Series 1 – Episode 13
|
Marker
Sonia Lord Timothy Trepolwyn Tony Naylor The Countess of Llandwyr and Gwylraith Butler The Honourable Penelope Hunter-Bruton ‘Happy’ Holliday Beast Beauty |
Alfred Burke
Jennie Linden Graham Crowden Ray Brooks Lally Bowers Neil Wilson Barbara Leigh-Hunt David Lander Steven Scott Les White |
Uncredited cast:
David Wolliscroft, Vanessa Harris and Margaret Jost played unknown roles, possibly including Donald Halston (voice only), a maid and a servant, minor roles that were called for in the rehearsal script but not credited in TV listings
Production
Series based on an idea by Roger Marshall & Anthony Marriott
Theme Music composed by Robert Earley Story Editor: Richard Bates Floor Manager: John Russell |
Stage Manager: Dennis Redwood
Production Assistant: Anne Summerton Designed by Patrick Downing Producer: John Bryce Directed by Patrick Dromgoole |
Rehearsed from 10.30am on Friday 15 January 1965 at Steadfast Hall, Riverside, Kingston upon Thames
Camera rehearsed from Wednesday 27 January 1965 at Studio 1, ABC Television Studios, Broom Road, Teddington, Middlesex
Recorded from 6.30pm to 7.30pm on Thursday 28 January 1965 at Studio 1, Teddington
Camera rehearsed from Wednesday 27 January 1965 at Studio 1, ABC Television Studios, Broom Road, Teddington, Middlesex
Recorded from 6.30pm to 7.30pm on Thursday 28 January 1965 at Studio 1, Teddington
TV World Synopsis
Saturday 9 a.m.: “Phone airport – book seat on first plane out of the country. Not enough room here for me and Happy Holliday!”
Click here for detailed synopsis
Click here for detailed synopsis
Transmission
Saturday 3 April 1965, 9.10pm (Southern)
Saturday 10 April 1965, 10.12pm (Ulster)
Saturday 17 April 1965, 10.10pm (ABC Midlands, ABC North, ATV London, Border, Channel and Westward)
Tuesday 17 August 1965, 10.35pm (Grampian)
Saturday 25 September 1965, 10.15pm (TWW)
Saturday 10 April 1965, 10.12pm (Ulster)
Saturday 17 April 1965, 10.10pm (ABC Midlands, ABC North, ATV London, Border, Channel and Westward)
Tuesday 17 August 1965, 10.35pm (Grampian)
Saturday 25 September 1965, 10.15pm (TWW)
Archive
Rehearsal script – held in the BFI Special Collections
Story Notes
This is the only Series 1 script to mention the couch in Marker’s office. Such a piece of furniture can be seen in the corner of the room in The Morning Wasn’t So Hot and in stills from ‘And a Very Fine Fiddle Has He’ and Have It on the House, all of which were recorded after You Should Hear Me Eat Soup. The couch is not visible in the earlier surviving episode Nobody Kills Santa Claus, and may have been added to the set for You Should Hear Me Eat Soup. The reason for Marker sleeping in his office at the beginning of the story is not specified in the script. Presumably he has accommodation elsewhere, but had finished work too late to get home. He would describe a similar situation when asking Mr Soutar, the landlord of his Birmingham office, for a sofa in Don’t Forget You’re Mine: “Well, for when I miss the last bus. You don’t expect me to sleep in the filing cabinet, do you?”
The rehearsal script describes the door to Marker’s office as having a window. When Tony Naylor arrives, “A shadow can be seen against the frosted glass of [Marker’s] office door.” A little later, when Tony pushes a newspaper under the door directly below the key, “Marker crouches beside it where his own shadow on the frosted glass can’t be seen.” Surviving stills and episodes from Series 1 show that the door to Marker’s London office did not have a window, so the scene has been adjusted accordingly in the detailed synopsis.
In Act Three, ‘Happy’ Holliday refers to the butler as Fred. It is not known whether this is the servant’s actual name or merely a nickname attributed by Holliday. Alice Benjamin similarly calls Marker Fred in My Life, That’s a Marriage.
The rehearsal script describes the door to Marker’s office as having a window. When Tony Naylor arrives, “A shadow can be seen against the frosted glass of [Marker’s] office door.” A little later, when Tony pushes a newspaper under the door directly below the key, “Marker crouches beside it where his own shadow on the frosted glass can’t be seen.” Surviving stills and episodes from Series 1 show that the door to Marker’s London office did not have a window, so the scene has been adjusted accordingly in the detailed synopsis.
In Act Three, ‘Happy’ Holliday refers to the butler as Fred. It is not known whether this is the servant’s actual name or merely a nickname attributed by Holliday. Alice Benjamin similarly calls Marker Fred in My Life, That’s a Marriage.
Production Notes
The rehearsal script indicates that this episode is No. 10 in production order.
You Should Hear Me Eat Soup was directed by Patrick Dromgoole, who was born in 1930 in Iquique, Tarapacá, Chile as Patrick Shirley Brooks Dromgoole. He was a freelance producer and director who had started his television career as a trainee producer on the BBC regional magazine programme Westward Ho! in 1955. He subsequently directed editions of anthology dramas such as the BBC’s Saturday Playhouse and Suspense, and ABC’s Armchair Theatre. He would go on to direct two further episodes of Public Eye, If This is Lucky, I’d Rather Be Jonah… and Strictly Private and Confidential, both in Series 3. After Public Eye, Dromgoole made a considerable impact as the executive producer of HTV fantasy drama series for children and families, including Children of the Stones, King of the Castle, The Clifton House Mystery, Into the Labyrinth and Robin of Sherwood. He retired in 1996.
A notable feature of You Should Hear Me Eat Soup was designer Patrick Downing’s vast set for the stately home of Llandwyr Castle. As revealed in ABC promotional material for the episode, this had a staircase and picture gallery lined with Trepolwyn ancestors through the ages, “every one of them painted in the likeness of Graham Crowden, who, as the young squire, wears an alarming set of protruding teeth over his own to create the traditional ‘silly-ass’ expression.” The fittings for the false teeth were conducted on Thursday 14 and Monday 18 January 1965.
From a wardrobe point of view, the story was also remarkable for kitting out Marker in full hunting gear during Act Two, “an outing from which he returns feeling as uncomfortable as he looks,” according to the press release.
This episode was shown in two ITV regions ahead of ABC. Southern broadcast it first, on Saturday 3 April 1965 at 9.10pm, followed by Ulster, which transmitted it on Saturday 10 April at 10.12pm. At its new, later time on Ulster, Public Eye replaced the ATV legal drama The Sullavan Brothers, while the ATV filmed police series Gideon’s Way took over Marker’s previous slot at 9.10pm.
You Should Hear Me Eat Soup aired on ABC, ATV London, Border, Channel and Westward over the Easter Weekend on Saturday 17 April. Not So Much a Programme More a Way of Life had concluded its run and the competition from BBC1 now consisted of Sherlock Holmes at 9.55pm, followed by Hollywood and the Stars at 10.45pm.
You Should Hear Me Eat Soup was directed by Patrick Dromgoole, who was born in 1930 in Iquique, Tarapacá, Chile as Patrick Shirley Brooks Dromgoole. He was a freelance producer and director who had started his television career as a trainee producer on the BBC regional magazine programme Westward Ho! in 1955. He subsequently directed editions of anthology dramas such as the BBC’s Saturday Playhouse and Suspense, and ABC’s Armchair Theatre. He would go on to direct two further episodes of Public Eye, If This is Lucky, I’d Rather Be Jonah… and Strictly Private and Confidential, both in Series 3. After Public Eye, Dromgoole made a considerable impact as the executive producer of HTV fantasy drama series for children and families, including Children of the Stones, King of the Castle, The Clifton House Mystery, Into the Labyrinth and Robin of Sherwood. He retired in 1996.
A notable feature of You Should Hear Me Eat Soup was designer Patrick Downing’s vast set for the stately home of Llandwyr Castle. As revealed in ABC promotional material for the episode, this had a staircase and picture gallery lined with Trepolwyn ancestors through the ages, “every one of them painted in the likeness of Graham Crowden, who, as the young squire, wears an alarming set of protruding teeth over his own to create the traditional ‘silly-ass’ expression.” The fittings for the false teeth were conducted on Thursday 14 and Monday 18 January 1965.
From a wardrobe point of view, the story was also remarkable for kitting out Marker in full hunting gear during Act Two, “an outing from which he returns feeling as uncomfortable as he looks,” according to the press release.
This episode was shown in two ITV regions ahead of ABC. Southern broadcast it first, on Saturday 3 April 1965 at 9.10pm, followed by Ulster, which transmitted it on Saturday 10 April at 10.12pm. At its new, later time on Ulster, Public Eye replaced the ATV legal drama The Sullavan Brothers, while the ATV filmed police series Gideon’s Way took over Marker’s previous slot at 9.10pm.
You Should Hear Me Eat Soup aired on ABC, ATV London, Border, Channel and Westward over the Easter Weekend on Saturday 17 April. Not So Much a Programme More a Way of Life had concluded its run and the competition from BBC1 now consisted of Sherlock Holmes at 9.55pm, followed by Hollywood and the Stars at 10.45pm.
Home and Away
This episode was entirely studio bound. The rehearsal script contains no exterior scenes.
Many a Slip
When preparing to leave Llandwyr Castle in Act Three of the script, Marker asks the butler, “Take my bag, will you?” In Act One, however, the inquiry agent had arrived without luggage.
Timothy is referred to as the Countess’s son in Acts One and Two, but as her grandson in Act Three. ABC publicity material remains vague on this point, describing Timothy as “the youthful master” and “the young squire”. It seems more likely that he is the Countess’s son, given the respective ages of the performers – Graham Crowden was born on Thursday 30 November 1922, making him 42 years old (but playing younger) when this episode was recorded, whereas Lally Bowers was born on Wednesday 21 January 1914, making her 51.
These inconsistencies have been ironed out in the detailed synopsis.
Timothy is referred to as the Countess’s son in Acts One and Two, but as her grandson in Act Three. ABC publicity material remains vague on this point, describing Timothy as “the youthful master” and “the young squire”. It seems more likely that he is the Countess’s son, given the respective ages of the performers – Graham Crowden was born on Thursday 30 November 1922, making him 42 years old (but playing younger) when this episode was recorded, whereas Lally Bowers was born on Wednesday 21 January 1914, making her 51.
These inconsistencies have been ironed out in the detailed synopsis.
Who Wants to Be Told Bad News?
The ABC press release for this near-farcical episode contained none of the defensiveness that had been evident when promoting Terence Frisby’s earlier contribution, I Went to Borrow a Pencil and Look What I Found. The publicity department now seemed entirely comfortable with the notion of a humorous episode of Public Eye, and there was a decidedly light-hearted tone to the document. “Comedy is the keynote,” it announced, “and Marker (Alfred Burke) will be seen spending an uncomfortable weekend in a stately home, where he has been summoned by the dowager (Lally Bowers) to prevent the youthful master (Graham Crowden) from making an unsuitable match with a blonde (Jenny Linden), instead of marrying the Chosen Maiden (Barabara Leigh-Hunt).” The use of the word dowager might suggest that the Countess is a widow who holds a title or property (a dower) derived from her late husband, but in the script her spouse, though never seen, is still very much alive. “The present earl, my husband, can’t go on forever,” the Countess informs Marker in Act One, “even if he seems to sometimes”. Later, she tells Timothy, who has not yet inherited the earldom, that “If your dear father was ever at home,” he would put a stop to his son’s antics. All in all, it seems that the publicists were using the informal definition of dowager, meaning an older woman of high social rank. The press release also referred to Ray Brooks’s character, Tony Naylor, as “a young man connected with the gee-gees”, who “proves a willing but awkward accomplice in the Great Matrimonial Plot.”
On Wednesday 14 April 1965, the fashion and lifestyle magazine Tatler promoted You Should Hear Me Eat Soup with an image (see below) showing Graham Crowden as Timothy attempting to woo Jennie Linden as Sonia.
On Wednesday 14 April 1965, the fashion and lifestyle magazine Tatler promoted You Should Hear Me Eat Soup with an image (see below) showing Graham Crowden as Timothy attempting to woo Jennie Linden as Sonia.
The billing in TV World (17–23 April 1965) was accompanied by a photograph of Tony Naylor hugging Sonia.
Television Today publicised the episode on its front page on Thursday 15 April with a shot of Barbara Leigh-Hunt (see above) as “‘typically county’ girl” the Honourable Penelope Hunter-Bruton from You Should Hear Me Eat Soup, “which will be seen in most areas on Saturday.”
The following week, the trade publication carried a short review of the episode by Bill Edmund in his On My Cuff… column. “It was a lively, amusing script by Terence Frisby,” he wrote. “I enjoyed Alfred Burke’s performance and I hope Ray Brooks returns and soon.” The character of Tony Naylor would not be making a comeback, but the actor would return to Public Eye to play a different part in Series 3’s There’s No Future in Monkey Business.
Television Today publicised the episode on its front page on Thursday 15 April with a shot of Barbara Leigh-Hunt (see above) as “‘typically county’ girl” the Honourable Penelope Hunter-Bruton from You Should Hear Me Eat Soup, “which will be seen in most areas on Saturday.”
The following week, the trade publication carried a short review of the episode by Bill Edmund in his On My Cuff… column. “It was a lively, amusing script by Terence Frisby,” he wrote. “I enjoyed Alfred Burke’s performance and I hope Ray Brooks returns and soon.” The character of Tony Naylor would not be making a comeback, but the actor would return to Public Eye to play a different part in Series 3’s There’s No Future in Monkey Business.
Nobody Wants to Know
In Act One, Marker talks on the telephone to Donald Halston, the solicitor already seen in ABC broadcast order in ‘And a Very Fine Fiddle Has He’, the episode that came next in production order. It is not known who played the voice of Halston in You Should Hear Me Eat Soup. Also as in ‘And a Very Fine Fiddle Has He’, Marker’s phone number is given (by Happy Holliday) as MACaulay 2810.
In common with You Have to Draw the Line Somewhere, the next episode to be transmitted by ABC, You Should Hear Me Eat Soup takes place during the fox-hunting season – which in the UK typically ran from the beginning of November to the end of March or the beginning of April until it was banned. The Hunting Act 2004, which came into effect on Friday 18 February 2005, prohibits the hunting of most wild mammals (including foxes, deer, hares and mink) with dogs in England and Wales, subject to some strictly limited exemptions. The pursuit of foxes with hounds had been similarly outlawed in Scotland two years earlier by the Protection of Wild Mammals (Scotland) Act 2002. Such hunting remains permitted by law in Northern Ireland, where the Hunting Act does not apply.
Despite being recorded before and (in most ITV regions) shown before You Have to Draw the Line Somewhere, it appears that You Should Hear Me Eat Soup takes place a little later in the hunting season. You Have to Draw the Line Somewhere opens on the afternoon of the “First hunt of the season,” as stated by the character of Harry Lawford. In You Should Hear Me Eat Soup, however, it is evident that the season has been underway for some time, as the Countess notes that Penelope is “A bit broody sometimes, but better now the hunting season’s started.”
In Act Three of the script, Marker tells Tony, “Come on, you’ve got to scapa.” The more familiar spelling of this slang word, meaning to run away, is “scarper”. Although “scarper” originally derives from the Italian word “scappare”, meaning to escape, it became much more popular after the First World War, when Cockney rhyming slang began to use “Scapa Flow” to mean go. Scapa Flow is a body of water in Scotland’s Orkney Islands, which is sheltered by the islands of Mainland, Graemsay, Burray, South Ronaldsay and Hoy.
In common with You Have to Draw the Line Somewhere, the next episode to be transmitted by ABC, You Should Hear Me Eat Soup takes place during the fox-hunting season – which in the UK typically ran from the beginning of November to the end of March or the beginning of April until it was banned. The Hunting Act 2004, which came into effect on Friday 18 February 2005, prohibits the hunting of most wild mammals (including foxes, deer, hares and mink) with dogs in England and Wales, subject to some strictly limited exemptions. The pursuit of foxes with hounds had been similarly outlawed in Scotland two years earlier by the Protection of Wild Mammals (Scotland) Act 2002. Such hunting remains permitted by law in Northern Ireland, where the Hunting Act does not apply.
Despite being recorded before and (in most ITV regions) shown before You Have to Draw the Line Somewhere, it appears that You Should Hear Me Eat Soup takes place a little later in the hunting season. You Have to Draw the Line Somewhere opens on the afternoon of the “First hunt of the season,” as stated by the character of Harry Lawford. In You Should Hear Me Eat Soup, however, it is evident that the season has been underway for some time, as the Countess notes that Penelope is “A bit broody sometimes, but better now the hunting season’s started.”
In Act Three of the script, Marker tells Tony, “Come on, you’ve got to scapa.” The more familiar spelling of this slang word, meaning to run away, is “scarper”. Although “scarper” originally derives from the Italian word “scappare”, meaning to escape, it became much more popular after the First World War, when Cockney rhyming slang began to use “Scapa Flow” to mean go. Scapa Flow is a body of water in Scotland’s Orkney Islands, which is sheltered by the islands of Mainland, Graemsay, Burray, South Ronaldsay and Hoy.
With thanks to Jonny Davies, Andrew Pixley, Barbara Toft, the BFI Special Collections, the British Newspaper Archive and Network Distributing.
The Missing Markers is a not-for-profit fan website written and edited by and copyright © Richard McGinlay. All rights reserved.
Public Eye (the ABC years) is copyright © StudioCanal. No attempt to infringe this copyright is intended.
The Missing Markers is a not-for-profit fan website written and edited by and copyright © Richard McGinlay. All rights reserved.
Public Eye (the ABC years) is copyright © StudioCanal. No attempt to infringe this copyright is intended.