tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4901944301852919470.post1715975468169718741..comments2024-03-26T13:44:31.435+00:00Comments on Curious British Telly: Hardwicke HouseBen Rickettshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01749284122022718064noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4901944301852919470.post-61128974344454093772021-06-17T20:49:23.913+01:002021-06-17T20:49:23.913+01:00Comment of the year! Although they're far from...Comment of the year! Although they're far from life-changing, it's worth watching a few more of the episodes. The more dubious aspects of the first two episodes are given less room to flourish and, whilst the plots aren't exactly stellar, there's enough to keep the attention.Ben Rickettshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01749284122022718064noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4901944301852919470.post-10660904588695175972021-06-16T07:53:25.661+01:002021-06-16T07:53:25.661+01:00Watched the first episode again recently as I did ...Watched the first episode again recently as I did in my youth all those years ago. I didn't like it all then, but it has slightly improved with age, the only problem being the awful quality of state school education in the 80's was exaggerated just too much in this programme, with an over-the-top script, performances and incident to match, being set in an all too realistic milieu (an actual secondary school that had been closed but apparently requisitioned by the producers) and filmed in the fuzzy SD video of the day, the mixture of gritty aesthetic realism (the production and visuals) and near anarchic surrealism (stylized, strident content and acting) not really coming off.<br /><br />It may have worked better if it had been filmed on celluloid and a more restrained script that went for a subtler form of satire on the state education system, but alas, there probably was only so much the budget could take it, so what what left were only odd scattered moments from the script and cast that came off, as in the end, it was just too crude, forced and technically variable (the SD video quality is pretty dreadful, as is the sound recording of the dialogue which rendered much of it as unintelligible) which could have been another reason why the series was cancelled after two episodes.<br /><br />Hardwicke House was a brave attempt at a satirical comment on the very obvious vagaries of state education, which in many ways have barely progressed three and a half decades after the controversy it caused, but perhaps in the end, the stark truths involved and unpalatable depictions presented were too much for the ITV network, audiences and critics alike. I will try and watch the other episodes, never shown from ep.3 onwards, when possible, though. JF Bridgenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4901944301852919470.post-13205650255379617782021-02-09T20:09:25.523+00:002021-02-09T20:09:25.523+00:00I think it's hilarious, especially the School ...I think it's hilarious, especially the School Inspector Ep. With accurate publicity it would've been a cult. I've been called that.Dicholasnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4901944301852919470.post-57994095876655990492020-05-30T12:34:21.959+01:002020-05-30T12:34:21.959+01:00This series was a total misadventure in every way....This series was a total misadventure in every way. I'm not sure they gave much thought to the practical (especially acoustic) aspects of shooting it entirely on location (in what looks like an effectively derelict building) either.<br /><br />What I will say though is that it is kind of refreshing that in those days this sort of thing could still make it to the screen. There was enough chaos in the system for wild outliers (good and bad) to sometimes break through the safety net of averageness. amnesiachttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11453191630308670733noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4901944301852919470.post-27848303610817925312020-05-18T00:04:52.937+01:002020-05-18T00:04:52.937+01:00All episodes available now on YOUTUBE! Enjoy (or ...All episodes available now on YOUTUBE! Enjoy (or not!) at your leisure....Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4901944301852919470.post-50474453643791907822020-01-02T00:46:43.908+00:002020-01-02T00:46:43.908+00:00Anyone know what building they used for the extern...Anyone know what building they used for the external shots?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4901944301852919470.post-9090900740647065242018-06-03T22:41:55.045+01:002018-06-03T22:41:55.045+01:00I don't think anyone said it would!I don't think anyone said it would! Ben Rickettshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01749284122022718064noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4901944301852919470.post-36194439650923322442018-06-03T13:44:15.636+01:002018-06-03T13:44:15.636+01:00Buying from ITN source would not give you the copy...Buying from ITN source would not give you the copyright surely? Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4901944301852919470.post-67651349597628007492017-07-25T17:09:04.495+01:002017-07-25T17:09:04.495+01:00Well, many people expect to find everything for fr...Well, many people expect to find everything for free online. Actually I didn't go through with it either... But I'm not in the UK so I have that excuse too. Spiny Normanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07263992330080871035noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4901944301852919470.post-34565960917792223462017-07-25T17:08:21.299+01:002017-07-25T17:08:21.299+01:00This comment has been removed by the author.Spiny Normanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07263992330080871035noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4901944301852919470.post-58214285006846998282016-11-25T12:09:08.825+00:002016-11-25T12:09:08.825+00:00How easy is it to get stuff from ITN Source though...How easy is it to get stuff from ITN Source though? I think I looked into getting something else from them once and gave up as it seemed nigh on impossible. Even at £150 I'm pretty certain that several people would have purchased these already and made mention of it online. Ben Rickettshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01749284122022718064noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4901944301852919470.post-36286334955862838312016-11-25T10:49:17.153+00:002016-11-25T10:49:17.153+00:00It can be ordered from ITN source. At 150 quid an ...It can be ordered from ITN source. At 150 quid an episode. I wonder how many copies one would have to sell on ioffer to recuperate that...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4901944301852919470.post-33410176239728029402014-07-29T19:55:21.100+01:002014-07-29T19:55:21.100+01:00I remember watching the first two episodes of Hard...I remember watching the first two episodes of Hardwicke House in 1987 and thinking they were a bit different to the usual ITV fare, but not necessarily in a good way. Bear in mind I was only thirteen at the time and therefore any depiction of a nightmarish school where all the teachers were either psychotic or incompetent and all the pupils were irredeemably dense was always going to be a winner, but there was nothing going on here that Grange Hill, the Bash Street Kids, Ripping Yarns and the St Trinian's films hadn't already done. ITV clearly primed the series as a big hitter, hence the presence of several very decent British character comedy actors (Roger 'Mr Bastard' Sloman, Nick Wilton, Tony Haygarth and Roy Kinnear among them) and heavy publicity in the TV Times, but it seems nobody had taken into account the fact that the scripts stank. Conspiracy theories working overtime here, I'd guess someone high up at ITV saw the programmes, thought "Oh Christ, what have we done? This is dreadful" and decided to run it into the ground as quickly as possible by cooking up a nice bit of boil-in-the-bag instant controversy. How best to do that? Schedule it in the 8pm weekday slot. Had Hardwicke House gone out in the Spitting Image / Hale and Pace Sunday 10pm slot, it wouldn't have raised a single eyebrow - in fact, it would have looked very tame indeed. <br /><br />I'd like to say that this is some great piece of art martyred on the cross of political correctness, but it really isn't. Like a lot of comedy series that whipped up a stormcloud of protest, taken out of context, away from all the fuss and furore, Hardwicke House just wasn't very good. If it has an antecedent, that would be Curry and Chips - the painfully unfunny Johnny Speight-penned Spike Milligan / Eric Sykes blackface bonanza routinely described as one of the funniest series of all time by people who haven't actually seen it, feigning outrage because it was cancelled after only six episodes by PC killjoys who failed to recognize the genius therein. Like Curry and Chips, Hardwicke House may have a lot of talented people in it and a reputation that grows unchecked with each passing year, but it would be a strange fan who rates it as the best work of anyone involved. <br /><br />Incidentally, the show's writers later collaborated on Roy Chubby Brown's dreadful big-screen debut U.F.O, a film which even its star has little time for.Mr Straightmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15248257907210303372noreply@blogger.com