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The recent TV updating of Geoffrey Chaucer's 'The Canterbury Tales'
(Canterbury Tales, BBC, 2003) was not the first: Alan Plater's six-part version,
Trinity Tales, preceded it by nearly 20 years.
Plater retained Chaucer's framework, of tales told to pass the time on a long
journey; this time the travellers are northern rugby league supporters on their
way to the Cup Final at Wembley, in a minibus, via several public houses. Plater
even retains a narrator, Eric the Prologue, to stand in for Chaucer - a device
that is not wholly successful - and allows him to star in one of the tales.
Plater's selection of tales includes two of the best-known - the Miller's and
the Wife of Bath's - others are based on The Reeve's Tale, the Knight's Tale and
the Franklin's Tale. The prize for the best tale is a free fish and chip supper
from Stan the Fryer. These 'pilgrims' are strictly plebeian; only Eric the
Prologue, as the 'writer', has any pretensions, and they are intellectual rather
than class-driven and quickly quashed by his companions. One of Plater's running
jokes has Eric constantly thwarted in telling his own tale.
The travellers meet surprisingly few people on their way, with the notable
exception of the lugubrious Brummie Reuben, publican at The Copper's Nark, who
they save from attempted suicide because the pub is doing such poor business.
Reuben's only companion is his stuffed goldfish, Peggy, and he is a bizarre and
wonderful creation by Plater.
Plater employs different styles for his adaptation; the final episode, 'The
Man of Law's Tale', is a pastiche of The Sting (US, 1973). He also makes sly fun
of the TV drama conventions of the time, for example, cutting to scenes of
crashing waves whenever the characters engage in sex. Each of the 'pilgrims' -
and Eric - appears in the tales, which all happen to demonstrate their 'own'
characteristics - lechery, greed, cunning, innocence, etc. There are a lot of
comic songs, with lyrics by Plater, a few rhyming couplets for Eric and some
pretty terrible bar-room jokes.
While most of the writing is very inventive, occasionally it becomes twee.
Some critics at the time felt that the tales could have stood on their own, as
half-hour comedy plays, without the supporting narrative. It remains an
impressive achievement, however, with Plater retaining the essential spirit of
the original, with all of its bawdiness, rambunctiousness and common
humanity.
Janet Moat
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1. The agreement (4:34)
