Red Letter Day (TV Series) Ready When You Are, Mr. McGill (1976) User Reviews

A hilarious and accurate portrayal of the TV business

[ajrfx · 8/10 · 16 March 2000]

"I've never seen that young Lady in my life before and I've lived here fifty years"

Writer Jack Rosenthal and Director Mike Newell brought this wonderful film to our screens back in 1976 as part of ITV's series of single dramas.We follow the day in the life of a quiet,middle aged Television extra, Joe McGill, from the time he gets up on the day of the shoot(He's reading his one line of dialogue prior to his alarm clock ringing) to the time he gets home from a disastrous days filming to inform his Wife he's had a wonderful time!We also meet the cold,tired and miserable TV crew as they leave Granada Studios in Manchester for the suburban location that will act as a Village street in 1940. The fictitious drama they're shooting involves a British Soldier and his relationship with the suspicious School Mistress.Is she a German spy?We're never told,but the threads are there which is all we need to know.Apart from the cold and wet, it's obvious the Crew are reaching their wits end.They're bored with the production and seem totally uninterested with what appears to be a dreary wartime drama.The last thing they need is Mr. McGill.He has one line to say to the British Soldier, but every time they try to do a take something goes wrong. Tempers eventually explode in a remarkable and shocking way. Ultimately, this comedy slowly edges towards a darker finale exploring peoples fragile relationships in the work place, leaving them wondering what the whole point of their reason-detre actually is.Great performances all round,a wonderfully observed insight from Rosenthal and tight direction from Mike Newell(who later went on to direct Four Weddings and a Funeral).

An Example of a Single Play in an Anthology Series

[l_rawjalaurence · 9/10 · 23 December 2017]

Ready When You Are, Mr. McGill by Jack Rosenthal (1975). Dir. Mike Newell. Perf. Joe Black, Jack Shepherd, Fred Feast.

Produced as part of a television anthology series, Red Letter Day (another genre that seems part of television's past), Ready When You Are, Mr. McGill tells of Joe McGill's (Joe Black's) red letter day, as he gets to speak sixteen words as an extra on a period drama. The play tells of his day as he gets up, rehearses the dialogue, gets on the extras' coach, arrives at the location, and after a series of false starts, makes a hash of his big moment. The story could have been melodramatic, but director Mike Newell (later to make Four Weddings and a Funeral) keeps things light with a deliberate contrast between how Joe McGill thinks he's done (he firmly believes it will be all right on the night) and the opinion of director Phil Parish (Jack Shepherd) who indicates that the entire scene as shot will be deleted from the final cut. The contrast only serves to emphasize that, despite their dreams, most extras are appalling actors - this is why they remain extras throughout their lives. The film works hard to establish the sheer tedium of filming, especially in a suburb of Manchester on an extremely cold day of showers and sun. The crew work hard to jolly people along, but it's hard to remain calm when scenes are interrupted by hairs getting into the viewfinder or passing aeroplanes disrupting the shot. Stanley Lebor's Don is a study in miserable-faced boredom as he tries to protect his camera from the driving rain. Jack Shepherd is positively stellar as Phil. Saddled with a cold, while trying to finish a period drama with the producer on his back, he eventually vents his frustration on the luckless Joe McGill, describing his performance as one of the worst he has seen in history. Joe responds with spirit, but one can't quite escape the feeling that he knows he's messed up his big moment. In the end Phil curls up in the back seat of a car and tries to blot the rigors of the day out. Director Newell is careful to illustrate the effect of the television crew's presence. On the one hand, they are the inevitable focus of attention for the locals (Joe gets asked for autographs), yet the production has such little impact on the people that some of them walk by thoroughly disinterested in the proceedings. After all, they'll be gone soon, and the suburban village will resume its characteristic atmosphere of gentle torpor.

Let There Be Light!

[didi-5 · 5 July 2004]

The TV drama which should have been screened again following writer Jack Rosenthal's recent death, but TV being what it is at the moment, no chance. Well, that's a loss to today's audience.

Mike Newell directed this very funny tale of an extra finally given a line to say. Mr McGill of course is the extra from hell, from his enthusiasm for being given something constructive to do to the really funny spectacle of watching him try to get his line right. Joe Black has just the right note for Mr McGill.

As the egotistical Phil the Director, Jack Shepherd is hilarious; while Mark Wing-Davey does a fair bit of scene-stealing as the assistant director who has to deal with all the hassle of a shoot from invading kids to an over-sensitive sound man (Fred Feast, best known as Fred Gee in Coronation Street).

Watch the man painting the building where the cameras are rolling. Never has watching paint dry been so funny!