TV Freak Scott Goodings is crazy about TV. Scott's first TV memory is an
episode of "Matlock Police" called "A Piece Of Cake". His first experience of
the medium in colour was seeing a Hector The Cat road safety commercial through
the window of the CBA bank in Cheltenham in 1975. Catch his regular reviews at
Quickflix
.
A TV Tribute to Cricket
In tribute to Australia reclaiming the Ashes, here’s some of the finest TV
cricketing moments this side of Weet Bix, Castlemaine XXXX and 3 Mobile ads.
- Scott
Neighbours
Jim Robinson - Erinsborough's Ashely Giles
Check out
"Neighbours" - Defining Moments - Dics 1 (1985)
Joe Scully and Karl Kennedy’s feud over the captaincy of Erinsborough CC;
Stephanie Scully struggling to be accepted into the team; ex-star Rachel
Friend’s (‘Bronwyn Davies’) real life marriage to Aussie leg spinner Stuart
MacGill; a cameo from Warney when Lou and Mishka donated the profits from their
dodgy vodka to the Shane Warne Foundation – Neighbours has always had more than
enough flannelled fool action for even the most hardened Anglophile. The finest
moment though has to be the original – and the best – 1986 opening title
sequence in the show’s first year at the Ten Network. Cul-de-sac cricket at its
best with Lucy behind the stumps, Helen and Scott at silly mid on and short
leg, as Paul carts one of Jim’s over the wicket medium pacers through a furious
Max Ramsey’s front window.
Spooks
MI-5 agent Danny Hunter takes double agent Harakat to Lords
Check out the episode
"Who Guards the Guards?" on Spooks-Series 3 - Disc 1 (2002)
In a break from playing Parminder Nagra’s father (in “Bend It Like Beckham” and
“ER”), Anupam Kher is the double agent MI5’s Danny Hunter is assigned to
protect from two hit men – one a decoy, the other the real thing ‘approved’ by
MI6. Probably knowing his time may soon be up, Kher’s character, Harakat, bonds
over cricket conversations with Danny, gives him a copy of a 1913 Wisden, and
shares an improvised ‘net session’ on the hallowed turf of Lords. The
futuristic spaceship-like media centre in the background at the home of cricket
has never seemed so ominous and foreboding.
The Prisoner
The noble game comes to the "Village"
Check out the episode
"The Girl Who Was Death" on The Prisoner-Volume 4 (1967)
“The Prisoner” is the tale of recently retired secret agent Number Six (Patrick
McGoohan), who is kidnapped and transported to a mysterious locale that is in
fact a prison where inhabitants are ‘held’ unless they give up information
sought by the officer in charge Number Two. In this episode, Sonia, a swinging
60s chick resplendent in a happening fur lined coat, bumps off spy Colonel
Hawke-Englishe in a cricket match with an exploding ball. It transpires Sonia
is in fact the daughter of mad scientist Professor Schnipps, who has plans to
destroy London with his secret rocket. Number Six is sent to track Sonia down
and becomes her prey, cheating death after dodging more exploding cricket balls
at another cricket match, and surviving a poisoned pint she buys him at the
local pub by downing a vomit inducing top-shelf antidote of brandy, whisky,
vodka, Drambuie, Tia Maria, Cointreau and Grand Manier. By strange coincidence,
the role of a local cricketer is played by John Drake – the name shared by the
spy McGoohan played in his previous espionage series “Danger Man”.
Dad's Army
‘Who do you think you are kidding, Freddie Trueman?’
Check out the episode
"The Test" on Dad's Army-Series 4 - Disc 2 (1970)
Captain George Mainwaring’s Home Guard is challenged to a game of village
cricket by his rival Chief Air Raid Warden Bert Hodges. Of course the pompous
Mainwaring (Arthur Lowe) makes himself captain, unaware Hodges has signed up
E.C Egan, who would be representing England in test cricket if it wasn’t for
the war. Chasing a sizeable total, Mainwaring’s top order is ripped apart by
Egan, played by Fred Trueman, the first man to take 300 test wickets. Can
tailenders Wilson (John Le Mesurier) and Godfrey hang on just that little bit
longer than Michael Kasprowicz and Brett Lee did at Edgbaston in 2005, and
bring the Guard home?
All Creatures Great and Small
‘Not into the rose bed, Hodgekin! We wouldn't want Tricki to get pricky-paw’
Check out the episode
“The Name Of The Game” on All Creatures Great and Small-Series 2-Volume 2 -
Disc 1 (1978)
Vets Siegfried Farnon and brother Tristan once again avoid playing in the
annual cricket match between their local side Darrowby and Rainby. Peter
Davison as Tristan shows none of the love of the game he’d profess when playing
Doctor Who a few years on. Naïve James Herriot is drafted into the team to face
an opposition who have a new mystery paceman. Set in Yorkshire, maybe local
legend Fred Trueman should have reprised his back-breaking spell in “Dad’s
Army”, or perhaps a relative of Chris Old, Darren Gough or Matthew Hoggard
could have been rounded up to play the visiting bowler.
Bodyline
Sweety heads out to the middle as our number national one icon!
Check out Bodyline
(1984)
All those games of cricket down on the farm with mates Urger and Horrible when
he was playing Leslie 'Magpie' Maddern in “The Sullivans” must have alerted
Kennedy-Miller to the cricketing prowess of Gary Sweet. How else did he score
the plum role of ‘our Don Bradman’ in the mini-series about the infamous
Bodyline series in 1932-33? Very much a parochial Australian take on the
subject, check out Frank Thring as Lord Harris, John Doyle (“Roy and HG” ’s
Rampaging Roy Slaven) as Gubby Allen, and John Gregg as Percy Fender, the man
who made the fastest ever century at Northampton in 1920, only for it to be
later beaten by Doctor Who! (See below)
Doctor Who
The Fifth Doctor – friend to 'The Don'
Check out
Doctor Who-The Visitation (2000)
The fifth incarnation of the Doctor, played by Peter Davison, went for the
Edwardian cricketer look. Striped pants and a cricket ball in his cream
coloured jacket, he claimed to have learnt the game when he met a boy called
‘Don’ in Australia. His most famous adventure/innings was in “the Black Orchid”
as he came to the aid of Lord Cranleigh’s first XI. Coming in at number ten,
the Doctor plays with Adam Gilchrist-like power as he belts 102 in thirty five
minutes, beating the long standing world record for the fastest hundred. Whilst
the Doctor’s Aussie assistant Tegan thinks the Doctor is almost as good as
Allan Border, the local policeman Sir Robert Muir compares the effort to ‘the
other Doctor’ – W. G. Grace.
The Paul Hogan Show
Strop fronts Kerry Packer’s cricket circus
Check out Paul
Hogan's England (1983)
Paul Hogan's sidekick Strop's real life alter ego John Cornell was instrumental
in setting up World Series Cricket for Kerry Packer in 1977. Cut to the mid
'80s, and Hoges' blockbuster "Crocodile Dundee" delivered massive profits to
his private backers that included Packer and former players Dennis Lillee, Rod
Marsh and Greg Chappell. In between, Hoges was sending up the game with
sketches like "World Series Bowls" and "World Series War", and in this UK
special, "World Series Executions", featuring Hoges resplendent in white afro
wig as David Gower and Dennis Lillee as himself.
Fawlty Towers
‘Very pretty and tall, loved cricket …’
Check out the episode
"The Germans" on Fawlty Towers: The Complete Collection - Disc 1 (1975)
I could have sworn Major Gowen once wore the egg and bacon tie of the English
MCC into his customary pre-dinner drink in the Fawlty Towers hotel bar. The
Major would always comment on the cricket scores when handed the morning paper
by Basil Fawlty. According to John Cleese this was art imitating life, as he
once told of Ballard Berkeley’s (The Major) penchant for standing just off set
during filming and passing on the latest English Test scores to the cast via an
elaborate series of hand gestures. In the episode “The Germans”, the Major
reminisces to Basil, who is busy trying to hang a moose head, about the girl he
once took to see India at The Oval – ‘I love women. I knew one once! Very
pretty and tall, loved cricket...’
The Young Ones
Vyv reclaims The Ashes
Check out the episode
"Summer Holiday" on The Young Ones, The-Series 2 (1982)
All those years later in “Bottom”, Adrian Edmonson, this time as Eddie, was
still attacking Rik Mayall’s Richie with a cricket bat. It was in “The Young
Ones” though that Adrian, as Vyvyan the punk, mastered his technique of
wielding the willow. In the episode “Oil”, he mastered the on drive by belting
Rik in the crotch, only for grimacing Rik to retort ‘Hah! Missed both my legs!’
For Vyv’s all-round cricketing ability though, check out “Summer Holiday” as
the feral housemates organise a boredom relieving game of kitchen cricket. Mike
belts Neil in the head with the bat disrupting Vyv’s bowling run up, then Vyv
forgets to let go of the ball and cannons into Rick who’s acting as the stumps.
By winning the game, Vyv gets to set fire to Rick, thereby claiming “The
Ashes”.
Scott's previous editorials...