From Nuts in May to rare treats, Peter Wild finds that this excellent collection serves as a timely reminder of how Leigh made his name.
Firmly ensconced these days as a veritable lion of the British cinematic and theatrical establishment, this newly issued boxset serves as a timely reminder of how Leigh made his name, challenging many of the things that the old general public hold dear. Spanning nearly 30 years and running over 6 discs, the set showcases all of the writer-director’s surviving work for the BBC, including his contributions to the celebrated Play for Today series.
Which means, of course, well-known and justly feted work – such as Nuts in May and Abigail’s Party – rub shoulders alongside rare treats even the most dedicated Leigh fan may have struggled to find over the years. There is Hard Labour, for instance, Leigh’s first drama for the BBC, featuring early performances from the likes of Ben Kingsley and Bernard Hill and, in a role that echoes Brenda Blethyn’s performance in his award-winning Secrets and Lies, The Royle Family’s Liz Smith in the story of a stoical domestic cleaner and her cantankerous family. Or The Kiss of Death, in which Shameless’ David Threlfall gives a brilliant performance as Trevor, an off-beat undertaker’s assistant, with a dry sense of humour and a healthy resistance to conformity. Or even Home Sweet Home, a tragicomic tale of a lonely postman, the social workers who chivvy him about his estranged teenage daughter, and his secret affairs with the wives of his fellow postmen.
Especially interesting is how the boxset seems to demonstrate how Leigh has over the years built up his ensemble casting. Who’s Who, for example, a tale of toffs and snobs, features Phil Davis (High Hopes, Vera Drake), and Sam Kelly (Topsy-Turvy, All Or Nothing); while Grown-ups stars Lesley Manville (All Or Nothing, Topsy-Turvy) who has worked with Mike Leigh more than any other actor and Brenda Blethyn (Secrets and Lies), Phil Davis, Sam Kelly and Janine Duvitski (Abigail’s Party). And that’s not all. There is also The Permissive Society (very much a play, like Abigail’s Party), Four Days in July and a whole host of five-minute films filmed in 1975, together with a number of documentaries and a lovely little booklet. All told, this is a must-buy for any Mike Leigh fan.
Documentary, 'All About Abigail’s Party', plus 'Welcome', 'Party Nibbles', 'Intro' & 'Goodbye'
'The Conversation': Will Self interviews Mike Leigh
'The Long Goodbye': Bel Mooney interviews Mike Leigh
'Arena: Making Plays': The Life and Work of Mike Leigh
Audio commentaries by Mike Leigh on Nuts in May, The Kiss of Death, Grown-Ups, and Four Days in July.
Film Description
At last, a tremendous box set rounding up Mike Leigh's work for the BBC, showcasing all of his surviving work, and including his contributions to the influential Play For Today series. Features Hard Labour (1973), The Permissive Society (1975), Nuts in May (1976), The Kiss of Death (1977), Who's Who (1979), Abigail’s Party (1977), The Grown-Ups (1980), Home Sweet Home (1982), Four Days in July (1984) and Five-Minute Films - Afternoon, Birth of the Goalie, Old Chums, A Light Snack and Probation (1975).
Hard Labour: Leigh's first drama for the BBC. Shot entirely on location in Leigh’s native Salford, it depicts the grinding daily routine of stoical domestic cleaner Mrs Thornley and her cantankerous family. Hard Labour features a moving central performance from Liz Smith (The Royle Family) and early appearances by Ben Kingsley and Bernard Hill. It also marks the first collaboration between Mike Leigh and Alison Steadman, who was to take leading roles in Nuts in May and Abigail’s Party.
The Permissive Society: Funny and moving, a tentative, awkward first date in a Lancashire high rise flat is interrupted by the young man’s elder sister, returning prematurely after being stood up. The title is, of course, ironic.
Nuts in May: Leigh’s second 'Play For Today' offering follows a self-righteous vegetarian couple on their attempt to enjoy an idyllic camping holiday in Dorset, where their rigid notions of peace and quiet are challenged by other campers who have a more relaxed approach to life.
In The Kiss of Death, David Threlfall gives a brilliant performance as Trevor, an off-beat undertaker’s assistant with a dry sense of humour and a healthy resistance to conformity. He and his best friend Ronnie are confronted by, and finally escape, the clutches of two predatory and fiercely conventional young women, Sandra and Linda. Filmed on location in Oldham.
Who’s Who? is a film about toffs and snobs. Richard Kane stars as Alan, an obsequious autograph hunter, who works as a clerk for a City stockbroker, and whose wife breeds pedigree chinchilla cats. Through Alan’s eyes we look at the lives of his upper class employers and the younger Sloane Ranger set at his firm.
Abigail’s Party: Immediately after its smash-hit run at The Hampstead Theatre, London, this 1977 stage play about a suburban evening of hilarious disaster, gross embarrassment and untimely death presided over by the monstrous Beverly, for which performance Alison Steadman won two best actress awards, was wheeled by Mike Leigh into an electronic TV studio. Leigh attributes the phenomenal success of his most popular TV show in part to the fact that on its third showing, storms raged throughout the British Isles, when there was a highbrow programme on BBC 2, an ITV strike blacking out Channel 3, and no Channel 4, as it didn’t yet exist.
Grown-Ups: A young working-class couple, Dick and Mandy, move into a council house, to find their old teacher living next door with his wife. Their new life is plagued by endless visits from Mandy’s lonely elder sister Gloria, a situation that finally erupts into a major catastrophe involving the neighbours.
Home Sweet Home: The tragic-comic tale of a lonely postman, the social workers who chivvy him about his estranged teenage daughter, and his secret affairs with the wives of his fellow postmen.
Four Days in July: A wonderfully engaging and bitterly humorous take on "The Troubles" in Northern Ireland. Set (and shot) in Belfast in July 1984, around the annual 12th July Loyalist Parades, the film examines the communities on both sides of the divide. Through the depiction of a Catholic couple and a Protestant couple, each on the brink of the birth of their first child, Mike Leigh explores the daily lives of the divided community.
