reason grabbed the public consciousness. So it goes. It is rather sweet and#Both leads are very well suited to this particular brand of meet cute without taking the parts too far (he too cold and imperious‚ she too#Ditzy and free living). It's just a fairly simple story told well. Perhaps it was that simplicity that so appealed to the general public?