The Strange World of Gurney Slade

Anthony Newley was so far ahead of his time in 1960 when he made this show, that it is still boggles the mind 66 years later. The premise of the show at its start was already pretty wacky. An actor in a run of the mill comedy/soap opera style show leaves the show in the middle of shooting and we follow him out of the studio and into his aimless wandering around as he interacts with various characters. The show was first given a primetime slot - Newley was a star after all - but was gradually shifted further down the schedule as each episode lost viewers and became more and more obtuse. It was filmed week by week so that after episode one was broadcast, episode two was filmed and edited etc. and then broadcast and so on week by week. As the viewing figures dropped, Newley began to address the popularity of the the show within the show itself - eventually being tried in the final episode for producing a terrible tv show that no one liked. The witnesses in the trial being characters that had appeared in earlier episodes and who were quizzed by the prosecution and Newley himself on the plot, characters etc., value of the show and so on. The chameleonic young David Bowie, already a Newley fan at this time, watched this and perhaps thought to himself - I'll 'ave some o that - his debut album David Bowie, certainly owes something to Newley.

Beyond his avant garde, post-modern version of televison, Anthony Newley was a successful songwriter, penning Feeling Good for Nina Simone with his longtime collaborator Leslie Bricusse with whom he wrote the score for Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, as well as many other hits - the lyrics to John Barry's Goldfinger among them.

The Strange World of Gurney Slade is a very unusual television series that is wonderful to watch and think about the fare that was on offer at the time. If you ever get the chance to see it, grab that chance with both hands, wrestle it to the floor, pin its arms and watch the heck out of...