''The Flipside of Dominick Hide'' is a

British television Regular television broadcasts in the United Kingdom started in 1936 as a public service which was free of advertising, which followed the first demonstration of a transmitted moving image in 1926. Currently, the United Kingdom has a collection ...

play first transmitted on

BBC1 BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...

on 9 December 1980 as part of the ''

Play for Today ''Play for Today'' is a British television anthology drama series, produced by the BBC and transmitted on BBC1 from 1970 to 1984. During the run, more than three hundred programmes, featuring original television plays, and adaptations of stage ...

'' series.

Peter Firth Peter Macintosh Firth (born 27 October 1953) is an English actor. He is best known for his role as Sir Harry Pearce in the BBC One programme '' Spooks''; he is the only actor to have appeared in every episode of the programme's ten-series lif ...

stars in the title role as a time traveller from Earth's future who illegally visits the

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

of 1980 to search for an 'ancestor' and finds a world very different from the one he left behind. The story concludes with a

plot twist A plot twist is a literary technique that introduces a radical change in the direction or expected outcome of the plot in a work of fiction. When it happens near the end of a story, it is known as a twist or surprise ending. It may change the aud ...

involving a

causal loop A causal loop is a theoretical proposition, wherein by means of either retrocausality or time travel, an event (an action, information, object, or person) is among the causes of another event, which is in turn among the causes of the first-menti ...

, a popular concept in time-travel fiction.

Plot summary

In 2130, Earth has attained a clean, safe and anaesthetised future. Dominick is a

time travel Time travel is the concept of movement between certain points in time, analogous to movement between different points in space by an object or a person, typically with the use of a hypothetical device known as a time machine. Time travel is a w ...

ler whose job is to observe transport systems on the 'flipside' – the era before the Time Barrier was broken. Dominick's 'Circuit' (the period in time and space he must observe) is London 1980, where he believes he may have an ancestor – his great-great-grandfather, also named Dominick Hide. Breaking the rules, Dominick lands on the flipside to search for his great-great-grandfather. London of 1980 is a different place to London of 2130 and Dominick is unprepared for the amazing culture shock of

Portobello Road Portobello Road is a street in the Notting Hill district of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in west London. It runs almost the length of Notting Hill from south to north, roughly parallel with Ladbroke Grove. On Saturdays it is ...

. He has no money and almost no idea how to behave. He concocts a story about finding a 'distant relative' and to avoid suspicion, calls himself Gilbey, after a brand of Gin. While he is on the flipside, he relies on the kindness of strangers, including the owner of a clothes shop, Jane Winters. After an unsuccessful visit to the flipside, Dominick returns to 2130 determined to try again. Dominick tells his wife, Ava, that he plans to visit the flipside. She is upset and confused and asks him not to go. Despite the risks involved and the promise of trouble from his superior, Caleb Line, Dominick visits the flipside again. While he is there and against all sense, Dominick begins a relationship with Jane. Still Dominick has not found his great-great-grandfather but now his visits seem to be more concerned with seeing Jane than with finding the elusive 1980 Dominick. They spend a weekend together at a guest house in

Herne Bay Herne Bay is a seaside town on the north coast of Kent in South East England. It is north of Canterbury and east of Whitstable. It neighbours the ancient villages of Herne and Reculver and is part of the City of Canterbury local government ...

where his flying saucer has been taken. As a result, Jane becomes pregnant. When Dominick learns this, he goes to Caleb Line to own up. Caleb reveals that he was aware, all the time, of what Dominick was doing. He sanctioned it because Dominick Hide is the victim of a "genetic time-slip" – he is his ancestor. The child Jane is carrying will be Dominick's great-grandfather. Caleb tells Dominick that further landings on the flipside will not be permitted, ''officially'', implying that he trusts Dominick enough to turn a blind eye to further landings. Having narrowly avoided causing a fatal accident on a previous landing, Dominick realises the danger involved, and decides to visit the flipside once more, where he provides for Jane and his son by fetching them the following week's newspaper, from which Jane can use the

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

results to win the

football pools In the United Kingdom, the football pools, often referred to as "the pools", is a betting pool based on predicting the outcome of association football matches taking place in the coming week. The pools are typically cheap to enter, and may encou ...

. He explains that this will be the last time he can visit the flipside and says a sad farewell to his great-great-grandmother. Jane watches Dominick take off in his flying saucer, convinced at last that his story is true. The closing scenes show Jane recording her son Dominick at Herne Bay in 1988 and Dominick and Ava walking and laughing in the surf at the Herne Bay of 2130 with their own baby.

Cast

– Dominick Hide *

Caroline Langrishe Caroline Langrishe (born 10 January 1958) is an English actress. Early life Born in London, Langrishe is the elder daughter of Patrick Nicholas Langrishe (1932–2022), of The Manor House, Sellindge, Kent, a Lieutenant in the 11th Hussars, late ...

– Jane *

Pippa Guard Philippa Ann Guard (born 13 October 1952) is a British actress. Biography Born in Edinburgh, Scotland, Guard briefly attended the University of Montreal in Canada, first studying English and drama and then nursing, before returning to Britai ...

– Ava * Patrick Magee – Caleb Line *

Trevor Ray Trevor Ray (died 24 December 2019) was a British actor, writer and script editor. As an actor he gained credits in many television series. As a writer and script editor he worked on series such as ''Doctor Who'', ''Paul Temple'' and ''Children of ...

– Alaric * Sylvia Coleridge – Great Aunt Mavis * Jean Trend – Helda * Timothy Davies – Jim Bone *

Denis Lawson Denis Stamper Lawson (born 27 September 1947) is a Scottish actor and director. He is known for his roles as John Jarndyce in the BBC's adaptation of ''Bleak House (2005 TV serial), Bleak House'', as Gordon Urquhart in the film ''Local Hero (f ...

– Felix * Bernadette Shortt – Midge *

Tony Melody Tony may refer to: People and fictional characters * Tony (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Gregory Tony (born 1978), American law enforcement officer * Motu Tony (born 1981), New Zealand international rugby leagu ...

– Harry *

Bill Gavin Bill Gavin (November 6, 1907 – January 27, 1985) was an American radio personality and publisher of the influential ''Gavin Report''. Life and education Gavin was born in Chetek, Wisconsin in 1907. He attended the University of Wisconsin-Eau Cla ...

– Brian * David Griffin – Karl *

Karl Howman Karl Howman (born 13 December 1953) is an English actor and voice-over artist. He is best known for playing Jacko in the sitcom ''Brush Strokes'' from 1986 to 1991, Mulberry in ''Mulberry'' from 1992 to 1993 and Buster Briggs in ''EastEnders'' ...

– Geoffrey *

Jenny Donnison Jenny may refer to: * Jenny (given name), a popular feminine name and list of real and fictional people * Jenny (surname), a family name Animals * Jenny (donkey), a female donkey * Jenny (gorilla), the oldest gorilla in captivity at the time of ...

– Carole * Michael Carter – 1st Youth * Phil Davis – 2nd Youth *

Mark Wingett Mark Christopher Wingett (born 1 January 1961) is an English actor. He is best known for his roles as PC/DC Jim Carver in ''The Bill'' and '' EastEnders'' as Mike Swann, '' Hollyoaks'' as Frank Symons and '' Heartbeat'' as Terry Molloy. His fi ...

– 3rd Youth *

Nicholas McArdle Nicholas is a male given name and a surname. The Eastern Orthodox Church, the Roman Catholic Church, and the Anglican Churches celebrate Saint Nicholas every year on December 6, which is the name day for "Nicholas". In Greece, the name and its ...

– Policeman * Sylvia Brayshay – Ida * Colin Cunningham – Gordon * David Beale – Barman * Gary Bramble – Jonathan * Sarah Carthy – Anxious Mother * Ysanne Churchman – Soo (voice) *

Myrtle Devenish Myrtle Devenish (29 July 1912 – 21 January 2007) was a British film actress. She appeared in Terry Gilliam's 1985 cult film ''Brazil'', in a 1988 episode of Crimewatch, and had a role in the 1980s drama Together. Devenish was born in Ebb ...

– Market Woman *

James Gilbey James Gilbey is a former British actor. He is possibly best known for playing the character Jack Woodman in the BBC soap opera '' EastEnders'' during the early 1990s. Gilbey has since given up performing to work "behind the camera" and worked as ...

– George * Andrew MacLaughlan – Commuter * Jason Savage – Young Dominick * James R B Dennis - Couples baby at end of film * Robert Spencer – Hologram Musician * Roderick Skeaping – Hologram Musician * Andrew van der Beek – Hologram Musician * Mitchell Dalton – Guitarist

Music

The play's theme, "You'd Better Believe It, Babe" was written by Rick Jones, and performed by his band,

Meal Ticket Meal Ticket were a country rock band who emerged from the London pub circuit during the 1970s and signed to Logo Records. They had several line ups which included Ray Flacke, Jack Brand, Andy Coulter, Rod Demick, Chris Hunt, Keith Nelson, Steve ...

''Another Flip for Dominick''

The play was successful enough for a sequel to be commissioned and ''Another Flip For Dominick'' was broadcast in 1982. The original play was repeated the week before the sequel aired. Neither play was shown again on British television until 26 February 2006, when ''The Flipside of Dominick Hide'' was broadcast on

BBC Four BBC Four is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was launched on 2 March 2002

to tie in with a series of programmes about

time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...

. The two dramas were released as a double VHS video pack in 1991 and on region 2

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...

in 2005.

External links

* TV Cream review o
Flipside
an
Another Flip
*

References