Colin Welland has died

[Satchmo Distel]

My memories of him:

1) Threw his toys out of the pram when one of his films didn't win a BAFTA (Chariots Offiah?)

2) He is VERY good in Kes, it must be said

3) Hated Eddie Waring

4) Allegedly fits various stereotypes: professional northerner, champagne socialist

5) Blue Remembered Hills: still the creepiest TV play/film I have seen.

6) Cowboys!!

[Gangster Octopus]

Colin Welland has died

Whereas I remember him from Z-Cars...

[meregreen]

Colin Welland has died

His embarrassing 'the Brits are coming' Oscar acceptance speech for Chariots of Fire almost undid the fine work he did in Kes. Almost, but not quite.

[Guy Profumo]

Colin Welland has died

Gangster Octopus wrote: Whereas I remember him from Z-Cars...

Nah. He never delivered a baby in Green Park, did he?

[Gangster Octopus]

Colin Welland has died

meregreen wrote: 'the Brits are coming'

He said "The British are coming".

[Geoffrey de Ste. Croix]

Colin Welland has died

I'm struck by how much Welland looks like Peter Kay in Kes.

[E10 Rifle]

Colin Welland has died

I bloody loved Chariots of Fire, as an athletics-mad kid in the mid-80s. It also has some very good, oft-overlooked, skewerings of class hypocrisy and the bigotries of the British establishment. It's not period-piece gloss by any means.

[Jah Womble]

Colin Welland has died

RIP.

Why did he hate Eddie Waring?

[meregreen]

Colin Welland has died

I'm guessing here, but I suspect it's because many rugby league fans thought that Waring, with his unorthodox commentating technique, made the sport a subject of ridicule.

[tracteurgarcon]

Colin Welland has died

Colin Not-so-Welland.

(Sorry).

[Land Waster]

Colin Welland has died

E10 Rifle wrote: I bloody loved Chariots of Fire, as an athletics-mad kid in the mid-80s. It always has some very good, oft-overlooked, skewerings of class hypocrisy and the bigotries of the British establishment. It's not period-piece gloss by any means.

"Mr Mussabini? Is he an Italian gentleman?"

"Half Italian."

"I'm relieved to hear it."

"Half Italian and half Arab."

(Cue John Gielgud looking as if he's just witnessed an act of buggery in the corridors of Cambridge.)

[tee rex]

Colin Welland has died

I recently watched the 1969 Challenge Cup final on YouTube (Castleford-Salford). On that evidence, Edddie Waring was just a terrible commentator. Couldn't do the basics of the job.

[Rogin the Armchair fan]

Colin Welland has died

I watched that Blue Remembered Hills on youtube last night (it's all there) on the basis of this thread.

1. Bloody hell.
2. British drama kind of peaked in the 70s/80s, didn't it, before it slid back into soap opera?

[Bored Of Education]

Colin Welland has died

A rewatching of Kes, Chariots of Fire and Blue Remembered Hills needed this weekend. He lived down the road from where I spent my late teens in Barnes which confirms his champagne socialist status. I think his daughter went to our school.

[Walt Flanagans Dog]

Colin Welland has died

I watched Blue Remembered Hills with my dad when I was a kid, him having said 'you should watch this' - any sort of conversation with my dad was rare enough let alone TV drama recommendations so I watched it. Absolutely terrified me at the time (the ending I should add, rather than adult actors playing children, though that was confusing enough).

[VTTBoscombe]

Colin Welland has died

I think for the comments he made against Gregory's Girl at the BAFTA (I guess it was there) made me dislike him.

Chariots of Fire and Gregory's Girl toured as a double bill at cinemas in the day, I much preferred the latter.
I found COF ponderous and boring - and I liked athletics and class period stuff; but after the wonderfulness of Clare , Gordon etc, it didn't grab me.

[Satchmo Distel]

Colin Welland has died

In 1976, a petition was handed in to the BBC asking for Eddie to be removed from the commentary. The petitioners claimed that had 10,000 signatures - Eddie said there were only 2,000 names on the list. Actor and film producer, Colin Welland once said, "While Rugby Union is treated with the importance of a state occasion, Waring reduces Rugby League to the level of mud wrestling". An opposing view is offered by former Rugby League Chief Executive, David Oxley: "He brought great feeling and a great depth of emotion to the game. He loved the players for their courage, character, humour and athleticism and he never, never held up the game to ridicule".

http://www.hiddentigerbooks.co.uk/jsf/bio_waring.htm

[Vulgarian Visigoth]

Colin Welland has died

Bored of Education wrote: A rewatching of Kes, Chariots of Fire and Blue Remembered Hills needed this weekend. He lived down the road from where I spent my late teens in Barnes which confirms his champagne socialist status. I think his daughter went to our school.

Heh. Only on OTF can you read 'Yes, I can confirm he was a champagne socialist. He was my neighbour and his daughter when to my school'. Well, OTF and oldetonians.co.uk.

[Me Old Flower]

Colin Welland has died

Welland was instrumental in the formation of Fulham Rugby League Club, wasn't he?

Despite his RL links, I think I'll always remember him for being the winning answer to the underpants game that Alan Bennett and Russell Harty played on a long journey back to North Yorkshire.

[Vicarious Thrillseeker]

Colin Welland has died

Rogin the Armchair Fan wrote: I watched that Blue Remembered Hills on youtube last night (it's all there) on the basis of this thread.

1. Bloody hell.
2. British drama kind of peaked in the 70s/80s, didn't it, before it slid back into soap opera?

1. Aye. 2.Yes. Michael Elphick - what an actor. I watched 'Private Schulz' last week. He and Ian Richardson are fantastic in that.

[Stumpy Pepys]

Colin Welland has died

Satchmo Distel wrote: 4) Allegedly fits various stereotypes: professional northerner, champagne socialist

Which always just makes me think of Jim Broadbent on that Victoria Wood series.

[Land Waster]

Colin Welland has died

Satchmo Distel wrote: [i]

Actor and film producer, Colin Welland once said, "While Rugby Union is treated with the importance of a state occasion, Waring reduces Rugby League to the level of mud wrestling".

It's hard to imagine Nigel Stammer Smith or Bill McLaren doing this

[Bored Of Education]

Colin Welland has died

Vulgarian Visigoth wrote:

A rewatching of Kes, Chariots of Fire and Blue Remembered Hills needed this weekend. He lived down the road from where I spent my late teens in Barnes which confirms his champagne socialist status. I think his daughter went to our school.

Heh. Only on OTF can you read 'Yes, I can confirm he was a champagne socialist. He was my neighbour and his daughter when to my school'. Well, OTF and oldetonians.co.uk.

It was a state comprehensive. Quite a posh one but with a massive council estate next door so we met all sorts.

[Sporting]

Colin Welland has died

RIP.

Why did he hate Eddie Waring?

Eddie Waring at Everton in 1957:

[Capybara]

Seeing this pop up I've just done the reverse of thinking someone had died years ago. I hadn't realised he was dead. And I'm with GO on the Z-Cars thing.