Twenty Pounds Of Heart And Muscle / What's the Matter? Can't You Take a Sick Joke?

Twenty Pounds Of Heart And Muscle (27.8.66)

A young woman, Pauline Garrity, asks Frank to trace "Jackie". He assumes this is a man until she corrects him and points out that "Jackie" is a female whippet owned by her father Enoch. Jackie has won many races and is extremely valuable. Quite apart from wanting the dog returned she is worried that her father will take the law into his own hands and there will be serious violence, with rival owner Yorky Thorpe on the receiving end. Frank feels the case is impossible and doesn't want to take it - how can he trace a dog in a city the size of Birmingham? However she points out the family hails from nearby Wednesbury which narrows down the options. She pleads for him to take the case and he reluctantly accepts. 

The aggressive Enoch is itching to get at Yorky but Frank's enquiries show that he wasn't responsible. Questioning the pub landlord, who runs a book on the side, it becomes clear that there is a quite different culprit. However the thief has already passed the dog on to another source and tracing it is going to become rather more challenging.

This episode was released on the Series 5 set. It isn't as good as the earlier two but still is good value. For the most part it shapes up to be a lighter story - searching for a missing dog may seem one of Frank's rather more peculiar tasks. However it proves ultimately to be something rather different. Although it may only be a dog that is missing the repercussions in terms of violence between Garrity and Thorpe - or whoever the thief proves to be if Garrity finds them - are serious. There is big money involved. Once the dog is sold on though a different set of issues emerge. The final minutes certainly raise an interesting ethical dilemma that is still deeply relevant to everyone today and require some skilful thinking by Frank and Pauline.

The characters with the west midlands accents are a little harder to pick up on the audio track for me - it may be that this is more due to most of these being played by actors not native to the area. This problem could occur on other audios but is never a major difficulty. By contrast Alfred Burke's voice always comes across clearly. Mary Webster gives a good account as the anxious Pauline while George A. Cooper is typically engaging as the blunt Enoch. It is ironic that the Yorkshireman Cooper should be playing west midlanders in both his surviving parts in the show. By contrast John Collin is able to retain his Yorkshire accent, as he did years later in the splendid Shades of White. Even more prolific as a guest in the show was Barbara Keogh who made the first of her joint-record four appearances here as evasive pet shop assistant Helen Courtney. Bryan Stanyon who has a small role near the end, later played Professor Cawston, the associate of The Tomorrow People.

Writer: Robert Holmes   Director: Piers Haggard

Cast: George A. Cooper (Enoch Garrity); Mary Webster (Pauline Garrity); Terry Scully (Dave Handy); Garfield Morgan (Charlie Knox); Alex Farrell (Paddie Farrell); John Collin (Yorky Thorpe); Barbara Keogh (Helen Courtney); George O'Gorman (Gerald Dawes); Lawrence James (Harmer); John Stratton (Dr. Lonsman); Bryan Stanion (Charles Nully).

What's the Matter? Can't You Take a Sick Joke? (24.9.66, 9.15-10.10 pm)

The snooty Mrs. Wyncherley is burying her husband when she is shocked to discover at the graveyard that the plot she had reserved has already been taken. A man called Heslop whom she describes to Frank as "rather common" had sold the plot to her in what she admits was a rather dubious deal to circumvent the shortage of legitimate places there. She paid him fifty pounds and wants him traced.

Her brother Julian Brampton is with her at the discussion with Frank but keeps a more measured profile. Later he invites Frank out for a game of golf where he admits he would prefer to forget the whole matter. The pair are interrupted by the rather lively FX Fowler. FX ("Francis Fowler") is a self-styled "tycoon" who even asks Frank to look into his family tree.

Lady Gatt explains the local scene. Women from the new estate are effectively persona non grata. Frank asks if they are "too poor" - "too numerous" is her reply. Her friend Mrs. Wyncherley runs just about every group that matters. She is always elected and takes very badly to opposition with one woman soon being blackballed after daring to run against her. Mrs. Wyncherley is quizzed about this woman, Mrs. Starr, and is quite dismissive of what she sees as someone well below her station.

Frank goes to see Mrs. Starr and encounters a quite different perspective. He also discovers some rather remarkable facts about FX and how he made his money...

An enjoyable offering, the lightest in tone of these surviving audio tracks although it still has some more serious issues to explore. Mrs. Wyncherley, played with haughty abandon by Sheila Keith, is one of the great Public Eye snobs with scarcely anyone to rival her contempt for the lower orders. Lady Gatt on the other hand is a little more worldly and seems to take a little illicit enjoyment from the affair. Mrs. Starr fights her less elevated corner though with skill. Peter Vaughan, one of Britain's most respected character actors for many decades, is typically assured as the enigmatic and enthusiastic FX. A nice conclusion to the series and a great shame that more evidence, audio and video, does not survive.

Writer: Hugh Leonard   Director: Guy Verney

Cast: Ernest Hare (Vicar); Sheila Keith (Mrs. Wyncherley); Clive Morton (Julian Brampton); Stacy Davies (Gravedigger); Peter Vaughan (FX Fowler); Jessica Claridge (Miss Brett); Donna Reading (Miss Ramsby); Sally Bazely (Lady Gatton); Joyce Barbour (Mrs. Starr).