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New Scotland Yard: A Case of Prejudice (2.2, LWT, 1972)
"Now, what about this audience - do you know any of them?"
"A lot of them, some of them are friends of mine, they live in the street."
"Black and white or... all black?"
"Both, black and white. That's what this is all about, right?"
"That's what what's all about?"
"This place, this street, this district, this killing."
"Tell me what you mean by that, please."
"This was a community venture; I spent ten years in this district trying to get people together: black and white, together. That's what my play's all about, right? Simple people power. Look, my play says that white power is finished, but there is always a chance that -"
"I don't think we want to go into politics, Mr. Buckingham."
"No, go on, please."
"You don't want to go into it? But that is why Charlie was killed!"
#new scotland yard#a case of prejudice#oliver horsbrugh#stuart douglass#alun falconer#john woodvine#john carlisle#rudolph walker#charles hyatt#mark heath#ian gelder#colin rix#antonia pemberton#allan surtees#vic hunter#a proper Issue Episode‚ as the team investigates the murder of a black man with ties to an agitprop theatre group. the language‚ attitudes#and depiction of minorities is not perfect‚ i won't even suggest that‚ but for British tv made in 1972 this does a fairly good job and you#can tell its heart is in broadly the right place (no doubt thanks to co writer Falconer‚ whose CV is littered with socially conscious work#for both tv and film‚ including the excellent brit b movie The Man Upstairs). Woodvine's Chief Supt. Kingdom comes down firmly on the side#of the angels‚ delivering several angry monologues about racism‚ injustice and hate; it's nice to see but not entirely convincing (no shade#on Woodvine‚ but as one character points out‚ the UK police force of 1972 was hardly winning awards in its handling of racial inequality)#Carlisle... sigh. perhaps predictably by now‚ his subordinate of course takes the oppositional seat and acts‚ if not with naked racism‚#then with clear and obviously signalled prejudice. bf caught some of this and is at a loss to understand the point of the character; what i#the audience meant to make of him etc. it's a good question‚ and he remains a largely unlikeable‚ needlessly contrary figure#there have been hints in a few episodes that the relationship between the leads is perhaps meant to be one of teacher and student#and a prev ep had a coded reference to Woodvine being notably older than Carlisle (actually he was just 6 yrs older but the prematurely#grey hair always aged him a little). but if Carlisle is meant to be learning from Woodvine‚ then why does he never actually learn anything?#he always comes back just as objectionable and difficult and unpleasant as the previous episode. oh also shout out to Rudolph Walker#already known as a comedy actor by this point‚ but electrifying here as the moderate voice of black activism being gradually pushed to a#more militant stance by the ceaseless abuse of racist hate groups and the disinterest of law enforcement
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