Naught for Thy Comfort (10 Mar. 1977)

Director:

Ronnie Baxter

Writers:

Ray Galton, Alan Simpson

Stars:

Roy Kinnear, Fanny Carby, Robin Hunter

Cast

Episode complete credited cast:
Roy Kinnear	...	Richard Burton
Fanny Carby	...	Linda
Robin Hunter
Frank Gatliff
Robert Gillespie
John Clive
David Rowlands
Claire Faulconbridge
Edward Kemp
Alan Freeman	...	Himself (voice)

Storyline

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Genres:

Comedy

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Details

Release Date:

10 March 1977 (UK)

Company Credits

User Reviews

Whither Deirdre?

The great Roy Kinnear stars as 'Richard Burton'. No, not the Welsh film star who died in 1984, but an airline pilot who goes home after a three-day flight only to find that his wife Deirdre has left him. He goes to pieces. He phones her mother Linda ( Fanny Carby ), but is treated with contempt, and so begins calling other old friends in a futile search for solace.

Everyone gives him the cold shoulder. When he gives his name to a disc jockey ( Alan Freeman ), he is thought to be a time waster.

Then Richard receives an unexpected call from one of Deirdre's old boyfriends ( John Clive )...

They say the best comedy often comes from tragedy. Well, this is not great as such but amusing all the same, thanks to Kinnear and the superb supporting cast. Claire Faulconbridge is seen briefly as a Young Conservative, who makes the mistake of knocking on Burton's front door ( he tells her and her colleague to 'Get Stuffed!'. I know how he feels! ). The actress had co-starred with Kinnear the year before in the sketch show 'N.U.T.S.' which also featured Chris Emmett, Frederick Jaeger, Dave Evans, and Barry Took. Following a stint on 'Crossroads', she vanished seemingly into oblivion. Where are you now, Claire? John Clive was the voice of John Lennon in the Beatles' animated feature film 'Yellow Submarine', and later became a bestselling novelist.

Funniest moment - Richard trying to gas himself in an oven, only to succeed in setting light to the cushion. He forgot that they upgraded to electric only the week before!

I want to end this review by stating what a pleasure it has been to see this series again after so many years. It was also sad because many of its stars are no longer with us. Did I hear a lone voice saying 'it has not aged very well?'. How well did you expect it to age? Did you think Leonard Rossiter would be using a mobile phone in 'I Tell You Its Burt Reynolds'? Or expect to hear Arthur Lowe in 'Car Along The Pass' grumbling about the credit crunch? Go and have a lie down, mush.