UK Singles Chart (1971)

These are the hits for the year 1971.

W/E	Artist	Song	Weeks at No.1	Comments
9th Jan	Clive Dunn	Grandad	3	Only UK No 1 for this "Dad's Army" star who tapped a rich vein of seasonal sentimentality that Christmas & New Year.
30th Jan	George Harrison	My Sweet Lord	5	First UK No 1 for this ex-Beatle, who was sued for plagiarism a few years later.
6th Mar	Mungo Jerry	Baby Jump	2	Second and last UK No 1 for Mungo Jerry. Written by leader Ray Dorset
20th Mar	T Rex	Hot Love	6	First UK No 1 for Marc Bolan, an acoustic folk hero who turned electric and became a glam rock star with his band, T Rex.
1st May	Dave & Ansil Collins	Double Barrel	2	Jamaican duo who provided only the second West Indian reggae chart topper. This was their only UK No 1.
15th May	Dawn	Knock Three Times	5	First UK No 1 for Dawn. Tony Orlando had retired from singing when he was persuaded to front Dawn for studio recordings.
19th Jun	Middle Of The Road	Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep	5	Only ever UK no 1 for this Scottish foursome.
24th Jul	T Rex	Get It On	4	A second UK No 1 for the reinvented glam rocker Marc Bolan with the infectious "Get it On".
21st Aug	Diana Ross	I'm Still Waiting	4	A first solo No 1 for Diana Ross, having previously hit the top stop with The Supremes.
18th Sep	Tams	Hey Girl Don't Bother Me	3	Only ever UK no 1 for this American act whose US chart career was already over. This was a reissue of a 1964 US hit
9th Oct	Rod Stewart	Maggie May	5	First UK No 1 for this veteran of several bands, most notably The Faces.
13th Nov	Slade	Coz I Love You	4	First UK No 1 for the Wolverhampton glam rockers who launched a long and successful career with this.
11th Dec	Benny Hill	Ernie (The Fastest Milkman In The West)	4	Popular TV comic who recorded novelty songs over a number of years. Thankfully, this was the only one to hit the top of the charts.

Coronation Street 35th Anniversary Commemorative Stamps (1995)

These "Local Issue" stamps were issued in 1995 by five postal authorities of the United Kingdom (UK) as part of a joint Omnibus issue to commemorate the 35th Anniversary (1960-1995) of Coronation Street.

Yus My Dear (1976)

Yus, My Dear was a British situation comedy which ran for nineteen episodes over two series in 1976 featuring, Arthur Mullard and Queenie Watts in the lead roles, it was written by Ronald Chesney and Ronald Wolfe. Produced and directed by Stuart Allen for London Weekend Television, it was screened by the ITV network during 1976, and marked an early regular TV appearance of the comedian Mike Reid..

After four series of 'Romany Jones' ( which starred the late James Back as good-for-nothing caravan dweller 'Bert Jones' ), writers Ronnie Wolfe & Ronnie Chesney took its two supporting characters, 'Lil & Wally Briggs' ( played by Queenie Watts and Arthur Mullard ), her, a gossipy old rat bag and him, an incompetent, under-the-thumb, drunken layabout, and gave them a sitcom of their own called 'Yus, My Dear'.

Here, the pair have moved on. They now reside in a council house in London as the caravan site they lived on for many years is closed for redevelopment. Wally has a new job working on a building site and seems to be earning a healthy wage ( which he is usually relieved of by Lil when he comes back home on pay day ). Making himself an unwelcome permanent guest in the house is Wally's conniving younger brother 'Benny', played by future 'EastEnders' star Mike Reid ( he played wily con merchant 'Frank Butcher' ) in what was his first acting role. Benny's hobbies include signing on at the Labour Exchange ( now known as The Job Centre ), tapping his 'fick bruvver' for every penny he has and squandering it at the bookies. Benny has a girlfriend called 'Molly' ( the lovely Valerie Walsh ) a leggy redhead who works as a stripper at a seedy nightclub.

The plots were pretty much the same each week (Benny finding a new way to relieve Wally of his 'hard' earned cash ), but it was frequently hilarious. Mullard is on good form here. Mike Reid was hilarious as Benny and his scenes with Wally were undeniably the best part of the show. There was a memorable scene in one episode in which Benny was berating Wally for his lack of culinary skills. ''When you were a nipper, I used to cook your breakfast!'', says Wally. Benny's response: ''Oh yeah, I remember when you used to make Welsh Rarebit. Me and my mates used to sole our shoes with them!''. .

During both series of 'Yus, My Dear', there were some impressive cameo appearances. Pat Nye appeared in the second show as Lil's fire breathing sister 'Beatrice', of whom Benny and Wally were terrified of ( who can blame them? ). Tommy Godfrey appeared in a series two episode as as a dodgy salesman who sold Wally a faulty deep-freeze. Pat Ashton appeared in two episodes as Molly's friend and fellow stripper 'Phyllis'. The show's catchy theme song was written by Denis King & Myles Rudge and sung by Arthur Mullard.

"Thank goodness for EastEnders' Frank Butcher. Without him, Mike Reid's TV acting legacy may have been this absolutely dire 1976 sitcom. Arthur Mullard, hugely popular in the 1970s, plays an old geezer lumbered with a nagging wife who moves into a council house. However, his layabout brother (Reid) insists on living off him too. Stepping in dog poo is funnier..."

Lorna Cooper, MSN TV, 12th August 2008

The 1st Dr Who with Electronic Tardis!

School teachers Barbara Wright and Ian Chesterton become intrigued by one of their pupils, Susan Foreman, and visit her home address - a junkyard at 76 Totter’s Lane - where they meet her grandfather, the Doctor. The Doctor and Susan are aliens who travel through time and space in their ship, the TARDIS, which looks like an ordinary police box but actually houses a huge gleaming control room. The TARDIS takes them all to a Palaeolithic landscape where they encounter a tribe that has lost the secret of fire. Underground Toys present the First Doctor action figure with Electronic TARDIS as they appeared in ‘An Unearthly Child’. The Doctor comes dressed in a hat and cloak with walking stick and skull accessory.

The TARDIS features opening doors, a spring activated right hand door and takeoff and landing light and sound effects.

Rolling Stone Magazine - February 7th 1980

Fleetwood Mac are the subject of this edition of Rolling Stone magazine released on February 7th 1980, featuring a 5-page article with the band as they discuss rehearsals, childhood, 'Tusk', what they would do if the band broke up... Also includes some great photos inside and frontcover shot).

It Always Rains on Sunday (1947)

Robert Hamer's third Ealing film as director is a bleak, claustrophobic melodrama, showing a seamy side of life. Beautifully shot, with film noir-ish touches and a final pursuit sequence up there with the best. What we see is a morally bankrupt microcosm of post-WWII society, where most characters grab what they can, with no regard for anyone else. Lighter moments can be found, mostly surfacing as sarcastic asides.

Very early in the film, and reprised at the end, the locked grilles of Whitechapel Underground station stand indicative of enclosure, of being trapped; whether it be by prison (Swann), domesticity (the Sandigates), the rain (everyone). Escape, even by suicide, is (perhaps) impossible - even the parallel but entirely separate attempts by the two leading characters are doomed to failure.

Tensions between notions of decency, and of family (mainly the Sandigates and the Hyams) permeate the film. There are few 'decent' characters: George (Edward Chapman) is one, as is daughter Doris (Patricia Plunkett), and Ted (Nigel Stock). The Sandigates act like a family, but one which may be on shakey ground once we know that Rose (Googie Withers) isn't the mother of the two daughters, particularly as Rose is the one who, in choosing between George and Tommy Swann (John McCallum), could tear the family to shreds. While it is perhaps too fanciful to suggest the ripping of Vi's (Susan Shaw) smart dress by Rose as they struggle for control of the bedroom door could serve as a metaphor for the tearing apart of the family unit, the skirmish emphasises the problems beneath the surface. The Hyams family, meanwhile, is tested by Morry's (Sydney Tafler) womanising, with its older generation scandalised by Lou's (John Slater) apparent wheeling and dealing.

Apparently, Bethnal Green residents of the time protested at their portrayal (many of the characters are crooks or chancers, and at least one kills), and there were censorship problems. The Cinematograph Exhibitors Association's reviewer declared it "an unsavoury film... with appeal only to those with very broad minds". Despite this it was Ealing's box office hit of the year.

THE

MONTHLY FILM BULLETIN

Published by

THE BRITISH FILM INSTITUTE

Volume 14, No.168, December 1947, page 171

IT ALWAYS RAINS ON SUNDAY (1947)

Drama of an escaped convict. Tommy Swann, who has escaped from Dartmoor, makes his way on a wet Sunday to the Bethnal Green home of Rose Sandigate, with whom he had a love affair some years before, and whom he feels he can trust to help him. Rose has been married for some time to the respectable middle-aged George Sandigate. She naturally cannot take her husband or her two stepdaughters, with whom she is on bad terms, into her confidence, and spends a wretched Sunday of suspense, hiding Tommy in her bedroom. Eventually the convict's presence in the house is discovered by a newspaper reporter; but Tommy escapes, and Rose, in her fear of the results of her complicity, attempts to gas herself, but fails. Tommy is caught eventually after a long chase which culminates in a railway yard.

Though the background of this film is carefully done, and direction and acting good, it is a sordid and dreary affair. Those people who are not spivs or minor crooks have little else to commend them, and the only decent and likable character - apart from the Detective Sergeant, played by Jack Warner - is George Sandigate, who is well portrayed by Edward Chapman. The suspense which one is meant to feel about Tommy Swann is vitiated by the fact that, as played by John McCallum, he is so unpleasant that it would obviously be better to have him back in prison; and the sympathy which might be felt for Googie Withers as Rose is weakened by the bad temper and ill will which she shows to her husband and stepdaughters. It is, perhaps, a pity that thousands of honest cheerful citizens of Bethnal Green could not have had a stronger representation, but for those who like serious portrayals of a section - a very minor section - of East End life it can be recommended. The music is, in places, self-sufficing. But far from harming the musical support of the visual, this circumstance actually contributes to the significance of the film as a whole.

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The Monthly Film Bulletin was published by the British Film Institute between 1934 and 1991. Initially aimed at distributors and exhibitors as well as filmgoers, it carried reviews and details of all UK film releases. In 1991, the Bulletin was absorbed by Sight and Sound magazine.

Rolling Stone Magazine - 1st Edition (1967)

This was the very first edition of Rolling Stone Magazine and was published in November 1967. Having the dubious pleasure of gracing the front cover is John Lennon.

Action Man ( Part Ten) The Boxed Sets

A selection of Action Man Boxed Sets and accessories that date back to the 1960s through to the 1980s.

The 1980s Armoured Jeep

The 1970s Scorpion Tank

The 1970s Pursuit Craft

The 1970s Operations Tent

1970s Escape From Colditz

The Servant (1963)

Adapted from a short story by Robin Maugham, The Servant (1963) was the first of three collaborations between Joseph Losey and Harold Pinter. It was followed by two further quintessentially English films Accident(1967) and The Go-Between (1971).

The Servant is a savage indictment of the English class system, and its waning hold over all aspects of the working and cultural life of Britain. Set almost entirely within the smart new townhouse of foppish aristocrat Tony (James Fox), the film plays out the struggle for power and dominance ignited by his duplicitous manservant Barrett - an energetic and genuinely ominous Dirk Bogarde.

The opening sequence of stark, leafless trees outlined against a cold English sky suggests the clinical austerity of 1960s Britain and hints at the cold manipulations that follow. The first shot of Barrett, leaving Thomas Crapper Sanitary Engineers (presumably his previous workplace), slyly insinuates the theme of the film as the 'flushing away' of the old order. His clipped appearance and punctuality tells us he means business, while the first shot of Tony (a 'businessman') finds him vulnerable, asleep in a chair.

The drama revolves around issues of both class and gender, and the relationship between the two. While Barrett slowly insinuates himself in the house and manipulates his master by slyly rearranging the decor, it is through sex (in the shape of his alluring and sexually permissive 'sister', Vera (Sarah Miles)) that he finally brings about Tony's downfall. The calculating allure of Vera, in contrast to the stuffy, over-bred Susan (Wendy Craig), cuts through the class barriers and brings Tony down to the same level as his servant. Soon the boundaries between master and servant break down, as Tony succumbs to the will of his stronger adversary.

Belonging to an era of filmmaking which for the first time dealt explicitly with issues never before seen on screen, The Servant (in common with many of the contemporary British New Wave) is also artistically ambitious. Several scenes (particularly those between Tony, Barrett and Susan) are seen through the distortion of the big, round, convex mirror which sits on the living room wall, reflecting the unnatural, misformed relationships between the people in the room. Each shot is directed with precision, often framing Susan or Vera between Tony and Barrett, or positioning one of the two men close to the camera while his rival lingers in the background.

THE

MONTHLY FILM BULLETIN

Published by

THE BRITISH FILM INSTITUTE

Volume 30,No.359,December 1963,page 169

SERVANT, THE (1963)

Tony, a rich young man engaged to Susan, takes on a manservant, Barrett. Barrett seizes the opportunity to make Tony's Georgian ruin of a home as elegant inside as out. He becomes indispensable, running not only the house but his spineless employer. Meanwhile Susan's instinctive antagonism to him flares into open war. Barrett deals with the threat by moving in his girl-friend, Vera, as a temporary maid, and passing her off as his sister. Tony is seduced by her. When the truth comes out, Susan leaves, and Tony dismisses Barrett and Vera. The house, and Tony, rapidly deteriorate, so that a "chance" meeting between ex-servant and master in a pub leads quite smoothly to Barrett's reinstatement. But the relationship undergoes a subtle and rapid switch, with Barrett in deliberate and destructive command of a corruptible employer, Susan defeated, Vera hovering in the background, and drugs and orgies a nightly commonplace.

Though by no means perfect, The Servant is Joseph Losey's most impressive film since The Prowler. Significantly, it has the same concentration and economy (Reginald Mills's editing is smoothly elliptical), much the same themes of power, corruption and personality change. Set mostly in a London Georgian house, it is an ambitiously planned comédie noire about class and sex, written by Harold Pinter from a standpoint reminiscent of, though more detached than, Hugh Walpole at his most satanic. The relationship between servant and master, and the double threat of fiancée and maid, occupy the first half, with some brilliantly tart asides involving two aristocratic fossils (Catherine Lacey and Richard Vernon) and the various odd customers, including a bloody-minded Bishop, in an expensive restaurant. Then stealthily, if not always so effectively, the narrative takes on a Faustian dimension. Awkwardly staged seduction and confrontation lead on to sinister farce, with the two men playing hide-and-seek and smashing the staircase ornaments, then to a bloodless orgy rather too unconvincing, too abrupt and posed, to support the atmosphere of a Black Mass which one suspects is being intimated.

One can appreciate what Pinter intends and applaud a great deal of Losey's execution. The writing confirms Pinter as a vivid stylist with a flair for tensely ambiguous dialogue ("I've been keeping an eye on the workmen", Barrett assures Tony; "Have you?" Tony replies, with an air of loaded interest). Losey, for his part, reveals a command of rhythm, visual description and actors which he has never before equalled. Dirk Bogarde gives the performance of his career as the equivocal, catlike Barrett, and James Fox is perfect as the vulnerable golden boy sapped by inbred fatuity. By comparison the two girls are faintly unbelievable (though Wendy Craig is excellent), partly because they have an unjustly large part to play in bridging the gap between the film's two halves.

What is missing, in fact, is the cohesive control, the sure-footed development, of Walpole's multi-layer explorations into sadomasochism together with the more metaphysical elements of satanic destruction. It is perfectly credible that Tony should be reduced to a puppet; less credible when a whole roomful of orgiasts file out sheeplike through the door at Barrett's cursory order. And there are one or two other examples of the higher silliness. One senses a certain arbitrary schematism about the denouement which gives The Servant the air more of artifice than organic growth. Even so, it remains consistently gripping in its imagination and overall tact, and there is less evidence of straining after a tour de force than Losey has ever shown before.

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The Monthly Film Bulletin was published by the British Film Institute between 1934 and 1991. Initially aimed at distributors and exhibitors as well as filmgoers, it carried reviews and details of all UK film releases. In 1991, the Bulletin was absorbed by Sight and Sound magazine.

Look-In - Space 1999 (1975)

This edition of Look-In was printed back in September 1975 and carried terrific features and picture strips of all your ITV favourites. The Cover and articles below originate from Space 1999.