by DAVID ROLINSON

Nine parts. Writer: Alan Plater; Adapted from (novel): J.B. Priestley; Music by: David Fanshawe; Producer: Leonard Lewis; Directors: Bill Hays, Leonard Lewis


A “tuneful tonic of merriment and mirth”, The Good Companions is a nine-part Yorkshire Television serial about a touring concert party adapted from J. B. Priestley’s famous 1929 novel.1 It was adapted by Alan Plater, who described the serial as one of his happiest working experiences, but added that it was “interesting but flawed, and didn’t really catch on”.2 That’s a fair assessment, but the serial is certainly more interesting than flawed. Like the two previous film adaptations, the serial risked being written off as undemanding, suffering in part because of the reputation of the source novel. Writing about the 1933 film version, Charles Barr observed that the novel “never had much currency in academic circles”, with supportive opinions outweighed by the impact of “the vinegary attacks on the book and the novelists by the two Leavises”.3 Priestley himself argued that “[s]ome severe critics dislike” stories in the picaresque tradition of “huge wandering tales” as these are “too rambling and easy for them”.4 However, the serial’s ability to parallel the book’s feel-good, episodic qualities is also one of its main strengths. With composer David Fanshawe setting Plater’s lyrics to a variety of song styles, and a lively ensemble cast relishing on-stage music hall scenes and off-stage full production numbers, this is a witty and unashamedly fun serial. The Network DVD release also comes with the 1980 tie-in documentary On the Road, in which Plater interviews Priestley, compares the serial with previous film versions and provides behind-the-scenes footage.5

  1. The Good Companions, tx. ITV, 14 November 1980-16 January 1981. Now available on DVD from Network DVD. ↩

  2. Alan Plater, Doggin’ Around (Northway, 2006), p. 99. ↩

  3. Charles Barr, ‘The Good Companions’, in Brian McFarlane (editor), The Cinema of Britain and Ireland (London: Wallflower Press, 2005), p. 31. ↩

  4. J.B. Priestley, in Priestley and O.B. Davis, Four English Novels (Harcourt Brace, 1960), p. 262. ↩

  5. According to production files relating to On the Road, which are available in the Alan Plater archive in the Hull History Centre, the documentary’s location visits happened in the last week of July 1979. ↩

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by DAVID ROLINSON<\/h4>\n

Nine parts. Writer:<\/strong> Alan Plater; Adapted from (novel):<\/strong> J.B. Priestley; Music by:<\/strong> David Fanshawe; Producer:<\/strong> Leonard Lewis; Directors<\/strong>: Bill Hays, Leonard Lewis<\/p>\n

\"\"
\nA \u201ctuneful tonic of merriment and mirth\u201d, The Good Companions<\/em> is a nine-part Yorkshire Television serial about a touring concert party adapted from J. B. Priestley\u2019s famous 1929 novel.1<\/a><\/sup> It was adapted by Alan Plater, who described the serial as one of his happiest working experiences, but added that it was \u201cinteresting but flawed, and didn’t really catch on\u201d.2<\/a><\/sup> That’s a fair assessment, but the serial is certainly more interesting than flawed. Like the two previous film adaptations, the serial risked being written off as undemanding, suffering in part because of the reputation of the source novel. Writing about the 1933 film version, Charles Barr observed that the novel \u201cnever had much currency in academic circles\u201d, with supportive opinions outweighed by the impact of \u201cthe vinegary attacks on the book and the novelists by the two Leavises\u201d.3<\/a><\/sup> Priestley himself argued that “[s]ome severe critics dislike” stories in the picaresque<\/em> tradition of “huge wandering tales” as these are “too rambling and easy for them”.4<\/a><\/sup> However, the serial\u2019s ability to parallel the book\u2019s feel-good, episodic qualities is also one of its main strengths. With composer David Fanshawe setting Plater\u2019s lyrics to a variety of song styles, and a lively ensemble cast relishing on-stage music hall scenes and off-stage full production numbers, this is a witty and unashamedly fun serial. The Network DVD release also comes with the 1980 tie-in documentary On the Road<\/em>, in which Plater interviews Priestley, compares the serial with previous film versions and provides behind-the-scenes footage.5<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

First shown on ITV between November 1980 and January 1981, The Good Companions<\/em> was shot on video, in studio and on Outside Broadcast at locations including Scarborough, Llandudno, Bradford and the Cotswolds. Each episode moves the story along chronologically, but also jumps back in time to give the background of characters, who take turns dominating episodes. Throughout the serial, Leslie Sands\u2019 voice-over gives the flavour of Priestley\u2019s prose, interceding now and again with thoughts on life, time and storytelling (\u201ccoincidence is a potent influence on the affairs of mankind\u201d) or telling us that we\u2019ll return to an event or character later. (Although the serial lacks the 1933 version\u2019s device of primary characters replying to the narrator upon their introduction, there are other integrative devices including on-screen captions as types of chapter heading.) In the first episode, Jess meets Miss Trant, and both meet the troubled Dinky Doos, whom Miss Trant will of course save. But then we flashback to how Jess got here, losing his job and running away from Bruddersford \u2013 that \u201camalgam of Huddersfield and Priestley\u2019s own city of Bradford\u201d6<\/a><\/sup> \u2013 in misadventures which include guest turns by Alfred Lynch (who returns later) and John Savident. The troupe isn\u2019t cemented until the third episode (when the Dinky Doos and newcomers become the Good Companions), and this might explain why the first episode is the most difficult to engage with. However, there is an immediate sense of where the troupe are heading \u2013 the rehearsal script notes that the titles are \u201cin effect a quotation from a later episode [\u2026] when the Good Companions have their greatest triumph\u201d \u2013 also, that \u201cThe song is jolly, boisterous and maybe a little silly but who cares?\u201d7<\/a><\/sup>
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