The second in a trio of BBC mini-series with Grainer soundtracks broadcast in the late 1970s "Rebecca" continues the previous theme of legal conflict stirred up by the romantic relationship between a male and a female from different social classes. In this case it is not the males community standing that is the difficulty. It is the fact he murdered his first wife Rebecca and wants his second wife to support him and not to tell the stone faced housekeeper who seems to have a less then healthy devotion to the memory of her former mistress.
The story has a suitably Gothic ending after an unlikely plot revelation which seems to gloss over the husbands original intent to commit a criminal act.
Grainer's score is awash in classical music composer Debussy's brooding and blurry melody lines. On the cover notes of “The Exciting Television Music of Ron Grainer” LP it is acknowledged that four of Debussy's themes were used without going into any detail of exactly which ones.
MALICE AFORETHOUGHT [15.3.79]
Based on a popular 1931 novel this third in the sequence of mini-series has no worries about the ethics of criminal planning in fact it wallows in the lack of them. Centring around Edmund an unhappily married country doctor who abandons his other girlfriends to get involved with a woman who may be just playing with him to test her powers of seduction.
A similar scenario to the Edward and Mrs Simpson situation only that drama didn't switch in the first thirty minutes from cosy scenes of spiffing tennis matches and discussions over cucumber sandwiches to false pregnancy blackmail, abortion soliciting and domestic violence followed later by manipulated heroin addiction, spouse murder, botulism poisoning and dirty drains that eventually bring the law flaunting Dr Crippen lookalike to justice.
Musically the only notable melody is the doctors "infatuation" theme heard ten minutes after the start of Episode One when circumstances are relatively innocent. The remaining incidental composing is functional with a cascade of notes often used to suggest looming menace.
The last of the four episodes is almost void of music with most of the action being a straight court room drama that tries to legally twist many of the situations shown in the first three sections.
Hywel Bennett gives a strong performance as the ruthlessly ambitious love starved doctor. Six months later Bennett starred in another Grainer scored TV project taking the role of a philosophic dole recipient called Shelley.
Hywel Bennett gives a strong performance as the ruthlessly ambitious love starved doctor. Six months later Bennett starred in another Grainer scored TV project taking the role of a philosophic dole recipient called Shelley.
TALES OF THE UNEXPECTED [24.3.79]
Initially based around the short stories of English writer Roald Dahl the series eventually became a British colour TV equivalent of the American "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" program which ran in black and white from 1955 to 1962. A number of Dahl's yarns had already been dramatised in the Hitchcock show and many of those plays were re-filmed for this production.
Given the almost unlimited choice of subject matter the format allowed its disappointing that many of the episodes given to Grainer to score repeatedly revolved around five basic topics "The Battle of the Sexes" [usually murderous]"The Dangers of Gambling", "Con Artists", "The Perfect Crime" and "Historical Irony".
Although many of Grainer's underscores are derivative of his back catalogue every now and then there is a notable fusion of image and incidental music. Three of the most memorable are the delightful frazzled nerves "I'm going to be late" rift featured in Season Ones "The Way Up To Heaven", Season Twos sultry Russian mode clarinet, guitar and vibraphone orchestration for "Skin" and Season Fours eerie screaming vegetation in "The Sound Machine".
The standout music however is the signature tune which gives an aura of quality to what are sometimes mediocre and predictable plots.
The lead compositions disturbing emotional undercurrents are probably encouraged by the absence in the opening and closing credits sequence of the tension relieving middle eight melody. This bridge can be heard in all its glory on the 45 and LP recordings.
The episode "Skin" won a USA based Edgar Allen Poe mystery writing prize in 1980 and Grainers
signature theme was nominated for Best Original Television Music in the 1981 English Bafta awards.
Ron's "Tales" gig was apparently intended to be ongoing. In March 1981 Australian session guitarist Kevin Peek stated that after "the recent tragic loss" he had taken over Grainers work commitments for the fifth series. [1]
SHELLEY [12.7.79]
A sardonic situation comedy about a young highly educated rebel without a cause [Hywel Bennett] whose intelligence makes him realise the deficiencies of the social and work system he is supposed to be joining as he "matures" but doesn't suggest any alternatives to aim for.
Given the slightest hint of provocation Shelley sounds off in a dry way at all and sundry with rants that sometimes echo the cynical monologues of contemporary stand up comedians.
Given the slightest hint of provocation Shelley sounds off in a dry way at all and sundry with rants that sometimes echo the cynical monologues of contemporary stand up comedians.
Grainer's catchy theme tune contained its own in built whistle which probably helped secure its nomination for a 1981 Best Original Television Music BAFTA Award and contributed to the show lasting for a most unlikely ten seasons.
THE EXCITING TELEVISION MUSIC OF RON GRAINER LP [1979] revised review july 2021
Ron's last mainstream label music release was a carelessly marketed LP with photos on the cover that deliberately gave the impression it was an album of soundtrack themes from the "Tales of the Unexpected" series which it was not, a deception aggravated by a number of track listing mistakes and mutations in its various international formats as well as irrelevant non REG items that were included and excluded, seemingly at random - "I Danced With A Man" by Herbert Farjeon and Harold Scott, "Joe 70 " by Barry Gray, "A Touch of Velvet A Sting of Brass" by M Wirtz and "Six by Six" by Nixon & Riser.
Ron's last mainstream label music release was a carelessly marketed LP with photos on the cover that deliberately gave the impression it was an album of soundtrack themes from the "Tales of the Unexpected" series which it was not, a deception aggravated by a number of track listing mistakes and mutations in its various international formats as well as irrelevant non REG items that were included and excluded, seemingly at random - "I Danced With A Man" by Herbert Farjeon and Harold Scott, "Joe 70 " by Barry Gray, "A Touch of Velvet A Sting of Brass" by M Wirtz and "Six by Six" by Nixon & Riser.
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This second collection of Grainer television themes to be released by RCA was presumably meant to cover Grainer's 1970s output just as the previous RCA compilation "Sounds like ..." concentrated on his 1960s compositions.
Five tracks, all on side one, fulfill that ambition while the remaining six on side two fail it and, as with the previous album, there are some mysterious deletions such as the popular "For The Love of Ada" [970] , "The Trouble with Lillian" [1971] ,"The Train Now Standing" [1972] , "South Riding" [1974] "Romance" [1977] and "Shelley" [1979] signature tunes,
The now very dated "modern" versions of the originally atmospheric and moodily arranged compositions "When Love Grows Cold", "Paul Temple" and "Dr Who" are particularly embarrassing while the two stand alone instrumentals "Playing It Cool" and "Mobile" take up disc space that would have been better served by the previously mentioned A.W.O.L items while the non TV origin track "Dreams Are Not Enough" is the highlight of the album. A magnificent example of "speech music" Grainers lyric outline, available on the sleeve, is left unsung but is strongly suggested by the orchestration and the notes and chords of his melody.
The now very dated "modern" versions of the originally atmospheric and moodily arranged compositions "When Love Grows Cold", "Paul Temple" and "Dr Who" are particularly embarrassing while the two stand alone instrumentals "Playing It Cool" and "Mobile" take up disc space that would have been better served by the previously mentioned A.W.O.L items while the non TV origin track "Dreams Are Not Enough" is the highlight of the album. A magnificent example of "speech music" Grainers lyric outline, available on the sleeve, is left unsung but is strongly suggested by the orchestration and the notes and chords of his melody.
"Dream are not enough
When circumstances keep you apart
From that someone special
How beautiful the fantasies
But how impatient the passion"
1979 Reference
1979 Reference
[1] Daily Express 5.3.1981 p27
