Talk:Tom Brown's Schooldays (TV serial)

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Comment[edit]

It's interesting that there was some controversy about the caning scenes in this programme, my own recollection is that there were only a couple, but they were rather strong stuff for family viewing. I am no fan of Mrs. Whitehouse, but it's interesting that she accused the programme of sadism. Although in the context of the programme Dr. Arnold was shown as a fairly decent chap who may have believed that he was punishing boys for serious breaches of school discipline, Mrs. Whitehouse may have recognised that there was an undercurrent of homoertocism, at least in the first scene. PatGallacher (talk) 15:09, 8 November 2015 (UTC)[reply]

It wasn't just Mary Whitehouse. The show did give off a rather kinky homoerotic S&M vibe for a teatime kids' serial. Somewhere, probably in the Telegraph, there was an article titled 'Tom Brown's Bully at the BBC', which deplored some of the changes made in the adaptation. After the roasting-on-the-fire scene, which was a bit gloaty, Iain Cuthbertson as Dr Arnold was shown in shock enumerating Tom's injuries to another member of staff: 'And his buttocks so badly burned he may die!' That detail isn't in the book, where the roasting has no such serious consequences. And the flogging scene, with Arnold himself now getting medieval on Tom's hindquarters, was built up almost like a death-by-firing-squad scene in a war film, whereas the book just says, 'Tom was flogged next morning.' All a little weird. The Telegraph writer was also annoyed by the renaming of Tom's friend Harry East, who is called Ned in the BBC version for no apparent reason. Khamba Tendal (talk) 08:41, 31 August 2017 (UTC)[reply]

But I see the Telegraph was eventually won over by Richard Morant's Flashman, writing in the actor's 2011 obituary, 'As the dastardly school bully with a penchant for toasting small boys in front of the fire, Morant cut a terrifyingly sadistic figure. Yet with his dark good looks and dandyish Regency costumes, he was also disturbingly attractive. The series won him many young female admirers and his Flashman became the yardstick against which other performances are judged.' http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/culture-obituaries/theatre-obituaries/8926727/Richard-Morant.html And, though there may be no reliable sources to say so, it looks as though Michael Palin and Terry Jones were watching, as the show's over-the-top sadism surely inspired their 1976 parody Tomkinson's Schooldays, with Ian Ogilvy as the suave school bully, announcing, 'You address me as School Bully.' Khamba Tendal (talk) 13:24, 31 August 2017 (UTC)[reply]

I agree that Tomkinson's Schooldays does appear to have been influenced by the TV serial. The oddest bit was that in the first caning scene Tom was bent over an older boy's back almost as if they were about to have anal sex, may have been the practice in some schools in the past but distinct homoerotic undertones. PatGallacher (talk) 22:33, 31 August 2017 (UTC)[reply]