Horace

About Horace

Horace is a 1972 television play written by Roy Minton and directed by Alan Clarke, first broadcast as part of a BBC1 new play series on 21 March 1972.

Article

Horace is a 1972 television play written by Roy Minton and directed by Alan Clarke, first broadcast as part of a BBC1 new play series on 21 March 1972.

Contents

Plot

Diabetic Horace (Barry Jackson) is mentally impaired and works in a joke shop. He befriends loner schoolboy Gordon Blackett (Stephen Tantum), who retreats from his loveless home into an imaginary world.

Cast

Horace - Barry Jackson

Gordon - Stephen Tantum

Ivy - Christine Hargreaves

Dick - Talfryn Thomas

Mrs Radford - Hazel Coppen

Sidney - James Mellor

Miss Bowler - Patricia Lawrence

Mr Scrimshaw - Robert Hartley

Mr Frankel - Howard Goorney

Whitsun - Ken Parry

Brenda - Caleigh Simmons

Mrs Beal - Daphne Heard

Customer - Eric Francis

Waitress - Pamela Miles

Jeffries - Jeffrey Gardiner

Critical reception

The Daily Telegraph wrote, "Never sentimentalised... sympathetic, touching The piece worked marvellously well."

Television series

The play was later developed as a six-part half-hour series for Yorkshire Television.

Article from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0), where it is maintained by volunteer editors.

Notable quotes

“Quamquam ridentem dicere verum quid vetat? ut pueris olim dant crustula blandi doctores, elementa velint ut discere prima.”
— What is to prevent one from telling truth as he laughs, even as teachers sometimes give cookies to children to coax them into learning their A B C?
“in pace, ut sapiens, aptarit idonea bello”
— In peace, as a wise man, he should make suitable preparation for war.
“Naturam expellas furca, tamen usque recurret.”
— You may drive out Nature with a pitchfork, yet she still will hurry back.
“Qualem commendes, etiam atque etiam aspice, ne mox incutiant aliena tibi peccata pudorem.”
— Look round and round the man you recommend, For yours will be the shame should he offend.
“Singula de nobis anni praedantur euntes.”
— The years as they pass plunder us of one thing after another.
“Mediocribus esse poetis Non homines, non di, non concessere columnae.”
— Mediocrity in poets has never been tolerated by either men, or gods, or booksellers.

Quotes via Wikiquote (CC BY-SA), each with its original source.