The Madhouse on Castle Street
Encyclopedia
Madhouse on Castle Street is a British television play, broadcast by BBC Television
on the evening of 13 January 1963, as part of the Sunday Night Play
strand. It was written by Evan Jones
and directed by Philip Saville
. The production is notable for featuring the young American
folk music singer Bob Dylan
, who went on to become a major musical star.
The play was recorded on videotape and transferred to film. The only known copy of the play was junked
in 1968, as was the standard practice of the time, despite the fact that Dylan and lead actor David Warner
were by then famous. Although extensive searches have been made by the BBC, only partial audio recordings of four songs sung by Dylan survive.
. One of the lodgers locks himself in his room, leaving a note stating that he has decided to retire from the world until the world has changed. Other lodgers and his sister try to coax him out and establish what the problem is. The action is punctuated by songs performed by Bob Dylan
.
, who wrote the screenplays for films such as Modesty Blaise
and Funeral in Berlin
, and directed by Philip Saville
. Saville had seen Bob Dylan performing in New York City
in 1962, and in December that year he contracted Dylan to come to London
for three weeks to star in Madhouse on Castle Street, in spite of Dylan's complete lack of acting training or experience. This was the performer's first trip outside of North America
. Dylan was originally supposed to have played the leading role in the play, but during rehearsals it became apparent that he lacked the ability to learn lines, stating that he would rather "express himself in song", was lax in his time keeping and would often wander off to smoke cannabis
.
Saville was still keen to include Dylan, so together with Jones, re-structured the play to create two characters out of the original one that Dylan had been hired to perform. Actor David Warner
was hired to play the main acting role of Lennie, while Dylan performed songs commenting on the action in the manner of a Greek chorus
as the new character Bobby, essentially playing himself. At the conclusion of the play, Dylan performed "Blowin' in the Wind
", one of the first major public performances of the song. The play was planned to be recorded in one session on 30 December 1962, but it over-ran and the Technical Operating Manager told cast and crew to go home, even though they were willing to complete the filming. London was in the grip of a major blizzard and it was not possible to arrange a further session until 4 January 1963, when the play was completed, and it was transmitted on 13 January 1963.
" was used in the opening and closing credits, replacing a song written by Evan Jones, "Cut Me Down, My Love". Dylan also performed "Hang Me, O Hang Me", "Cuckoo Bird
", and "Ballad of the Gliding Swan". Philip Saville had heard Dylan singing "Blowin' in the Wind" to two Spanish au pair
s, early one morning whilst the singer was staying in his house. "Hang Me, O Hang Me" and "Cuckoo Bird" were traditional folk songs but Dylan altered the words. Jones provided the original lyrics for "Ballad of the Gliding Swan" which Dylan rewrote in performance.
as a "strange free-wheeling piece about a man who has said goodbye to the world and simply shut himself up in his room." The reviewer added "It is a strange unpredictable world Mr. Jones conjures up and Mr. Saville, with the aid of an excellent cast (Miss Maureen Pryor and Miss Ursula Howells were particularly good) and some haunting songs by Mr. Bob Dylan, brought it powerfully to life." The Observer
, in 2005, reports that the play "got stinking reviews" according to folk singer Martin Carthy
, adding that the Western Daily Mail reviewer was "baffled" and The Listener had "noted that Dylan had 'sat around playing and singing attractively, if a little incomprehensibly'".
production at the time, the play was produced in a multi-camera electronic studio on video cameras
, although it was recorded as a 35 mm film
telerecording
rather than on videotape
. This 35mm master was released for junking
in 1968, and no copy of the play is known to exist. This was common practice in British television of the era. Contracts with the actors' union, Equity, and other trade bodies meant that only a certain number of repeat broadcasts of a production were allowed, and then only within a five-year period. Once the ability to re-use a programme had expired, if it were of no further value it would be usually be destroyed, as was the case with Madhouse on Castle Street. Furthermore, the BBC was in the midst of moving to a colour television standard, whereas Castle Street had been recorded in black and white.
No other copies are believed to have been made from the original master, as these would usually only be produced for overseas sales purposes by BBC Enterprises
, who are not believed to have requested any copies of the programme, even after Dylan's rise to fame. This is by no means a unique situation, as thousands of hours of television programming – including performances by The Beatles
and The Rolling Stones
on Top of the Pops
– were disposed of by the BBC in this manner until the junking policy was halted in 1978. By that stage the ability to further exploit programmes with the new medium of home videocassette recorder
s was becoming apparent, and the idea that programmes should in any case be preserved for posterity and historical and cultural reasons was also coming to be realised.
Still photographs and scripts for the production survive, as do some amateur off-air reel-to-reel audio tape recording
s of four of Dylan's songs. In 2005 the BBC launched a search for a video recording of the play, uncovering some audio recordings of the songs, but it seems that a full off-air audio copy does not exist, and it seems highly unlikely that a telerecording copy will ever be recovered. In April 2007, BBC Four
broadcast a documentary about the making of the play in the Arena
strand, featuring interviews with Saville, Jones, Martin Carthy
, Peggy Seeger
, Dylan collector Ian Woodward, and the first re-broadcast of the songs from the play. In November 2008, BBC Radio 2
broadcast a documentary, narrated by Bob Harris
, about Dylan's visit to London and the making of the play.
BBC One
BBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...
on the evening of 13 January 1963, as part of the Sunday Night Play
Sunday Night Theatre
Sunday Night Theatre was a long-running series of plays created by the BBC first in early 1950, and was regularly shown on Sundays until late 1959, when the last play, A Cup of Kindness, was staged...
strand. It was written by Evan Jones
Evan Jones (writer)
Evan Jones is a poet, playwright and screenwriter based in Britain. He was educated in Jamaica, the United States and England...
and directed by Philip Saville
Philip Saville
Philip Saville is a British television direction and screenwriting from the late 1950s...
. The production is notable for featuring the young American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
folk music singer Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
, who went on to become a major musical star.
The play was recorded on videotape and transferred to film. The only known copy of the play was junked
Wiping
Wiping or junking is a colloquial term for action taken by radio and television production and broadcasting companies, in which old audiotapes, videotapes, and telerecordings , are erased, reused, or destroyed after several uses...
in 1968, as was the standard practice of the time, despite the fact that Dylan and lead actor David Warner
David Warner (actor)
David Warner is an English actor who is known for playing both romantic leads and sinister or villainous characters, both in film and animation...
were by then famous. Although extensive searches have been made by the BBC, only partial audio recordings of four songs sung by Dylan survive.
Plot
The play is set in an English boarding houseBoarding house
A boarding house, is a house in which lodgers rent one or more rooms for one or more nights, and sometimes for extended periods of weeks, months and years. The common parts of the house are maintained, and some services, such as laundry and cleaning, may be supplied. They normally provide "bed...
. One of the lodgers locks himself in his room, leaving a note stating that he has decided to retire from the world until the world has changed. Other lodgers and his sister try to coax him out and establish what the problem is. The action is punctuated by songs performed by Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
.
Production
Madhouse on Castle Street was commissioned as part of the Sunday Night Play strand which had been running on BBC Television since 1950, and provided a platform for new writing. The play was written by Evan JonesEvan Jones (writer)
Evan Jones is a poet, playwright and screenwriter based in Britain. He was educated in Jamaica, the United States and England...
, who wrote the screenplays for films such as Modesty Blaise
Modesty Blaise (1966 film)
Modesty Blaise was a comedic spy-fi motion picture produced in the United Kingdom and released worldwide in 1966. It was loosely based upon the popular comic strip Modesty Blaise by Peter O'Donnell, who wrote the original story and scenario upon which Evan Jones based his screenplay...
and Funeral in Berlin
Funeral in Berlin (film)
Funeral in Berlin is a 1966 British spy film based on the novel Funeral in Berlin by Len Deighton. It is the second of three 1960s films starring Michael Caine that followed the characters from the initial film, The Ipcress File ...
, and directed by Philip Saville
Philip Saville
Philip Saville is a British television direction and screenwriting from the late 1950s...
. Saville had seen Bob Dylan performing in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
in 1962, and in December that year he contracted Dylan to come to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
for three weeks to star in Madhouse on Castle Street, in spite of Dylan's complete lack of acting training or experience. This was the performer's first trip outside of North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
. Dylan was originally supposed to have played the leading role in the play, but during rehearsals it became apparent that he lacked the ability to learn lines, stating that he would rather "express himself in song", was lax in his time keeping and would often wander off to smoke cannabis
Cannabis (drug)
Cannabis, also known as marijuana among many other names, refers to any number of preparations of the Cannabis plant intended for use as a psychoactive drug or for medicinal purposes. The English term marijuana comes from the Mexican Spanish word marihuana...
.
Saville was still keen to include Dylan, so together with Jones, re-structured the play to create two characters out of the original one that Dylan had been hired to perform. Actor David Warner
David Warner (actor)
David Warner is an English actor who is known for playing both romantic leads and sinister or villainous characters, both in film and animation...
was hired to play the main acting role of Lennie, while Dylan performed songs commenting on the action in the manner of a Greek chorus
Greek chorus
A Greek chorus is a homogenous, non-individualised group of performers in the plays of classical Greece, who comment with a collective voice on the dramatic action....
as the new character Bobby, essentially playing himself. At the conclusion of the play, Dylan performed "Blowin' in the Wind
Blowin' in the Wind
"Blowin' in the Wind" is a song written by Bob Dylan and released on his album The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan in 1963. Although it has been described as a protest song, it poses a series of questions about peace, war and freedom...
", one of the first major public performances of the song. The play was planned to be recorded in one session on 30 December 1962, but it over-ran and the Technical Operating Manager told cast and crew to go home, even though they were willing to complete the filming. London was in the grip of a major blizzard and it was not possible to arrange a further session until 4 January 1963, when the play was completed, and it was transmitted on 13 January 1963.
Cast information
- David WarnerDavid Warner (actor)David Warner is an English actor who is known for playing both romantic leads and sinister or villainous characters, both in film and animation...
as Lennie - Bob DylanBob DylanBob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
as Bobby - Maureen PryorMaureen PryorMaureen Pryor was an Irish-born English character actress. She appeared on stage, screen and television.-Early life:Maureen Pryor was born Maureen Pook in 1922 in Limerick, Ireland, to a Cockney father and an Irish mother...
as Mrs Griggs - Ursula HowellsUrsula HowellsUrsula Howells was an English actress whose elegant presence kept her much in demand for roles in film and television....
as Martha Tompkins - Reg Lye as Walter Tompkins
- James Mellor as Bernard
- Georgina Ward as Susan Taylor
- Ian Dallas as Reverend Spooner
Songs
"Blowin' in the WindBlowin' in the Wind
"Blowin' in the Wind" is a song written by Bob Dylan and released on his album The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan in 1963. Although it has been described as a protest song, it poses a series of questions about peace, war and freedom...
" was used in the opening and closing credits, replacing a song written by Evan Jones, "Cut Me Down, My Love". Dylan also performed "Hang Me, O Hang Me", "Cuckoo Bird
The Cuckoo (song)
"The Cuckoo" is a traditional English folk song. It has been covered by many musicians in several different styles. An early notable recorded version was performed by Appalachian folk musician Clarence Ashley with a unique banjo tuning....
", and "Ballad of the Gliding Swan". Philip Saville had heard Dylan singing "Blowin' in the Wind" to two Spanish au pair
Au pair
An au pair is a domestic assistant from a foreign country working for, and living as part of, a host family. Typically, au pairs take on a share of the family's responsibility for childcare as well as some housework, and receive a small monetary allowance for personal use...
s, early one morning whilst the singer was staying in his house. "Hang Me, O Hang Me" and "Cuckoo Bird" were traditional folk songs but Dylan altered the words. Jones provided the original lyrics for "Ballad of the Gliding Swan" which Dylan rewrote in performance.
Reception
The play was described by The TimesThe Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
as a "strange free-wheeling piece about a man who has said goodbye to the world and simply shut himself up in his room." The reviewer added "It is a strange unpredictable world Mr. Jones conjures up and Mr. Saville, with the aid of an excellent cast (Miss Maureen Pryor and Miss Ursula Howells were particularly good) and some haunting songs by Mr. Bob Dylan, brought it powerfully to life." The Observer
The Observer
The Observer is a British newspaper, published on Sundays. In the same place on the political spectrum as its daily sister paper The Guardian, which acquired it in 1993, it takes a liberal or social democratic line on most issues. It is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper.-Origins:The first issue,...
, in 2005, reports that the play "got stinking reviews" according to folk singer Martin Carthy
Martin Carthy
Martin Carthy MBE is an English folk singer and guitarist who has remained one of the most influential figures in British traditional music, inspiring contemporaries such as Bob Dylan and Paul Simon and later artists such as Richard Thompson since he emerged as a young musician in the early days...
, adding that the Western Daily Mail reviewer was "baffled" and The Listener had "noted that Dylan had 'sat around playing and singing attractively, if a little incomprehensibly'".
Junking
As was the usual method of BBC television dramaBBC television drama
BBC television dramas have been produced and broadcast since even before the public service company had an officially established television broadcasting network in the United Kingdom...
production at the time, the play was produced in a multi-camera electronic studio on video cameras
Professional video camera
A professional video camera is a high-end device for creating electronic moving images...
, although it was recorded as a 35 mm film
35 mm film
35 mm film is the film gauge most commonly used for chemical still photography and motion pictures. The name of the gauge refers to the width of the photographic film, which consists of strips 35 millimeters in width...
telerecording
Kinescope
Kinescope , shortened to kine , also known as telerecording in Britain, is a recording of a television program made by filming the picture from a video monitor...
rather than on videotape
Videotape
A videotape is a recording of images and sounds on to magnetic tape as opposed to film stock or random access digital media. Videotapes are also used for storing scientific or medical data, such as the data produced by an electrocardiogram...
. This 35mm master was released for junking
Wiping
Wiping or junking is a colloquial term for action taken by radio and television production and broadcasting companies, in which old audiotapes, videotapes, and telerecordings , are erased, reused, or destroyed after several uses...
in 1968, and no copy of the play is known to exist. This was common practice in British television of the era. Contracts with the actors' union, Equity, and other trade bodies meant that only a certain number of repeat broadcasts of a production were allowed, and then only within a five-year period. Once the ability to re-use a programme had expired, if it were of no further value it would be usually be destroyed, as was the case with Madhouse on Castle Street. Furthermore, the BBC was in the midst of moving to a colour television standard, whereas Castle Street had been recorded in black and white.
No other copies are believed to have been made from the original master, as these would usually only be produced for overseas sales purposes by BBC Enterprises
BBC Worldwide
BBC Worldwide Limited is the wholly owned commercial subsidiary of the British Broadcasting Corporation, formed out of a restructuring of its predecessor BBC Enterprises in 1995. In the year to 31 March 2010 it made a profit of £145m on a turnover of £1.074bn. The company had made a profit of £106m...
, who are not believed to have requested any copies of the programme, even after Dylan's rise to fame. This is by no means a unique situation, as thousands of hours of television programming – including performances by The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
and The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English rock band, formed in London in April 1962 by Brian Jones , Ian Stewart , Mick Jagger , and Keith Richards . Bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts completed the early line-up...
on Top of the Pops
Top of the Pops
Top of the Pops, also known as TOTP, is a British music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly from 1 January 1964 to 30 July 2006. After 25 December 2006 it became a radio program, now hosted by Tony Blackburn...
– were disposed of by the BBC in this manner until the junking policy was halted in 1978. By that stage the ability to further exploit programmes with the new medium of home videocassette recorder
Videocassette recorder
The videocassette recorder , is a type of electro-mechanical device that uses removable videocassettes that contain magnetic tape for recording analog audio and analog video from broadcast television so that the images and sound can be played back at a more convenient time...
s was becoming apparent, and the idea that programmes should in any case be preserved for posterity and historical and cultural reasons was also coming to be realised.
Still photographs and scripts for the production survive, as do some amateur off-air reel-to-reel audio tape recording
Reel-to-reel audio tape recording
Reel-to-reel, open reel tape recording is the form of magnetic tape audio recording in which the recording medium is held on a reel, rather than being securely contained within a cassette....
s of four of Dylan's songs. In 2005 the BBC launched a search for a video recording of the play, uncovering some audio recordings of the songs, but it seems that a full off-air audio copy does not exist, and it seems highly unlikely that a telerecording copy will ever be recovered. In April 2007, BBC Four
BBC Four
BBC Four is a British television network operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation and available to digital television viewers on Freeview, IPTV, satellite and cable....
broadcast a documentary about the making of the play in the Arena
Arena (TV series)
Arena is a British television documentary series, made and broadcast by the BBC. It has run since 1 October 1975, and over five hundred episodes have been made. Arena covers all manner of subjects, from profiles of notable people such as Bob Dylan to the Ford Cortina car...
strand, featuring interviews with Saville, Jones, Martin Carthy
Martin Carthy
Martin Carthy MBE is an English folk singer and guitarist who has remained one of the most influential figures in British traditional music, inspiring contemporaries such as Bob Dylan and Paul Simon and later artists such as Richard Thompson since he emerged as a young musician in the early days...
, Peggy Seeger
Peggy Seeger
Margaret "Peggy" Seeger is an American folksinger. She is also well known in Britain, where she lived for more than 30 years with her husband, singer and songwriter Ewan MacColl.- The first American period :...
, Dylan collector Ian Woodward, and the first re-broadcast of the songs from the play. In November 2008, BBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 2 is one of the BBC's national radio stations and the most popular station in the United Kingdom. Much of its daytime playlist-based programming is best described as Adult Contemporary or AOR, although the station is also noted for its specialist broadcasting of other musical genres...
broadcast a documentary, narrated by Bob Harris
Bob Harris (radio)
Robert Brinley Joseph "Bob" Harris, OBE , known as "Whispering" Bob Harris, is British radio host who currently works for BBC Radio 2, presenting music two nights a week...
, about Dylan's visit to London and the making of the play.