COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: United Kingdom
GENRE:Â Drama
CHANNEL:Â BBC1
FIRST SHOWN: 1978 (UK)
NUMBER OF SERIES:Â 1
CREATED BY: Derek Ingrey
WRITTEN BY: Derek Ingrey and Ray Jenkins
DIRECTED BY: Don Leaver
Douglas Camfield
Don Giles
Joe Waters
STARRING:
Michelle Newell - Terry Lewis
Jane Collins - Joanna
Daniel Hill - Tom Baxter
Maris Mescki - Doreen
Patricia Garwood - Dilys Martin
Davyd Harries - Jack Dutton
Martin Neil - Stephen Mitchell
Caroline Holdaway - Diana Baxter
Patrick Jordan - Lionel Megson
Bernard Kay- Andrew Buchan
Geoffrey Hinsliff - Cyril Edmunds
Peter Geddis - Frank Martin
Hilary Crane - Ruth Dutton
Sylvester Williams - Frankie Delane
David Beames - PC Trevor Banks
Valerie Murray - Dr. Campbell
It's no secret that at Nostalgia Pie we love a bit of seventies telly, and when we stumbled upon a virtually unknown TV show called Accident by um, accident, within the first five seconds of tuning in, we were hooked - and that was just from the opening credits! It was just so deliciously retro we just had to watch on - and we're so glad we did!
Read on and find out why!
PLOT
Following a serious car crash featuring multiple vehicles, the lives of the ten people involved - most of whom had never met before that fateful day - become intertwined. Each individual episode is dedicated to a different party, explaining their backstory; how they came to be involved in the crash, and how they were affected by the accident.
THE CREATOR
The show was devised by north London-born writer Derek Ingrey, who wrote five out of the eight Accident episodes. Ingrey was also the creator of The Enigma Files and wrote all the episodes for that show, as well as writing for Dixon of Dock Green, Manhunt, and Detective. He passed away in 1989.
The other three episodes of Accident were written by Welsh writer and former teacher, Ray Jenkins, who has written extensively for television from the sixties until the mid-nineties. His writing credits among many others include Z Cars; Callan; The Brothers; Armchair Thriller and C.A.T.S Eyes.
FAMOUS FACES
Goodness, where do we start with the famous faces that just kept popping up! For a show that is relatively obscure, there are a surprising amount of well-known faces from British television that crop up in Accident. Many of the cast were established actors and almost all of them went on to appear in a variety of British TV shows over the years.
There's actress Gwyneth Powell before she became Grange Hill's Mrs. McClusky; Geoff Hinsliff before he went on to play his most famous role - Corrie's Don Brennan. EastEnders fans might recognize a very young Sylvester Williams, nearly twenty years prior to his role as Walford musician and café manager, Mick MacFarlane. Davyd Harris has been a familiar face on British TV with roles in many well-known shows including Angels; Emmerdale Farm; Casualty, and Hollyoaks. Michael Byrne later turned up in Weatherfield as 'Our Gail's father Ted Page. Late actress Hilary Crane was remembered for her role as Rosemary Webb in ill-fated soap Eldorado, and Patricia Garwood and Daniel Hill were reunited as mother in son in sitcom No Place Like Home.
Michelle Newell, who was the only actor to have appeared in all eight episodes of Accident, has appeared in numerous shows including London's Burning; Doctors, Coronation Street, and Casualty. The late actor Marc Zuber had appeared in TV shows such as Angels, Tucker's Luck and The Bill. We also spotted Anthony Head in one episode of Accident. And if the name Sharman Macdonald sounds familiar it's because she's a well-known actress, playwright... and Keira Knightley's mum!
And that's just some of them!
THEME TUNE AND CREDITS
The opening credits shows a car hurtling down a quiet, small-town road from the point-of-view of the unknown driver. So we see a car windscreen and open road that's being driven through at a fast pace. The image in the rear view mirror changes every few seconds to feature the face of one of the characters involved in the crash, with the final image show the mirror shattering into lots of pieces.
The theme tune which has that typical 1970s sound, is very fast-paced and sounds like a cross between the theme for a seventies cop show and a factual science programme! The theme was composed by Anthony Isaac who also composed music for episodes of Supergran, Ingrey's The Enigma Files, and The Onedin Line, as well as music for two episodes of that great series Tales of the Unexpected.
HOW THE STORY GOES...
Episode one - Departure Point (Derek Ingrey)
The opening episode introduces us to the six groups of characters who get caught up in the road disaster and events leading up to the accident in which the lives of all involved become intertwined. There's a party of four setting off to the airport for their holiday to Yugoslavia; a young woman dissatisfied with life and her married lover and wants to get away from it all; a married, childless couple who don't seem to have time for each other any more; a seemingly-shady stockbroker and his chauffer; a police transfer vehicle with a prisoner convicted of child abuse, and the owner of a transport hire company who had to do the airport run because he couldn't get cover...
The narrative is not told in a linear style, so the episode starts off with one of the vehicles involved in the crash being brought into the scrap metal yard by the recovery services who announce that there has been a terrible accident, and it ends with viewers seeing the actual crash. In between the two events, we get glimpses into the lives of the people involved in the accident; the aftermath when they're brought into the hospital and there are feelings of guilt, as well as a series of incidents which led to the pile-up.
But the question is with an unroadworthy vehicle, a driver who ran out of petrol, an erratic driver, and vehicles that may have been driving too fast, too slow, or recklessly overtaking... who's to blame?
Episode two - Take Your Partner (Derek Ingrey)
The episode begins with police questioning some of those involved in the accident and contacting the next of kin. Meanwhile sex offender Cyril Edmonds has escaped and has gone on the run and finds himself on the grounds of a church where children are leaving a service... But the second episode mainly focuses on university friends Stephen 'Mitch' Mitchell, his pregnant girlfriend Diana Baxter, her brother Tom, and his girlfriend, Jo.
Shown in the series non-chronological format, the four are on their way to the airport to start their highly-anticipated trip to Yugoslavia when tragedy strikes. The story of Stephen and Diana's relationship is told through a series of flashbacks. When Stephen's roommate moves out, fellow student Diana, his friend Tom Baxter's sister, moves in. It may not be glaringly obvious at first, but as their story develops it's quite clear that an attraction develops between the two roommates. But they both try to conceal their feelings - mainly because Stephen has a girlfriend - so the two treat each other with a type of mock disdain, with Diana annoying Stephen whenever she gets the chance. Stephen, in turn, deems her 'butch' and 'old-fashioned,' and slates her to his girlfriend, Jean. Yeah right - that old trick again!
Jean on the other hand, is no fool and when she realizes that there may be more than meets the eye to Stephen and Diana's relationship, she ends things with Stephen which paves the way for the two roommates to finally become a couple - which happens while they're out skinny-dipping. When the two post-grad students discover that they're expecting a baby, Diana initially talks about having the pregnancy terminated. But she soon comes round to the idea of becoming a mum and wants to keep the baby... but decides that she doesn't want to marry Mitch, though she does want to be with him.
We are also introduced to the couple's university lecturer, Albert Ramsay, who Mitch and Diana are both very fond of and have developed a type of friendship with him. Though to the viewer, it would appear that Ramsay has more than just a professional or friendly interest in Mitch...
At the hospital after the crash, Diana and Mitch, unable to see each other, are both worried about the other and their unborn baby. And then Diana goes into premature labour...
Check out the second part of Nostalgia Pie's post for seventies TV show Accident.
Photos: YouTube
Word Cloud: Angel Noire