The Bright Thoughts Company
Menu

Back catalogue

Picture

Producer Credits

Bright Thoughts Company productions were produced by both Neil Anthony and Bryan Izzard starting in 1981.


Comic & Dramatic Monologues

performances which celebrate the age of the British Music Hall

Maureen Lipman - 'The Committee' by Joyce Grenfell
Julie Walters - 'Old Sam' by Stanley Holloway
Barry Cryer - 'My Word! You Do Look Queer' by Bob Weston & Bert Lee
Cilla Black - 'Walter, Walter' by Will E Haines, Jimmy Harper, Noel Forrester
Notes:  Recorded and edited with TVI facilities (Television International).  Originally recorded as vignettes with star artists reciting comic and dramatic monologues which capture the spirit of an age in which the tradition of the British Music Hall was at its zenith.  

For transmission, the title of the mini-series was The Green Tie on the Little Yellow Dog.  ​The show was to be edited in three different ways, individual monologues as vignettes i.e. short 'filler’ programmes, also as 3 x 30 mins progs, and also 1 x 90 mins.


Recorded on location, the setting was a dinner party of friends at a posh London address with each star guest getting up to do their 'party piece' after dinner.  All monologues were from 'The Book of Comic and Dramatic Monologues', compiled and edited by Michael Marshall:  ​ISBN 0-241-10670-2

Some of the scarcity value is, for example, Cilla Black doing Gracie Fields, Maureen Lipman as Joyce Grenfell, one of the last performances of Leonard Rossiter, the very last public performance of  a legend from that era, Arthur Askey, an early performance in the outstanding career of Julie Walters ('Educating Rita').  Other delights include some very special and rarely seen performances by Ronald Lacey ('Raiders of The Lost Ark'), Alec McCowen ('Mr Palfrey of Westminster'), Richard O'Callaghan ('Amadeus'), Dianne Langton, and Harrold Innocent.  An indefatigable Barry Cryer is our compere for the evening.

Commissioning Editor: Cecil Korer
About the Monologues
Performance Listing

Top C's & Tiaras


Julia Migenes
Peter Morrison
Marilyn Hill Smith
Benjamin Luxon
Notes:  Started with 2 x one hour specials for Channel 4 which introduced soprano Julia Migenes to the UK and which are currently missing in the British Film Institute Archive.  These were recorded on location and in sound-studios in London.

Top C's & Tiaras the series were all recorded (by Barcud production facilities) at Wrotham Park, Hertfordshire.  
All shows were one hour transmission.  Burt Rhodes (music associate) and orchestra conducted by Harry Rabinowitz.  Resident singers including Marilyn Hill Smith (soprano), Peter Morrison (baritone) and guest stars including Benjamin Luxon.  Our tenors included Hugh Hetherington, Ramon Remedios, Neil Jenkins, David Fieldsend, and our mezzo sopranos included Jean Bailey, Della Jones, Eirian James, and Linda Ormiston:
  • Ep 1 - ‘This Will Be My Shinning Hour’. (TX 29/04/84)
  • Ep 2 - 'The Best of All Possible Worlds'. (TX 06/05/84)
  • Ep 3 - 'One Night of Love'. (TX 13/05/84)
  • Ep 4 - 'Dance Little Lady'. (TX 20/05/84)
  • Ep 5 - 'Play To Me Gypsy'. (TX 27/05/84)
  • Ep 6 - 'When Vienna Sings'. (TX 03/06/84)

‘Julia!’, ‘Julia Live for ’85’, ‘Julia, Ben Luxon and Fifty Fingers’, and ‘Stuff Dreams are Made of’ were all sequal to Top C’s and recorded at Limehouse Studios (where Canary Wharf is and now sits One Canada Square in its place, and therefore makes them a rarity for anyone who may be interested in the short-lived Limehouse Studios.

Commissioning Editor: Cecil Korer
More on The 'Top C's Series' - Watch some YouTube Clips

​One Man Shows


John Bardon as Max Miller
Groucho Marx
William Macready
Ron Moody as Fagin
Notes:  Mainly based on theatre shows, some about a particular famous actor, each show one hour (most recorded and edited with TVI facilities (Television International):
  • 'Here's  a Funny Thing' - a stage play about the life of Max Miller, 'the cheeky chappie' starring John Bardon, Clare Kelly, written by R.W. Shakespeare.  Recorded at the Fortune Theatre, Russell Street, London. (TX 20/11/82)
  • 'Groucho In Toto' - a stage play based on the life of Groucho Marx, starring Jon Rumney, with Lyn Webster and James House, written by Alec Baron.  Recorded at the Shaw Theatre, Euston Road, London. (TX 11/12/82)
  • 'Macready!!!' - a stage play on the life and career of the great Edwardian actor William Macready, played by and written by Frank Barrie.  Recorded at the Fortune Theatre, Russell Street, London. (TX 25/08/83)
  • ‘The Other Side of London’ - starring Ron Moody about villainous characters of historical London including Fagin, with Jan Ravens and Vivienne Martins, written by Ron Moody and Ronnie Cass.  Recorded on location throughout London. (TX 31/12/83)
  • 'Hollywood Hits Chiswick' - a play written for TV about the life of W.C. Fields, starring Derek Newark, with Caroline Quentin, Steve Gardener, Elizabeth Counsell and Julie Le Grand, written by Mike Sharland.  Recorded on location, Chiswick, London. (TX 08/09/83)
  • ‘Pure Libby’ - by Libby Morris.  Recorded at the Shaw Theatre, Euston Road, London.  (TX 04/08/83)

Commissioning Editor: Cecil Korer
Discover more about the Max Miller show - Watch a clip

​Contemporary Music and Improvisation


Art Ensemble of Chicago
Ron Geesin - Crossing Bridges
Bracknell Jazz Festival
Graham Collier
  • 'Great Black Music' - the Art Ensemble of Chicago in studio and location in Chicago, Illinois. (TX 1983)
  • 'Crossing Bridges' - six notable guitarists of improvisation including Ron Geesin, Keith Rowe, Fred Frith, Hans Reichel, John Russell, Brian Godding, recorded in studio. (TX 06/08/83)
  • 'Hoarded Dreams' - a commissioned improvised work by jazz composer Graham Collier for the Bracknell Jazz Festival. (TX 06/03/85)
  • 'SleeveNotes' - a selection of clips from the music specials, presented by Peter Clayton. (TX 03/11/82)

Commissioning Editor: Andy Park ​
Discover more about the Art Ensemble of Chicago

​Molière


Notes:  'Sganarelle', Molière farces performed by the American Repertory Theatre and recorded at the Duke of York's Theatre, St Martin's Lane, London.  Edited either as 1 x two hour programme and as four individual farces:
  • Le Médecin volant — The Flying Doctor
  • ​Sganarelle ou Le Cocu imaginaire — Sganarelle, or the Imaginary Cuckold
  • Le Mariage forcé — The Forced Marriage
  • Le Médecin malgré lui — The Doctor in Spite of Himself

Commissioning Editor: Mike Kustow

​‘Book Em & Risk It’ and ‘Interference’


Jim Barclay
Ronnie Golden & The Dialtones
Steve Dixon
The Oblivion Boys
Notes:  'Book Em and Risk It' was a pilot show (90 mins) recorded in the foyer of the Royal Festival Hall with Jim Barclay, Mark Arden & Steve Frost (The Oblivion Boys), Steve Dixon, Adrian Hedley, Arnold Brown, Jock McLog & McNikki, The Joeys, Andy de la Tour, and others.  Piano by Kenny Clayton.

'Interference' was the subsequent comedy series based on a concept of a pirate TV station with 'intro' and 'outro' links recorded in the continuity studio of Channel 4 by Fiona Richmond.  Six episodes of 'Interference' (6 x 30 mins) each from a different London 'pirate' location and which aimed to be topical of the news for that specific week.  Cast included Jim Barclay, Arnold Brown, Martin Beaumont, Ronnie Golden & The Dialtones, among others.

Commissioning Editor: Cecil Korer
Introducing the shows
Ephemera Archive
Further Research
Showtime! | Introducing | The Catalogue | The Monologues | Monologues Performances | Top C's & Tiaras | Max Miller | Art Ensemble of Chicago | Ephemera | Further Research | Independent Sector | Company Details | Enquiries

Privacy Policy  |  Spectral Mirror Web Design
All rights reserved 2021 ©
Picture
Picture
  • Showtime!
  • Introducing
  • The Catalogue
    • Monologues >
      • Performances
    • Top C's & Tiaras
    • Max Miller
    • Art Ensemble of Chicago
  • Ephemera
  • Further research
  • Independent Sector
  • Company Details
  • Enquiries
  • Showtime!
  • Introducing
  • The Catalogue
    • Monologues >
      • Performances
    • Top C's & Tiaras
    • Max Miller
    • Art Ensemble of Chicago
  • Ephemera
  • Further research
  • Independent Sector
  • Company Details
  • Enquiries