Another good story in the David Main series

Press, Volume CXI, Issue 32777, 30 November 1971, Page 4

Another good story in the David Main series

“The Main Chance” has only one more screening, next Sunday, but it is shaping up splendidly for a second series; Peter Findon, having been fired by Main, has threatened to set up shop wherever Main should go. Such a challenge, from a young man likely to be just as ruthless as Main himself, could provide some interesting stories.

The rift between Findon and Main was only the secondary theme to Sunday’s story, but it was dramatic stuff. Young Findon, who has always seemed to be a bit pushy and arrogant, came unstuck when he bought his elegant but heartless wife a mink coat, was under pressure to pay for it, and withdrew the £3OOO her personal trust account, and thus committed a very serious breach of conduct. His wife did not know she would be paying for her own coat. And women are funny about things like that. The ambitious and bouncy Findon has thus come

unstuck, and made his exit with his threat to ruin Main. But most of us, in the event of conflict, would certainly have our money on Main — as brusque and efficient as ever, in this story of a woman who killed her husband and a pedestrian when driving after drinking. John Stride has made a tremendous impression as David Main,, but how strongly he has been supported. Margaret Ashcroft, as the daughter of the upright Henry Castleton, has turned in consistently good performances. Even the smallest roles have been finely played, although on Sunday the timid, stuttering youngster called into the defence of the woman driver, Susan Crawford, when his senior was not available, seemed just a little too inept to be true.

Faith Brooks played Mrs Crawford, a woman imprisoned, and ruined financially, by her driving accident, and she was first-class, making Mrs Crawford a sad, stricken, guilt-ridden person without any verbal pyrotechnics. # * •

Anyone with a trace of Scots blood in his veins, and a good many without any, must have enjoyed “The Forty-Five” in which Kenneth McKellar sang the songs of the 1745 rebellion. There were some haunting melodies, sung by a man with an outstanding voice, some absorbing glimpses of Scotland’s history. McKellar’s contribution was supplemented by the Michael Sammes singers, a very fine group which has been heard regularly on television shows. “His and Hers” might not have been quite as funny as it was in its first episode, but it was still a cut well above the average comedy. Ronald Lewis is perfectly cast as the writerhousekeeper; and this story was the better for the appearance of Norman Rossington, whose homely features have graced two other shows in the last week or so.

The trick of having the camera swing dizzily from speaker to speaker, instead of cutting from one to the other, seemed a little pointless, and demanding. * * * Another British comedy on Sunday night’s programme, “Thank You Sir, Thank You Madam” was about a conflict between two groups of London street musicians. The basis for considerable fun was there, but

CHTV3 2.00 p.m.: Headline news. 2.03: On Camera. 2.46: The Doctors. Drama. 3.29: France Panorama. 3.41: Galloping Gourmet. Cooking. 4.05: Country Calendar. (Repeat.) 4.21: The Monkees. Comedy. (Repeat, final.) 4.46: Hector’s House. Puppets. 4.51: Looney Tunes. Cartoon. 4.58: Loopy De Loop. Cartoon. 5.50: Hot Dog. 5.27: Here Come the Double Deckers. 5.51: Headline news, weather. 5.54: The Partridge Family. Comedy. 6.21: Good Sailing—racing. 6.53: Column Comment. 7.00: Network news. 7.20: Weather. The South Tonight. 7.46: Coronation Street. 8.17: Room 222—“ Operation Sandpile.” Drama. 8.46: Doctor in the House—“A Stitch in Time.” Comedy. 9.16: Newsbrief. 9.18: Gallery. Current affairs. 9.46: International Golf. Second of three parts. 10.41: Transtel Magazine—Zero One. 10.57: Late news, weather.

NATIONAL LINK [lncluding SYA Christchurch (690 kilohertz); 2YA Wellington (570 kilohertz); 4YA Dunedin (750 kilohertz); end 3YZ Greymouth (920 kilohertz)] 7 p.m.: N.Z.B.C. Sports News. 7.5: Bless ’em All. 7.30: On Stage New Zealand. 8.30: Weather and News. 9.0: Waltz Time: The Symphony Orchestra conducted by Gilbert Vinter (8.8. C. 9.30: Insight '7l 10.0: Jazz Tonight. 10.30: N.Z.B.C. News, Comment, Weather. 10.45: Songs from Sally and Good News. 11.0: 8.8. C. News and Commentary. 11.15: (continuous). 12.6 a.m.: Sounds Great 1.0: Startime in Paris. 3.3: Semprini Serenade. 4.9: Light Music from the Netherlands. 3YC, CHRISTCHURCH (960 kilohertz) 7 p.m.: The Mendelssohn Organ Music played by Philip Dore at the Organ of Ampleforth Abbey (2) Sonata No. 2 in C minor, Op. 65 No. 2 (1845). 7.14: The Composer Plays. Notable composerpianists of the past 75 years play their own music. (2) Ernst von Dohnanyi. Piano Concerto No. 2 in B minor, Op. 42—Royal Philharmonic Orchestra under Sir Adrian Boult. 7.45: Letter from

America. 8.0: Gerald Finzi: Cycle: A Young Man’s Exhortation (Words, Thomas Hardy) (1933)—Neil Jenkins (tenor), Howard Ferguson (piano). 8.30: N.Z.B.C, Symphony Orchestra. Conducted by Meredith Davies. Faure: Suite: Pelleas and Mellisande. Sibelius: Symphony No. 3 in C, Op. 52 (Studio Concert). 9.40: Josquin Desprez: Missa Ave Maria Stella (c. 1490) — University of Illinois Chamber Choir under George Hunter. 10.0: What Population Pressure is Doing to Us. 10.15: Francoise Devienne: Bassoon Quartet in C, Op. 73 No. 1 (1790) George Zuckerman (bassoon), Susanne Lautenbacher (violin), Franz Beyer (viola), Thomas Blees (cello). 10.30: Prokofiev: Portraits from the opera. The Gambler (1915): Moscow Radio Symphony Orchestra under Gennady Rozhdestvensky. 3ZB, CHRISTCHURCH (1100 kilohertz) 8.2 pan.: Motoring with Robbie. 9.5: Sweet Music. 3ZM, CHRISTCHURCH (1400 kilohertz) 7 pan. Coca-Cola Battle of the Bands. 7.30: Things are Swinging. 8.30: Jazz Scene. 9.0: Current Stream. 11.0: This is Blues.

the comedy did not quite come off. This battle of the bands was corny, and flat. There was a remarkable collection of film clips in “And Beautiful II,” a documentary tracing the birth and development of Negro music. An extraordinary number of famous entertainers paraded in a programme which must have been of absorbing interest to the jazz student.—PANDOßA.