The.Old.Devils (1992) (Part 2)

Part 2 of 3 of Andrew Davies' 1992 TV adaptation of Kingsley Amis' novel. As Alan Weaver enjoys the stir his arrival back in the Valleys has caused, little do his friends realize that he plans on writing a novel about his past exploits. But as he continues to trifle with women's affections, his actions threaten to come back and bite him. Meanwhile Malcolm takes Rhiannon on a trip down memory way, but her thoughts are very much elsewhere. And Peter finally confesses to wife Muriel what happened in the past between him and Rhiannon. But is he being entirely truthful with her? Starring John Stride, James Grout, Sheila Allen, Bernard Hepton, Anna Cropper, Ray Smith, Elizabeth Morgan, Anne Stallybrass, Gerald James, Elizabeth Spriggs, Desmond Barrit, Pippa Guard, Howell Evans, Tristram Jellinek, Sian Owen and Molly Parkin. This is an intriguing and at times absorbing drama that contrasts the vibrant performance by John Stride as Alan Weaver with the sad and affected portrayals by his old friends who never left the Valleys, but who are still traumatised in some way by the past. This is from an old video tape of it's recent broadcast on BBC4, which I recorded to watch and decided to upload, due to it rarely being repeated. Please note it does suffer from a few lines midway through due to the age of the tape, but as it's the only recording I have of it, it cannot be helped. Be warned that this contains some swearing and nudity. Oh, and if you are wondering about the song that plays at the end of this episode, it's called "What Good Am I without You" by Red Nichols from 1930.