Ann Way Season: Lollipop Loves Mr Mole - Lollipop and the Two Bares

In case the title of this post seems somewhat confusing, I have double checked and it is actually the title of the series and episode I'm writing about!

Yet another show which has never appeared on this blog before, and if I'd heard of it I probably wouldn't have run to see it because Lollipop Loves Mr Mole was a sitcom. It was shown across two series in 1971 - 2, and only two of its thirteen episodes have survived. The premise is that it is about a mismatched couple Maggie Robinson (known as Lollipop and played by the legendary and much loved actress Peggy Mount) and her husband Reg (known as Mr Mole, and played by Hugh Lloyd). As far as I can tell much of the episodes revolved around family members staying.

In this one they get rid of one set of relatives who have been staying and another couple arrive. The relatives who arrive turn out to be vegetarian and nudists. To my delight this immediately leads straight into a very classical plot of people running around naked (because they persuade Reg to join in) and other people being shocked. I can't really give the plot justice with this description, but it is genuinely a great plot, and strangely reminds me very much of Joe Orton's What The Butler Saw.

Ann Way's role is limited to being the neighbour who is outraged at the number of nude people in the garden, and she articulates the outrage wonderfully.

For readers in countries with better weather than we have on a windswept island in the channel, the 'nudie screen' that the nudists put round themselves in the garden is actually what is known as a windbreak. I haven't seen one for years, but at one time you would take these screens to the seaside and set them up on the beach so that you could catch the sun and the windbreak would protect you from the wind.

It is entirely possible that our Peggy Mount may be getting a series of posts from me about her TV output at some time. She escaped an unhappy childhood by acting, ultimately breaking contact with her birth family completely. I love the story that her first role on the stage was obtained purely because they couldn't find anyone else willing to play the role, and on her very first night as a completely unknown actress she received a standing ovation. Her TV output doesn't represent her real work as an actress very well, because she was a serious actress who had a repertoire well beyond the rather light comedies she used to do on TV. Also her own personality was very different from the battle axes she tended to play on TV. I would particularly recommend George and the Dragon in case you haven't seen her work, but she appeared in such far-ranging shows as Dr Who and The Tomorrow People.

There is a podcast called The Peggy Mount Calamity Hour about TV and popular culture which measures everything by its proximity to Peggy Mount which I cannot recommend highly enough for its completely foul mouthed approach to everything.

This show has been commercially released but only two episodes survive and as far as I can tell this is the only one available online.

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