Photos by Willoughby Gullachsen, no reproduction without permission.
‘Olly’s Prison’ was a three part drama series produced at Pebble Mill by Richard Langridge. The script was written by Edward Bond, and directed by Roy Battersby. It was transmitted in 1993, and was probably the last studio only drama to be recorded in Studio A at Pebble Mill. Dave Bushell was the lighting director, and Bob Jacobs the 1st A.D. and Ian Barber the AFM. Dave Bushell remembers it being a satisfying drama to work on, although not a bundle of laughs.
Mike Eastman remembers working on the series: “I had a small acting role in this production playing a prisoner, my filming days were just prior to Christmas 1991. It was the first time I had worked with Bob Jacobs as ‘first’, but went on to do lots more work with him later on.”
The BFI database http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/489433 includes this precis of the storyline:
Part 1: Tells the tragic story of Mike who sees his life crumble as his grip on reality becomes ever more tenuous. He shares a claustrophobic flat with his 16-year-old daughter, Sheila. Sheila is uncommunicative, like many teenagers, and Mike becomes increasingly frustrated by her silence. He resorts to violence.
Part 2: Bernard is serving a life sentence for the murder of his daughter. He attempts suicide but fails. His fellow prisoner Smiler uses his makeshift noose to hang himself.
(No precis of Part 3 is included)
‘Olly’s Prison’ featured Bernard Hill as Mike, Jonny Lee Miller as Smiler, Mary Jo Randle as Vera, George Anton as Frank, Bryan Pringle as Barry, Richard Graham as Olly, and Maggie Steed as Ellen.
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