The Flipside of Dominick Hide (9 Dec. 1980)

Dominick Hide, a time traveller from the year 2130, is studying the London transport system of 1980. Time travellers are supposed to be observers, and are strictly forbidden to land their ... See full summary »

Director:

Alan Gibson

Writers:

Jeremy Paul, Alan Gibson,

Stars:

Peter Firth, Caroline Langrishe, Pippa Guard

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
Peter Firth	...	Dominick Hide
Caroline Langrishe	...	Jane
Pippa Guard	...	Ava
Patrick Magee	...	Caleb Line
Trevor Ray	...	Alaric
Sylvia Coleridge	...	Great Aunt Mavis
Jean Trend	...	Helda
Timothy Davies	...	Jim Bone
Denis Lawson	...	Felix
Bernadette Shortt	...	Midge
Tony Melody	...	Harry
Bill Gavin	...	Brian
David Griffin	...	Carl
Karl Howman	...	Geoffrey
Jenny Donnison	...	Carole

Storyline

Dominick Hide, a time traveller from the year 2130, is studying the London transport system of 1980. Time travellers are supposed to be observers, and are strictly forbidden to land their flying saucers. One time traveller who broke this rule accidentally killed a dog, changing history and causing many future people to disappear. Inspired by his Great Aunt Mavis, Dominick decides to find his great great grandfather. He begins to land in 1980, where his strange clothes and speech make him seem an eccentric oddball. His quest brings him into contact with beautiful boutique owner Jane, and they fall in love. As Dominick's visits become more frequent and more prolonged, he increasingly risks his indiscretion being discovered by his boss, Caleb Line, and every moment he spends in the past increases the danger that he will catastrophically change the future.

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Plot Keywords:

time travel | character name in title

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

9 December 1980 (UK)

Filming Locations:

Portobello Road, Notting Hill, London, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The soundtrack features several Beatles songs, including "Yesterday", "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" and "Here Comes the Sun". By a quirk of fate, this production was originally broadcast on December 9, 1980, one day after John Lennon was murdered by Mark David Chapman.

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Connections

Followed by Play for Today: Another Flip for Dominick (1982)

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Soundtracks

"You'd Better Believe it, Babe"
Written by Rick Jones and David Pierce
Performed by Meal Ticket

User Reviews

Such marvellous dialogue too...

After 24 years, you would expect a low budget play to show its age, but Flipside holds up very well. Of course the references to 1999 are now, thankfully, inaccurate. Large wall TV's, holographic projectors, video phones, a London Underground that shows which stop you are at - really not a bad effort at prediction.

But what really stands out is the great attempt to show the evolution of English after 100 years and more, clipping the sentences to a more precise style. And everything is perfect here, and different too - the editing for instance, where there is a gentle fade between Dominick and Ava as they talk, culminating in a merge of both faces. Even the saucer doesn't look too tacky considering budget constraints.

And to think that this was just one of a seemingly endless parade of new plays shown each week. Shame on the BBC for not promoting new drama, and new dramatists in this way any more.

There is something so nostalgic about the way the play unfolds, and the music is great too.