Kinvig
Encyclopedia
Synopsis
Des Kinvig runs an electrical repair shop in the small town of Bingleton.One day his store is visited by Miss Griffin (Prunella Gee
Prunella Gee
Prunella Gee is an English actress.She studied at the prestigious London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art where she won the Spotlight Award for Best Actress...
), who is from the planet Mercury and in need of Des' help. Kinvig's friend Jim Piper (Colin Jeavons
Colin Jeavons
Colin Jeavons is a Welsh television actor.-Career:Jeavons is best known as Inspector Lestrade in the Granada television serials The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, or the part of the undertaker, Shadrack, in the television situation comedy written by Keith Waterhouse and Willis Hall from...
) is a lifelong UFO watcher and is consumed by jealousy when he discovers that Kinvig has actually become involved with aliens.
The audience are left to decide if the dream sequences are genuinely alien contact or simply a figment of Kinvig's imagination.
The show was produced by LWT, and only ran for one series of seven episodes. It was written by Nigel Kneale
Nigel Kneale
Nigel Kneale was a British screenwriter from the Isle of Man. Active in television, film, radio drama and prose fiction, he wrote professionally for over fifty years, was a winner of the Somerset Maugham Award and was twice nominated for the British Film Award for Best Screenplay...
(more famous for Quatermass
Quatermass
Quatermass may best be known as the surname of the title character of a British science fiction franchise of several television serials and films, and a radio production...
); directed and produced by Les Chatfield; with original music by Nigel Hess
Nigel Hess
Nigel John Hess is a British composer best known for his television, theatre and film soundtracks, including the theme tunes to Wycliffe, Dangerfield, Hetty Wainthropp Investigates and Ladies in Lavender.-Biography:...
.
Reception
Around the time of original transmission, Kinvig was positively reviewed by The Times, the preview stating that"Cast splendid, direction deft".
However, to later TV historians, Kinvig is not considered to be one of Kneale's better productions. The Guiness Book of Classic British TV claims that apart from Jeavons' performance, Kinvig was "a huge disappointment". Peter Nicholls
Peter Nicholls (writer)
Peter Nicholls is an Australian literary scholar and critic. He is the creator and a co-editor of The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction ....
also criticised the program, saying the scripts "lacked the precision required for decent farce". Nicholls also noted
that some viewers objected to Kneale's depiction of science-fiction fans
Fandom
Fandom is a term used to refer to a subculture composed of fans characterized by a feeling of sympathy and camaraderie with others who share a common interest...
as being the same
as UFO enthusiasts, and states Kinvig is notable for its "contemptuous treatment" of the leading characters.
Cast
- Tony HaygarthTony HaygarthTony Haygarth is an English television, film and theatre actor.-Career:At the age of eighteen, Haygarth worked unsuccessfully as a lifeguard in Torquay, and also tried escapology, equally unsuccessfully...
as Des Kinvig - Patsy RowlandsPatsy RowlandsPatsy Rowlands was an English actress who is best remembered for her roles in the Carry On films, as Betty in the popular ITV Thames sitcom Bless This House, and as Alice Meredith in the Yorkshire Television sitcom Hallelujah!.-Early years:She was born in Palmers Green, London and attended a...
as Netta Kinvig - Prunella GeePrunella GeePrunella Gee is an English actress.She studied at the prestigious London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art where she won the Spotlight Award for Best Actress...
as Miss Griffin - Colin JeavonsColin JeavonsColin Jeavons is a Welsh television actor.-Career:Jeavons is best known as Inspector Lestrade in the Granada television serials The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, or the part of the undertaker, Shadrack, in the television situation comedy written by Keith Waterhouse and Willis Hall from...
as Jim Piper - Danny Schiller as Sagga
- Stephen BentStephen BentStephen Bent is an English actor who has appeared regularly on British television since 1970 in varied roles, including on three soaps, Coronation Street, Eastenders, and Emmerdale. He has also done theatre work.-External links:...
as Loon - Alan Bodenham as Bat
- Simon WilliamsSimon Williams (actor)Simon Williams is an English actor known for playing James Bellamy in the period drama Upstairs, Downstairs. Frequently playing upper-class roles, he is also known for playing Dr...
as Buddo - Patrick NewellPatrick NewellPatrick David Newell was a British actor known for his large size. It is reputed he gained weight as a deliberate attempt to boost his career, marking him out for some niche roles...
as Mr. Horsley - Betty Hardy as Mrs. Snell