Blott on the Landscape (1985 BBC Comedy)

Blott on the Landscape Typical Episode notes

Video Codec..........: XviD 1.0.3
Video Bitrate........: 1253kbps
Duration.............: 49:51.400
Resolution...........: 640*480
Framerate............: 25.000
Audio Codec..........: 0x0055 MPEG-1 Layer 3
Audio Bitrate........: 128 kbps CBR
Audio Channels.......: 2
Filesize.............: 520,222,720


NOTE - Another theft from thebox dot bz, home of all things British


http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088487/


http://bayimg.com/DajObAAdk


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blott_on_the_Landscape


The story revolves around the proposed construction of a motorway (M101 in the book and the M399 in the film) through Cleene Gorge in rural South Worfordshire (a fictional gorge in a fictional English county). At one end of the gorge is Handyman Hall, home to politician Sir Giles Lynchwood and his wife Lady Maud Lynchwood.
Sir Giles is secretly in favour of ensuring the motorway passes through the Cleene Gorge as it will mean he will be paid the compensation for the destruction of Handyman Hall, which is under a covenant preventing its sale. While superficially pretending to be supportive he takes steps to undermine the inquiry and prevent alternatives being adopted, to ensure the new road travels through the Gorge. By contrast, Lady Maud's family has lived in the gorge for over 500 years, and she is fiercely defensive of her heritage and expects Giles to support her.

Matters are further complicated by their on-going marital problems, including Sir Giles's fetishist infidelity and Lady Maud's wish for children to continue her line (to which Sir Giles is opposed), and the actions of Maud's gardener, Blott, a former German prisoner of war (it is a common misconception that Blott is Italian, however he was brought up in a Dresden Orphanage (where he learnt his skill in impersonation), he does not know his parents (whom he believes might be Jewish) and served in the German Army. However the Army got fed up with Blott and so the High Command decided to get rid of him by assigning him to an Italian bomber on a raid to England. Blott, who served as navigator (and who wasn't very good at it), got completely lost and was forced to bale out, whereupon he was captured, and he is strongly patriotic towards his new home nation and home. Maud's and Giles's marriage settlement leaves Giles with Handyman Hall in the event of a no-fault divorce but not in the event of death or infidelity, a situation he also seeks to provoke by refusing to co-operate in his marital duties and which Maud sees as a potential solution.

With his military training, and some leftovers of the war found beneath the hall, Blott begins a covert campaign including blackmail and wire tapping to scrutinize Sir Giles's activities on Maud's behalf and to undermine the construction of the motorway. He also discovers and aims to foil Giles's plans. In the course of the fight for the Gorge, the picturesque village is destroyed by Blott's using a demolition crane to whip up popular opposition for the works. Giles is discovered seeing a prostitute and is blackmailed, as is Dundridge, the official in charge of the works, and the Hall is quickly converted into a wildlife park in an attempt to prevent the removal of its occupants. Giles himself is finally killed by lions when he is discovered by Blott and Maud trying to burn down the Hall.
As a final resort, Blott concretes himself into his home, located in the entrance archway to the estate, preventing works progress. Dundridge, frustrated, demands the SAS are called in to remove Blott. Blott secretly launches an attack on his own archway for which the SAS are blamed, finally compelling enough public attention to cause the plans to be dropped. Dundridge is imprisoned for his part in the 'attack', and Maud and Blott (who have fallen in love by this time) marry and state their intention to add to the Handyman family.

1985 television edition

The 1985 film (which was broadcast in six episodes of 50 minutes each) was filmed mainly in South Shropshire. Handyman Hall was filmed at Stanage Park, near Heartsease, Powys. Ludlow stood in for the fictitious town of Worford, and Deddington near Banbury became the village of Guildstead Carbonell, where several mock buildings were demolished in the market place for the film. Ludlow's Butter Cross, in the busy and constricted town centre, was used as the courtroom. The Lodge, where Blott lives, was built on land at Blaise Castle Estate near Bristol. The series was originally broadcast between 6 February and 13 March 1985.

The series was scripted by Malcolm Bradbury and Sir Giles Lynchwood was played by George Cole, with Geraldine James as Lady Maud, David Suchet as Blott, Paul Brooke as Mr Hoskins, Clare Grogan as the receptionist at the Handyman Arms hotel, Julia McKenzie as Mrs Forthby and Simon Cadell as Mr Dundridge.

In the TV version, a series of flashbacks provides glimpses of Blott's past. Because the series was set ten years later than the book, Blott would have been too young to have served in WWII, so the flashbacks reveal that he was an incompetent Eastern European soldier who accidentally found himself on the western side of the Iron Curtain, was refused re-entry to the east, and was brought back to England and employed by Lady Maud's father.

Roger Bamford directed and the producer was Evgeny Gridneff. The music was composed by David McKay. The title music, and much of the incidental music, is notable for its faithful portrayal of a brass band, when in fact most instruments were imitated by multivocalist Viv Fisher.