"Screenplay" The Road (1987)

Director:

Alan Clarke

Writer:

Jim Cartwright (writer)

TV Series:

"Screenplay" (1986)

Original Air Date:

7 October 1987 (Season 2, Episode 13)

Genre:

Comedy

Plot:

Your tour guide for the night is one drunken man called Scullery. Prepare yourself for the experience of your lifetime as he shows you an average night along a derelict Lancashire road in the 1980s. |

Plot Keywords:

Independent Film | Satire

Cast

Neil Dudgeon	...	Brink
Jane Horrocks	...	Louise
Andrew Wilde	...	Brother
William Armstrong	...	Eddie
Willy Ross	...	Dad
Mossie Smith	...	Carole
Barbara Keogh	...	Brenda
Moya Brady	...	Clare
Alan David	...	Jerry
David Thewlis	...	Joey
Lesley Sharp	...	Valerie
Susan Brown	...	Helen
Tim Dantay	...	Soldier
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Edward Tudor-Pole	...	Scullery

Directed by
Alan Clarke

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Jim Cartwright		writer

Produced by
Andrée Molyneux	....	producer
David M. Thompson	....	producer

Cinematography by
John Ward

Film Editing by
Bill Wright

Production Design by
Stuart Walker

Costume Design by
Andrew Rose

Makeup Department
Christine Walmesley-Cotham	....	makeup designer

Production Management
Corin Campbell-Hill	....	production manager
Paul Judges	....	production manager

Art Department
Helen MacKenzie	....	properties buyer
Mina Martinez	....	graphic designer

Sound Department
Tim Day	....	sound assistant
Ron Edmonds	....	dubbing mixer
Richard Manton	....	sound recordist

Camera and Electrical Department
John Goodyer	....	lighting cameraman

Other crew
Charlotte Blair	....	production assistant
Simon Mather	....	assistant floor manager
Janet Ogilvie	....	production assistant
Geoffrey Paget	....	production associate
Adam Richards	....	assistant floor manager

Production Companies

• British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

Distributors

• British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) (1987) (UK) (TV)

Runtime:

67 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Company:

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

Trivia:

Lesley Sharp's big scene as Valerie involved an 8-minute soliloquy while she is walking along the streets between back-to-back houses. Given the length of the scene, and the chances of either her or the crew making a mistake, it took sixteen takes to film. Lesley Sharp estimates that she walked a total of five miles while filming the scene!

Soundtrack:

Try a Little Tenderness

Somehow I might escape.

Alan Clarke is one of celluloid's greatest assets. It's funny because he made a dire amount of theatrical feature films and just over 60 films for television – mainly the BBC and his television work far surpasses his theatrical work even though Scum, The Firm and Made In Britain are all fascinating works that showcase his exquisite talent and masterful directing abilities. You don't get much better than "Road" though. Broadcast on TV in 1987, Road is an adaptation of the famous first play of Jim Cartwright and it shines through unequivocally throughout the 67 minute run time. The characters walk through the streets addressing the camera as if they are on stage but they're not. In cinema it's sparsely done but imagine sitting down to watch a serious drama on TV and the characters start talking to you – also good to bear in mind this was in 1987, a time in England where the streets were still rife with racism and political opposition among other things. The musical number that closes this is quite frankly among my favourite musical numbers in the history of celluloid – I say celluloid because it's hard to say film when it was made for and broadcast first on television. Regardless, Road is a masterclass of acting and the ever so powerful direction of Clarke. I'm desperate to see everything I can get my hands on by the man now because he's easily one of my favourite filmmakers of all time.

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