Links,
curiosities & trivia:
Page on One Summer at willyrussell.com Following the release of the DVD, a detailed page has been added to Willy Russell's site, and interestingly includes a 'Coming Soon' section for 'The Film'.
Liverpool
- The City on the Screen Article discussing
the representation of Liverpool on the small screen including 'One Summer'.
From the Teletronics site.
A
peculiar poem about two dogs called Billy and Icky, written by a 5th grader
in Alaska!
(Seems there are were
a few moggies/pooches out there called Icky. Did you name your pet after
your favourite One Summer character?)
Lyrics
to "One Summer" by Australian singer Daryl Braithwaite
(Haven't been able to confirm if there's any link - but the final verse
does refer to Icky, so its an odd coincidence otherwise...)
Paul Abbott - writer/producer
of the recent BBC mini-series 'State of Play' starring David Morrissey,
listed One Summer as his favourite TV series of all time in an
article in The
Guardian earlier this year.
Excerpt from "State
of Play" (2003) publicity release:
Simm was
looking forward to working with David Morrissey as he had admired his
work for a long time, particularly in Tony Marchant’s 'Holding On'.
But the connection goes way back:“He did something called 'One Summer'
years ago which I remember very well from being a kid. It stuck in my
head and it was one of the things that made me want to go to drama school,”
Simm says. However, Morrissey wasn’t overly flattered when Simm told
him of his early admiration. “He just said, ‘thanks, that makes
me feel really old,’” he laughs.
What
was that show on the TV in the pub?
Miri
Mawr.
 
"Miri Mawr",
("Big Fun") was a very odd, rather sinister Welsh language children's
show from the late seventies. Set in a mysterious cave and peopled with
a collection of worrying freaks and frenetic glove puppets.
What does the grafitti on the wall say?
 
According to the 'Welsh Learners' newsgroup, the phrase 'TWLL-Y-DYN Í BÔ' is from the Welsh toast "Iechyd da i bob Cymro a twll tyn i bob Sais" which means "Good health to all Welshmen and arseholes to the English!"
Other
Recommendations:
It
seems that everytime One Summerites get together the conversation always
drifts to other seminal viewing experiences. In our last chat someone
suggested that I put up a list of some of the common recommendations,
so here goes:
| Title |
Comments |
Available? |
| Our
Day Out (1977) |
BBC
Play for Today written by Willy Russell - a Liverpool school group
goes on an outing to Wales. |
No |
| Scully
(1984) |
Alan
Bleasdale's comedy drama series about a hard-headed 15-year-old Scouser,
Francis 'Franny' Scully, who daydreams about being a hero for Liverpool
Football Club. |
No |
| Boys
From the Blackstuff (1982) |
Alan
Bleasdale's hard hitting black comedy, set against the harsh backdrop
of Liverpool in Thatcher's Britain, chronicles the lives of a group
of unemployed tarmac layers. |
Yes |
| Made
in Britain (1982) |
Director
Alan Clarke's influential television drama Made in Britain marked
the screen debut of actor Tim Roth. Trevor is a teenage skinhead with
a total disregard for anyone in authority. The story follows him into
the care of social workers who hope to guide him back into civilised
society. |
Yes |
| Scum
(1977/1979) |
Alan
Clarke's controversial film of the cruelty and violence inside a Government
Borstal for young offenders. Originally made for the BBC, who subsequently
banned it for 14 years. Remade as a feature film in 1979. |
Yes
|
| Out
of Control (2002) |
Wholly
improvised drama focusing on the lives of three teenagers sent to
a young offenders' institution. (With David Morrissey as the sympathetic
guard) |
No |
| Priest
(1994) |
Candid
portrayal of the moral anguish and development of a young priest (Linus
Roache) struggling to come to terms with the sins of his new parish
and his own homosexuality. |
Yes
(Region 1)
|
| Naked
(1993) |
Mike
Leigh's Naked is a violent, penetrating study of an angry young man
who lives a dark night of the soul wandering through London's depths,
preaching humanity’s inevitably approaching demise. |
Yes
(Region 1) |
| Annika
(1984) |
Isle
of Wight deck chair attendant meets Swedish exchange student and follows
her back to Sweden. |
No |
| Going
Out (1980) |
Six
part gritty teen drama by Phil Redmond (Grange Hill) about life after
school.
|
No |
| Restless
Natives (1985) |
Two
Scottish guys dress as a clown and a wolfman and hold-up tourist coaches
in the highlands. |
Yes |
| Johnny
Jarvis (1983) |
Starred
Mark Farmer and Ian Sears and told the story of two unlikely friends
coming of age in London. |
No |
| Prospects (1986) |
Comedy/drama which starred Gary Olsen & Brian Bovell as Pincey & Billy,best friends who try and make a fast buck with various dodgy deals on the streets of London. |
No |
Do you have a copy of any of those listed as not currently available? Drop
me a line.
Anything you think belongs on this list? Just let me know.
With
thanks to:
• Spencer Leigh
• David
Morrissey
• Jane West
• The
three other Davids. (Scouse, Welsh and Spanish)
• Nick for the UK press clippings
• Keith Richardson
• All
those involved in the production of the series who have so generously
provided information and time and everyone else involved in making One
Summer such a memorable series.
• Everyone who has encouraged me and assisted in the exciting process
of learning how to build my first fully fledged website!
About
the creation of this site
I hope that you find
the site interesting - please feel free to give me any feedback on the
content and design, and please let me know if you have any information
that you think could be added. Thanks to everyone who's assisted up to
now.
Way back in 1984
I was 14 years old, and stumbled across One Summer by accident
when it was broadcast on the ABC in Sydney, Australia. What I saw left
me with a lasting impression that no other TV series has had since.
For years my memories
of the show were based on a little audio cassette I had made of the last
episode (way before my family bought a video recorder). But since I started
searching for information on the series about a year ago I've managed
to unearth of lot of interesting stuff. As I found there was virtually
no information about the series on the net, I thought it was time to make
what I had discovered available to others.
I've found doing
the research into this site a fascinating process. I hope you enjoy it.
Dec 2002
|
