The Year of the Sex Olympics (29 Jul. 1968)

Set in a future when the world is dominated and run by television, where language has become almost redundant and all "tensions" - love, war, hate, loyalty - have been removed. ... See full summary »

Director:

Michael Elliott

Writer:

Nigel Kneale

Stars:

Leonard Rossiter, Suzanne Neve, Tony Vogel

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
Leonard Rossiter	...	Co-ordinator Ugo Priest
Suzanne Neve	...	Deanie Webb
Tony Vogel	...	Nat Mender
Brian Cox	...	Lasar Opie
Vickery Turner	...	Misch
George Murcell	...	Grels
Martin Potter	...	Kin Hodder
Lesley Roach	...	Keten Webb
Hira Talfrey	...	Betty
Patricia Maynard	...	Nurse
Trevor Peacock	...	Custard pie expert
Brian Coburn	...	Custard pie expert
Derek Fowlds	...	Custard pie expert
Wolfe Morris	...	Custard pie expert
Braham Murray	...	Custard pie expert

Storyline

Set in a future when the world is dominated and run by television, where language has become almost redundant and all "tensions" - love, war, hate, loyalty - have been removed. Overpopulation is a problem, so there are gluttony programmes to put people off food and pornography programmes to put them off sex. There is artsex and sportsex, and now this - the year of the Sex Olympics. Audience attention begins to wane, however, until TV executive Ugo Priest works on a new concept - a reality-based programme in which a couple is stranded on a bleak island, without the aid of any modern technology, and their efforts to survive filmed twenty-four hours a day. A concept which may sound familiar in the age of reality TV...

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Plot Keywords:

television | futuristic

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

29 July 1968 (UK)

Filming Locations:

BBC Television Centre, Wood Lane, Shepherd's Bush, London, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

105 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Brian Cox replaced Tom Courtney.

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Quotes

Lasar Opie: Old days, I think they called that _despair_. Right, Coordinator?
Misch: She cross, too. That Deanie.
Lasar Opie: You see? The danger force of these bad feelings? We seen fear and anger, worry and pain and so on... Soon, I think, one called _grief_.

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Connections

Featured in The Martians and Us (2006)

User Reviews

Incredibly Prescient

I first saw this in the early 70's, it was considered then to be nothing more than science fiction. Intended to be a glimpse of a world where anything goes in the name of entertainment, as well as a warning. It was meant to be an extreme satirical extrapolation, alluding to a future time, in the hope that it might not happen. Spooky really!!

This theme has been done to death many times since, but it was still fresh and original back then. I also remember a TV programme around about the same time called 'The Machine Stops', based on a short story by E M Forster. Although somewhat dated and naive now, bear in mind that it was written in 1909. Its main theme is that humans eventually become alienated and remote from their surroundings, preferring to communicate via TV screens, referred to as Cinematophote. This happened, in the fictional world, because the Earth was contaminated and the inhabitants had to go underground. Obviously the Internet, TV or email was not known then, but it predicted all three, it is strange how fact has 'triumphed' over fiction.

We haven't got to the next stage yet, whereby humans are entirely isolated from their surroundings, but who can say what the future portends?