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◊ 2016-09-21 15:26 |
![]() ![]() ![]() Taken from ![]() BFI/COI Collection Vol 5: Portrait of a People 2-DVD set. Cosy 18-minute portrait of fictional MP "John Turner" ![]() who represents "Mandlebury and Manstead" ![]() and is a jolly decent smiley bloke who drinks cups of tea, opens old folks homes, gets the government to build Mandlebury bypass, drinks more tea, has important meetings in Whitehall, gives careers advice to young folk, drinks yet more tea, and is generally helpful to everybody. Voiceover emphasises that he does not belong to any identified party, but seems much too kind and caring to be a Tory ![]() Some interesting flavours of an MP's life in those days - no political emphasis, most MPs apparently had 2nd jobs (John is also a Daily Telegraph reporter) as a normal element, very much a community-based role of helping/advising everyone - voiceover at one stage compares it to being a GP where people come and chat to him about their ordinary problems (and to drink tea). His wife also becomes a local VIP - visiting hospitals to cheer up patients and so on. Seems mostly filmed in St Albans area - never identified - but lots of slight clues. All the construction sequences are supposedly the new Mandlebury bypass (it's amazing how easy it was to get them built in those days - local group of vicar/headmaster/other folk go to see John to ask for one - he goes and looks at all the trucks thundering through high street and kids unable to cross road and is convinced enough to go and see Whitehall - they agree - he asks a PQ in the House - and it gets built. Hoorah!). The construction sequences seem to be mixed local motorway bits (M1, M10, maybe other local schemes of the time) ![]() ![]() Toys, including bubble car ![]() ![]() |
◊ 2016-09-21 15:40 |
Like the kind and caring Mandelson, for instance? |
◊ 2016-09-21 15:47 |
Even I wouldn't put "kind and caring" alongside "Mandelson" in the same sentence .... |
◊ 2016-09-21 16:09 |
There are some good and some bad in every walk of life. |