''The Caramel Crisis'' was a one-off

BBC 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. As with any major broadcast network, drama forms an importa ...

Simon Gray Simon James Holliday Gray (21 October 1936 – 7 August 2008) was an English playwright and memoirist who also had a career as a university lecturer in English literature at Queen Mary, University of London, for 20 years. While teaching at Q ...

, produced as part of the BBC's ''

Thirty-Minute Theatre ''Thirty-Minute Theatre'' was a British anthology drama series of short plays shown on BBC Television between 1965 and 1973, which was used in part at least as a training ground for new writers, on account of its short running length, and which t ...

'' series. It was Simon Gray's first dramatic work, adapted from his own short story, and was first broadcast live on 25 April 1966 starring George Cole, Richard Pearson,

John Le Mesurier John Le Mesurier (, born John Elton Le Mesurier Halliley; 5 April 191215 November 1983) was an English actor. He is perhaps best remembered for his comedic role as Sergeant Arthur Wilson in the BBC television situation c ...

and

Bryan Pringle Bryan Pringle (19 January 1935 – 15 May 2002) was an English character actor who appeared for several decades in television, film and theatre productions. Life and career Born in Glascote, Tamworth, Staffordshire, he was brought up in the ...

. A recording has not been preserved."Missing episode in programme ''Thirty Minute Theatre''"
lostshows.com

Plot

Caramel ( George Cole) goes for an interview for the position of a doctor at a factory for the company Healman and Co. Despite drifting into daydreams during his interview with company board members, Cloon ( Richard Pearson), Lame (

) and McWithers (

), he is hired for the job. When he moves into the company flat, however, he spends all his time taking baths and watching westerns on television, and refuses to come out and get on with his job. The board members become increasingly worried about the new appointment and decide not to tell the company chairman, Sir Roy (

Kynaston Reeves Philip Arthur Reeves (29 May 18935 December 1971), known professionally as Kynaston Reeves, was an English character actor who appeared in numerous films and many television plays and series. Early life Reeves was born in London on 29 May 1893 ...

), unless it is absolutely necessary. Caramel proves immovable, however, and starts billing the company for cigarettes,

éclair An éclair is a pastry made with choux dough filled with a cream and topped with chocolate icing. The dough, which is the same as that used for profiterole, is typically piped into an oblong shape with a pastry bag and baked until it is cris ...

s, whisky,

Turkish delight Turkish delight or lokum ( ota, لوقوم) is a family of confections based on a gel of starch and sugar. Premium varieties consist largely of chopped dates, pistachios, hazelnuts or walnuts bound by the gel; traditional varieties are often fl ...

and other luxuries. Cloon is the first to crack, writing to Sir Roy about the mistake. We discover that Caramel is not really a doctor at all, and has stolen his dead brother's identity. Sir Roy comes to the factory and beats on Caramel's door, but his fury at the man's behaviour causes him to collapse out of his wheelchair and die, leaving the board members to struggle for control of the company.

Notes

External links

*
Simon Gray websiteGuardian obituary of Simon Gray
BBC television dramas {{BBC-tv-prog-stub