EXPRESS NEWSPAPER
JOHN LYTTLE ON LAST NIGHT'S TV
Before Men Behaved Badly there was Ordinary Decent Bloke. And the most ordinary, decent bloke was THE UNFORGETTABLE... RICHARD BECKINSALE (ITV), star of The Lovers, Rising Damp and Porridge. Beckinsale's a fondly missed figure from the Seventies who now seems even more distant in time, thanks to a sweet, bumbling openness that today we would doubtless dub wimpy.
The actor was boyish and this is, after all, the age of the lad. It's the difference between seduction and assault. Back then, working-class guys were proud to have made good; now they roll like hogs in their riches, rough up their women and blow whatever gifts God gave them. (Are you listening Gazza and Stan?)
Monica Garnsey's modest film befitted a modest man who left school at 16 and was grateful for every lucky chance. No grand claims were made; none were required. Beckinsale's purchase on the affections of those who lived through the period and watched him court Paula Wilcox and quarrel with landlord Leonard Rossiter remains surprisingly firm. He was likeable without ever appearing aware of his own charm. "A man's best mate and a girl's dream date," opined one contributor. Neatly said.
You understood why Porridge's Ronnie Barker choked reminiscing about the day his cell-mate and sidekick died from a heart attack at the age of 31. "I burst into tears... It was so outrageous that he should die," recalls Barker. "He was not there any more..." Except in repeats and re-runs. That's the black magic of media.
Also the curse and comfort younger daughter and rising star Kate finds herself clinging to. "When I gave birth to my baby," said Kate, "the nurse rushed in and said: 'Oh, Porridge has just started on the television.' That happens sometimes. He'll turn up..."
Kate admitted that sometimes she was unable to distinguish between memory and anecdotes repeatedly told, but the facts seem to speak for themselves. Beckinsale senior's laid-back image masked panic, anxiety and a sense of waste - as if he knew time was already ticking away.
Director Stephen Frears recalled meeting Beckinsale one day and how he uncharacteristically complained abouthis high cholesterol level and not being offered parts at the National. The sitcom clown wanted to play Hamlet. Another friend remembered a holiday in Corfu when his buddy sat bolt upright in the middle of the night dripping icy sweat. He'd dreamed he was dying from a heart attack: "It really shook him."
It shook the viewer too. Widow Judy Loe said her husband was frightened of fear and scared of being taken by surprise. He didn't even wish to rattle about in their house without her. Yet he was alone when he died - Loe was in hospital awaiting an operation to help her to increase the size of her family.
Talking about the last sight of her husband as he casually turned the corner and went forever out of her life spoke volumes about a man who laboured hard to make it all appear easy. At a cost. It's the secret of his screen appeal, too. Which never dates or falls out of fashion.
