700 Blott on the Landscape

First  viewed :  February  1985

I  only  caught  snatches  of  this  black  comedy serial,  largely  because  my  curiosity  was  piqued  by  a  nice  Scouse   girl  at  my  hall  of  residence  called  Gaye  McParlin  ( now  a  director  at  professional  services  firm  EY )  who  was  a  big  fan  of  Tom  Sharpe  on  whose  novel  it  was  based. She  was  excited  at  it  coming  to  the  screen  and  was  recommending  it  to  us.

The  story  concerned  an  aristocratic  woman  Lady  Maud  ( Geraldine  James )  whose  treacherous  husband   Sir  Giles  ( George  Cole )  wants  to  allow  a  motorway  through  her  ancestral  lands. His  ally  is  mild-mannered  bureaucrat  Dundridge  ( Simon  Cadell )  while  she  can  call  on  her  dodgy  East  European  gardener  Blott  ( David  Suchet )   to  help  her  thwart  them.

I  didn't  like  it  much; the  humour  seemed  cruel  rather  than  funny (  although  my  wife  disagrees ). The  only  part  that  sticks  in  my  mind  is  George  Cole  strapped  to  a  bed  wearing  only  a  leather  pouch, not  a  pretty  sight  and  staggering  that, at  the  height  of  his  fame  in  Minder , he  agreed  to  do  it.