''The Strange World of Gurney Slade'' is a surreal six-part British television comedy series devised by

Anthony Newley Anthony Newley (24 September 1931 – 14 April 1999) was an English actor, singer, songwriter, and filmmaker. A "latter-day British Al Jolson", he achieved widespread success in song, and on stage and screen. "One of Broadway's greatest leading ...

and made by ATV, first transmitted by the

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

network between 22 October and 26 November 1960. Newley devised the central concept of the show, whereas the series was written in its entirety by Sid Green and Dick Hills.

Plot

The series follows the character of Gurney Slade, played by Newley, through a series of mundane environments with fantastical elements. Slade is the only continuing character, and is often heard in voice-over expressing his thoughts. Though we learn much about the character's inner life, we learn very little of Gurney Slade's history or background. He appears to be a character in a typical family-oriented TV show who abruptly tires of the artificial environment he's apparently trapped in; the first episode opens with Slade breaking the

fourth wall The fourth wall is a performance convention in which an invisible, imaginary wall separates actors from the audience. While the audience can see through this ''wall'', the convention assumes the actors act as if they cannot. From the 16th cen ...

of a television sitcom and leaving the set, to the protestations of its director. Slade spends the rest of the series simply wandering from one (generally sparse) environment to another, ruminating on life in an often free-associative way. During his wanderings, he sometimes encounters a range of odd people (and at least one talking dog), all of which may be entirely creations of his own imagination. In episode four, Slade is put on trial for being a TV character who wasn't funny in the first three episodes. Other episodes introduce other meta-fictional elements into the proceedings. The series concludes with a final episode in which Slade, in a TV studio, appears to be little more than a machine-like performer whose every move is controlled by outside forces.

Cast

as Gurney Slade *

Edwin Richfield Edwin Richfield (11 September 1921 – 2 August 1990) was an English actor. Career Richfield starred in the television series ''Interpol Calling'' (1959). He was ''The Odd Man'' in Granada Television's series of the same name in the early 196 ...

as Husband *

Douglas Wilmer Douglas Wilmer (8 January 1920 – 31 March 2016) was an English actor, best known for playing Sherlock Holmes in the 1965 TV series ''Sherlock Holmes''. Early life Wilmer was born in Brentford, Middlesex, and received his education at King' ...

as Prosecuting Counsel *

Charles Lloyd Pack Charles Lloyd-Pack (10 October 1902 – 22 December 1983) was a British film, television and stage actor. Life and career Lloyd-Pack was born at Wapping, East London, to working-class parents. He was seen in several horror films produced by th ...

as Tinker *

Una Stubbs Una Stubbs (1 May 1937 – 12 August 2021) was an English actress, television personality and dancer who appeared on British television and in the theatre, and occasionally in films. She became known after appearing in the film '' Summer Holiday ...

as Girl in Park * John Bennett as Napoleon Bonaparte *

Anneke Wills Anneke Wills (; born Anna Katarina Willys, 20 October 1941) is an English actress, best known for her role as the Doctor Who companion Polly in the long-running BBC science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. Biography Wills's father, Al ...

as Girl on Airfield *

Bernie Winters Bernie Winters (born Bernie Weinstein; 6 September 1930 – 4 May 1991), was an English comedian, actor, musician & TV presenter, and the comic foil of the double act Mike and Bernie Winters with his older brother, Mike. Winters later perform ...

as Albert *

Hugh Paddick Hugh William Paddick (22 August 1915 – 9 November 2000) was an English actor. He starred in the 1960s BBC radio show ''Round the Horne'', performing in sketches such as "Charles and Fiona" (as Charles) and " Julian and Sandy" (as Julian). He a ...

as Fairy (episode 2) *

Graham Stark Graham William Stark (20 January 1922 – 29 October 2013) was an English comedian, actor, writer and director. Early life The son of a purser on transatlantic liners,

as Fairy (episode 6)

Production

Development

Prior success as a pop vocalist led

to be offered the opportunity, and a free hand, to create a six-part comedy series for

in collaboration with scriptwriters

Dick Hills and Sid Green Richard Michael Hills (17 January 1926 – 6 June 1996) and Sidney Green (24 January 1928 – 15 March 1999),Denis Giffor ''The Independent'', 17 March 1999 informally known as Sid Green and Dick Hills, were a British partnership of television com ...

. Unusually for a comedy show on British television, the series was shot entirely on

35mm film 35 mm may refer to: * 135 film, a type of still photography format commonly referred to as 35 mm film * 35 mm movie film, a type of motion picture film stock * 35MM 35 mm may refer to: * 135 film, a type of still photography format ...

; the first three episodes (bar the opening scene of the series) were shot on location, while the rest of the series was studio-bound. Newley explained at the time: "There is no rhyme or reason for what I do, I merely take life and turn it upside down. We hope to achieve humour without setting out to be deliberately funny.""The Strange World of Gurney Slade"
Television Heaven website The surrealism of the series was considerably ahead of its time for a 1960 television comedy. In a ''New Musical Express'' (''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

'') interview during 1973,

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...

described the series as "tremendous", commenting that "there's a lot of Monty Python in there - left-handed screws and right-handed screws".

Title

The name Gurney Slade is taken from the name of a district (and limestone

quarry A quarry is a type of open-pit mine in which dimension stone, rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate is excavated from the ground. The operation of quarries is regulated in some jurisdictions to reduce their envi ...

) in the Mendip Hills in

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

, England, not far from the city of

Wells Wells most commonly refers to: * Wells, Somerset, a cathedral city in Somerset, England * Well, an excavation or structure created in the ground * Wells (name) Wells may also refer to: Places Canada *Wells, British Columbia England * Wells ...

. Having recently passed through the area, Newley remembered the name at an early meeting, after a number of proposed titles – including ''Up the Zambezi'' – were rejected. The series was produced by Alan Tarrant, who directed the series with, in an uncredited rôle, Newley himself.Dick Fiddy "The Strange Tale of The Strange World of Gurney Slade", Network DVD booklet, March 2011 There is also a 1944 novel by

Warwick Deeping George Warwick Deeping (28 May 1877 – 20 April 1950) was an English novelist and short story writer, whose best-known novel was '' Sorrell and Son'' (1925). Life Born in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, into a family of physicians, Warwick Deeping ...

called ''Mr Gurney and Mr Slade'', also known as ''The Cleric's Secret''.

Theme tune

An arrangement of the show's theme tune, which featured a prominent

flute The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedless ...

part, by composer Max Harris was released on a 7" single together with the "Gurney in Wonderland" theme from episode 1. The single version was later utilised for the "animated clock" sequence on the BBC children's show ''

Vision On ''Vision On'' was a British children's television programme, shown on BBC1 from 1964 to 1976 and designed specifically for children with hearing impairment. Concept and production ''Vision On'' was conceived and developed by BBC producers Urs ...

''.

Broadcast

The ratings were disappointing, and it was moved from primetime to a late-night 'graveyard' timeslot by ITV. Some sources claim that it was moved after the first episode had been broadcast, but the published television schedules of the time indicate that the first two episodes were broadcast at 8:35 pm, while episodes 3 through 6 were broadcast at 11:10 pm.'' The Listener'', 21 April 1988, p. 16 ''The Strange World of Gurney Slade'' was repeated in 1963, and the first episode turned up as part of

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

's ''

TV Heaven ''TV Heaven'' is a series of 13 theme nights shown on Channel 4 in early 1992, celebrating the best of archive British television, which was hosted by Frank Muir. Twelve of the evenings each focused on programmes from a particular year from t ...

'' series in 1992.

Home media

The whole series was released as a Region 2 DVD by Network DVD in August 2011. A Blu-Ray release came to fruition in 2020. https://networkonair.com/all-products/3234-strange-world-of-gurney-slade-the-blu-ray-

Critical works

In September 2020

Obverse Books Obverse Books is a British publisher initially known for publishing books relating to the character Iris Wildthyme, and currently for the ''The Black Archive, Black Archive'' series of critical books on ''Doctor Who,'' and two sister series - t ...

published the book ''The Strange World of Gurney Slade'', by author Andrew Hickey, as the sixth volume of its Silver Archive series of monographs on genre television."SA06 – The Strange World of Gurney Slade"
Obverse Books website product page

References

External links

*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Strange World of Gurney Slade, The 1960 British television series debuts 1960 British television series endings 1960s British comedy television series Black-and-white British television shows English-language television shows ITV television dramas Metafictional television series Television shows produced by Associated Television (ATV) Television series by ITV Studios Television shows set in London