The Daily Express’s dynamic duo are both present in today’s paper, but Robert Cannell writes little and says less. He mentions, seemingly in passing, last night’s Sunday Night at the London Palladium, but it’s more a general review of its star, Johnnie Ray, than of the programme itself. Cannell notes that Ray’s performance “was reinforced by a band of his fans” and finds that “The squealing, shouting girls now seem an important, if not an integral, part of the Johnnie Ray act.” Thanks Robert. Now, Cyril…
Cyril Aynsley has much more to say on last night’s instalment of The Makepeace Story written by father and son Frank and Vincent Tilsley. Ian Bannen’s performance as Peter Makepeace was “masterly” with the character, “a mixture of harshness, stubbornness, and inadequacy in social company.” Last night’s episode covered the years 1914 to 1920 wherein Harry Makepeace, the head of the Lancashire mill, and his son Oswald were killed in the trenches. Aynsley notes that last night’s production featured “over 40 players and a vast variety of scenes” and that the producer, Tony Richardson, “contrived to work in scenes of trench warfare, a race meeting, a cock fight, and the clamorous interior of a cotton mill.”
An un-named Daily Mirror Reporter was more interested in ITV’s Free Speech programme, and proclaimed that the team of participants “fell foul of the government’s fourteen-day ‘gag’ rule yesterday” as the members “discussed the Budget despite the fact that a censure motion on the Government’s economic policy comes before the Commons today.” Apparently, the ITA had taken legal advice and decided to allow Sir Robert Boothby, W. J. Brown, Michael Foot and Alan Taylor to discuss the budget “provided no reference was made to the government’s economic policy” – a set-up described by the reporter as both “ridiculous” and “impossible”.
The Guardian’s “London Correspondence” column also ponders on the difference in approaches between the BBC and ITV and that paper is still trying to get to the bottom of the mystery of the person they call “the third man – the one who advised the BBC that it would be unwise to allow a discussion on the Budget.