BBC Play of the Month (TV Series) You Never Can Tell (1977) User Reviews

Delightful Comedy Played at a Cracking Pace

[l_rawjalaurence · 8/10 · 7 December 2013]

This PLAY OF THE MONTH presentation from BBC Television reminds us of an age of television when producers did not feel the need to include spurious location sequences set in stately homes in England. Rather they filmed the entire production in the studio with one, perhaps two sets, and focused almost entirely on the characters. YOU NEVER CAN TELL is a delightful comedy of manners, in which Bernard Shaw satirizes class- prejudice, organized religion and Victorian melodrama. Cyril Cusack is quite wonderful as the dotty waiter William (actually christened Walter), who knows how to extricate himself out of any situation; supported by memorable cameos from Robert Powell as an adventurer eventually trumped by Kika Markham's streetwise young woman; Judy Parfitt's knowing authoress and part-time mother; and Warren Clarke as a bullying lawyer. The choreography - by television veteran Geraldine Stephenson - is an added bonus. Definitely a piece to watch for anyone feeling slightly down in the mouth who wants entertaining.

As The Waiter States That You Can Never Tell!

[Sylviastel · 8/10 · 29 December 2018]

George Bernard Shaw was an Irish born playwright who infused his wit and wisdom into largely British situations. The cast is first rate with Judy Parfitt as the divorced mother of two young adult children. Cyril Cusack played the wise waiter or servant in this staged adaptation. The Shaw adaptations are rather dated though without an audience. The great cast included Kika Markham and Warren Clarke as well.