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Writer James O'Connor uses the release of young mother Rosie from prison, and the
'coming out' celebration which follows, as the focus for a drama about the
effects on a young child of his parents' imprisonment. The plight of 12-year-old
'Scimpy', who embarks on an odyssey across London to be reunited with his mother
after learning that she and his father are both in jail (and not on holiday or
at sea as he has been led to believe) is by turns comic and troubling.
O'Connor includes sympathetic policemen and social workers who, despite
trying to look out for Scimpy, merely condemn him to the cycle of
institutionalisation and, ultimately, return him to the social scene of petty
criminals which sent him astray in the first place. O'Connor seems to be saying
that in the unlikely event that Scimpy manages to avoid a life of criminality,
it will be no thanks to those trying to help him. The drama turns full circle,
ending with Rosie back in prison and Scimpy again running away in an attempt to
visit her.
Despite its pessimism, this story is told with the humour that characterises
O'Connor's work, making this a far cry from the more sombre 'social problem'
dramas associated with director Ken Loach. This lightness, and the apparent
harmlessness of the criminal characters, attracted some criticism on broadcast
for creating a feeling of unreality and sentimentality at odds with the subject
matter. But O'Connor's sympathetic characters and entertaining scenarios work to
encourage the viewer to engage with the intractable problems he presents, rather
than simply to condemn the criminality on display.
Loach makes good use of documentary-style location filming among streets of
derelict buildings and neglected bomb damage to establish the deprived
neighbourhoods against which the drama is set. His fluid use of the electronic
studio to capture the energetic and eventually riotous pub party scenes is also
worth noting. Many of the actors he cast had appeared in similar roles in his
two previous Wednesday Play (BBC, 1964-70) collaborations with O'Connor, and
this, together with a few minor characters crossing over between the plays, lends a sense of continuity
to these otherwise unconnected stories.
Oliver Wake
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1. 'I nicked it from over there' (2:23)
