Alan Bleasdale first created the character of Francis Scully, a rebellious Liverpool teenager, to entertain his pupils while he was working as a teacher. (The name may have been chosen because of its similarity to "scally", Liverpudlian dialect for a young rogue or rascal). Scully became the hero of a series of short stories broadcast on BBC Radio Merseyside; this play, first broadcast as part of the BBC's "Play for Today" series, marked his first appearance on television.
When I was growing up in Kent in the sixties and seventies, Christmas was always the be-all and end-all of the festive season. My family always spent time on the 31st of December with my grandparents, but only because it was my grandfather's birthday. Like many other families in Southern England we never did much to celebrate the New Year itself, an attitude which always puzzled my mother who had grown up in the North where New Year was always an important family celebration, if not quite as important as it was in Scotland. The play centres upon a Northern New Year's Eve family gathering.
Scully and his mate Mooey want to go out and celebrate, but Scully's formidable mother has other ideas, insisting that he spend the evening at the party she has organised for her family, friends and neighbours. (The one relative who has not been invited is Scully's father, from whom she is estranged). Scully is not, however, the only member of the family who is less than enthusiastic about socialising with his nearest and dearest. His eldest brother Henry would rather play with his train set and middle brother Tony's one great obsession is with watching his favourite movie, "High Noon", which is being broadcast that evening.
When the guests begin to arrive we soon realise just why Scully and his brothers were so keen to avoid them; those who are not terminally dull seem terminally weird. The play has something in common with Mike Leigh's "Abigail's Party", which had been broadcast on "Play for Today" two months earlier. Both plays deal with a social gathering which starts off politely enough, but as time passes the strained relationships and hidden resentments become more and more apparent, and in both cases the evening ends in sudden tragedy. One difference between the plays is the social milieu in which they are set. Several of the characters in "Abigail's Party", especially Beverly, are from a working-class background but have aspirations towards what they see as a more genteel middle-class lifestyle. The characters in "Scully's New Year's Eve" are all more straightforwardly working-class.
This is the second of Bleasdale's television plays which I have watched in recent weeks, the other being "The Black Stuff". Both show his talent for characterisation and for writing dialogue which is both credible and entertaining. When I reviewed "The Black Stuff" I described it as a very sharp, bleakly funny black comedy. The same could be said of "Scully's New Year's Eve" except that here the comedy has an even bleaker ending. I understand that this play has not been shown by the BBC for many years. The Beeb really ought to make more use of their treasury of excellent drama rather than hiding their light under a bushel. 8/10
When I was growing up in Kent in the sixties and seventies, Christmas was always the be-all and end-all of the festive season. My family always spent time on the 31st of December with my grandparents, but only because it was my grandfather's birthday. Like many other families in Southern England we never did much to celebrate the New Year itself, an attitude which always puzzled my mother who had grown up in the North where New Year was always an important family celebration, if not quite as important as it was in Scotland. The play centres upon a Northern New Year's Eve family gathering.
Scully and his mate Mooey want to go out and celebrate, but Scully's formidable mother has other ideas, insisting that he spend the evening at the party she has organised for her family, friends and neighbours. (The one relative who has not been invited is Scully's father, from whom she is estranged). Scully is not, however, the only member of the family who is less than enthusiastic about socialising with his nearest and dearest. His eldest brother Henry would rather play with his train set and middle brother Tony's one great obsession is with watching his favourite movie, "High Noon", which is being broadcast that evening.
When the guests begin to arrive we soon realise just why Scully and his brothers were so keen to avoid them; those who are not terminally dull seem terminally weird. The play has something in common with Mike Leigh's "Abigail's Party", which had been broadcast on "Play for Today" two months earlier. Both plays deal with a social gathering which starts off politely enough, but as time passes the strained relationships and hidden resentments become more and more apparent, and in both cases the evening ends in sudden tragedy. One difference between the plays is the social milieu in which they are set. Several of the characters in "Abigail's Party", especially Beverly, are from a working-class background but have aspirations towards what they see as a more genteel middle-class lifestyle. The characters in "Scully's New Year's Eve" are all more straightforwardly working-class.
This is the second of Bleasdale's television plays which I have watched in recent weeks, the other being "The Black Stuff". Both show his talent for characterisation and for writing dialogue which is both credible and entertaining. When I reviewed "The Black Stuff" I described it as a very sharp, bleakly funny black comedy. The same could be said of "Scully's New Year's Eve" except that here the comedy has an even bleaker ending. I understand that this play has not been shown by the BBC for many years. The Beeb really ought to make more use of their treasury of excellent drama rather than hiding their light under a bushel. 8/10
