At a recent event held by Kaleidoscope publishing at the Midlands Arts Centre (MAC), a screening was held of ‘Them Down There’ written by John Finch in the 1960’s.
After an interesting overview by Dr Lez Cook, a short talk was given by Steve Finch, looking at a time when Television Drama was breaking new ground spearheaded by a group of writers, directors and Granada Television.
This was followed by Peter Finch holding a question and answer session.
A Big thankyou to Dr Lez Cook and Kaleidoscope publishing.
Text:
Talk given by Stephen Finch at the Midlands Art Centre 7/9/24
Why are my brother Peter and I here?…well John can’t be here but I know he would want to support the publishers, and perhaps as an observer of John the writer as well as John the father for 60 years, Peter and I may be able to provide some insight into his life and work from a different perspective.
I suggested to John that he write his Autobiography feeling that the book would give anyone aspiring to become a writer an insight into the reality, the need to have a depth of life’s experiences (grist for the mill) to draw on and an ability to overcome the hard work involved in getting that down on paper…..no magic button.
So what is the drive to write, so strong that it can alter the course of your life.
Once when suffering from a bout of ‘writers block’ staring at a blank piece of paper and a pen; John said that the drive to write wasn’t something you could control, to turn on and off as required…..it was thrust upon you and could desert you at the most inopportune times.
As a child I recall the filming of ‘Them Down There’ as a very energetic / exciting time as new technology opened up new ground to a group of people….such as Mike Newel, Mike Apted, Mike Cox and John.
A group of them formed an association named Group North to bring their skills together, but perhaps writers need to be largely solitary beasts and the group drifted apart.
Perhaps the series which still retained the feeling of a family group, very evident during the making of Sam was This Year Next Year. Although the increasingly heavy hand of corporate management was very noticeable to me as an observer and was perhaps very exasperating for John.
I have never been able to ascertain the reason why neither Sam nor This Year Next Year (both highly successful series) have not been screened (streamed) in recent years.
A question often asked is why did John and Granada (then ITV) part company? There are a number of reasons;
The company became exactly that, a company managed by accountants (the grocers as John Cleese called them).
It stopped being a close-knit family focused on the North. Granada had a niche reflecting life in the North and doing a good job maintaining both the quality and the audience. Granada nurtured and supported its talent. Granada (then ITV) subsequently ran to the safe middle ground and inevitable mediocrity. John did not travel there with them.
Above all John was what Michael Goodliffe called an actor’s writer; he wrote characters and dialogue which allowed the actors to breath that life into their screen characters.
Over recent years the focus on the North has produced some smashing quality drama. Good stories and above all good characters and dialogue for some excellent actors to breathe life into. I know John and his friend and fellow writer Geoff Lancashire would be very proud of Geoff’s daughter Sarah and Sally Wainwright carrying the torch for the North.
Reading the Autobiography you will find Johns story and his perspective on the crucible which was Granada’s heyday and the golden age of British television drama.