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The Trial of Christine Keeler.

(207 Posts)
Calendargirl Mon 30-Dec-19 13:45:00

This started last night. It’s on again tonight, not sure how many episodes there will be.
I enjoyed it, the Profumo Affair was in the news when I was about 8 or 9, went over my head then obviously, but remember my parents were shocked that she was carrying on with the Minister for War and a Russian at the same time.
Not sure about Ben Miles’ appearance as Profumo, he looked a bit scary I thought. James Norton seemed an authentic Stephen Ward.

Rufus2 Tue 31-Dec-19 12:42:36

'Other Bugger's Effort
Jane That's a good version! Make that "OBE Class 2" grin
Then ours is "OBE Class 1"..,,,."Over Bloody Eighty"

Only 20 minutes to 2020, then we wipe the slate clean and start over again! wink
HNY OoRoo

MawB Tue 31-Dec-19 12:53:38

Actually it wasn’t the OBE, Profumo’s charitable work was recognised when he was appointed a Companion of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1975.

Rufus2 Tue 31-Dec-19 13:42:39

Actually it wasn’t the OBE,
Maw Welcome! Nice to chat again and you have the honour of receiving my first "Down Under"post for 2020. smile

We'll blame Annie for the mixup, but CBE could be an acronym for "Cunning Bugger's Effort". grin
What do you think?
Happy New Year.
Btw; I'm back on "that stuff" after my dental trauma yesterday!

varian Tue 31-Dec-19 14:49:42

It is worth noting that Profumo had to resign, not for having an affair, but for lying about it. Nowadays we have a PM who can do both with impunity.

Iam64 Tue 31-Dec-19 15:08:15

Varian, in fairness the issue was mostly the potential defence problems given he was sharing CK with a Russian diplomat (ie spy)
Mind you, Johnson gave £150,000 or thereabouts of our money to a woman he was having sex with. So far as I can see he’s walked away from that easily. She’s evidently writing a book.

oldgimmer1 Tue 31-Dec-19 15:12:37

I'm quite enjoying this, but struggling a bit with the jumpy timelines.

James Norton is too young to be Ward imho, and wasn't CK a redhead?

Calendargirl Tue 31-Dec-19 15:16:45

Alexa

You ask if any other upper class individuals have turned their life around? Jonathan Aitken comes to mind, think it was him.
He was an MP, imprisoned for perjury, and has now been ordained I believe.

merlotgran Tue 31-Dec-19 15:17:05

and wasn't CK a redhead?

Black and white telly had a lot to answer for. I thought CK was a brunette and Jane Asher was blond.

Callistemon Tue 31-Dec-19 18:49:46

I think it would have been far more effective to have produced it in chronological order as the build-up and tension would have been far more effective that way than jumping around and turning it into a chaotic mish-mash.

Yes, it is six episodes [sigh]

oldgimmer1 Tue 31-Dec-19 18:52:26

O agree, calliestemon.

There's not much sense of tension (even though times were very, very tense).

oldgimmer1 Tue 31-Dec-19 18:53:01

I.

Callistemon Tue 31-Dec-19 18:58:07

I fell asleep and missed some of it
Could have been the wine with dinner or just boredom

glammagran Wed 01-Jan-20 08:47:24

I was around 7/8 years old at the time and remember this debacle very clearly. I had no toys so my “entertainment” was reading the Daily Telegraph. I also recall reading about the Wall Street crash and wondering why a better wall could not have been built.

BlueBelle Wed 01-Jan-20 09:05:06

I think it could have been dramatised so much better after all it’s a hell of a story I didn’t really feel I was ‘in it’ at all my mind kept wandering off, a good drama has me hanging on looking forward to the next episode instead I m thinking is it 10 pm yet !
I ll carry on with it but can’t see how they can string it out for another four episodes

Callistemon Wed 01-Jan-20 14:46:21

I did think I could put up with one more but another four?

The thing is, it's not a cliffhanger is it because we all know the ending
grin

blondenana Fri 03-Jan-20 12:25:00

Says in the TV mag , 3 OF 6, but can't find any other episodes advertised anywhere
I am enjoying it

Caramac Fri 03-Jan-20 12:38:20

I’ve watched the first episode and found it very uncomfortable viewing. Christine was undoubtedly exploited but the oh so casual manner that Profumo did so I find quite chilling. I certainly remember that as a teenager in the 70’s I was frequently groped by much older men and it was considered normal behaviour. Once I was almost raped by a friend of a family I babysat for. I’d nipped to the loo before going home and as I walked out he pushed me back in and onto the floor. Fortunately for me he was too drunk to get too far. I didn’t cry out because I didn’t want the child I babysat to be woken and I never told anyone.

Chestnut Mon 06-Jan-20 16:20:22

Really enjoying this but the jumping backwards and forwards in time is very confusing. I'm not even sure how many different time periods we are watching. This is happening in so many dramas. I just wish we could have a story unfold as it happens.
Someone said James Norton looked too young but he had wrinkles and looked a lot older than 34 so they can't be real wrinkles.

merlotgran Mon 06-Jan-20 17:22:15

Anyone else shriek when Mandy Rice Davies told Christine Keeler she'd be a 'shoo in' for the publicity?

Dead cert maybe but shoo in?? hmm

Eloethan Mon 06-Jan-20 23:43:08

I gave up on this. I found it tedious. As merlot suggests, I don't think it captures that era's way of speaking. Did people in those days use the expression, as CK did in this dramatization, "Do one".

I think a good drama makes you identify with and feel for some of the characters but I found it difficult to really care about any of them.

oldgimmer1 Tue 07-Jan-20 07:43:06

The bit I noticed was when Christine thought she'd be getting £5k and ring her mother to tell her.

I doubt her mother would've even had a phone- hardly anyone would have in those days, especially if poor.

Callistemon Tue 07-Jan-20 10:05:52

My DP didn't have a phone then.

I had to take my 4d to the phone box at the end of the road.
Several of my friends' DP had phones which I thought was very posh!

Alexa Tue 07-Jan-20 12:40:32

CalendarGirl wrote: --"You ask if any other upper class individuals have turned their life around? Jonathan Aitken comes to mind, think it was him.
He was an MP, imprisoned for perjury, and has now been ordained I believe."

CG, is this irony? Did some other upper class individual redeem their reputation by becoming a postman?

endlessstrife Tue 07-Jan-20 12:58:10

We watched the first one last night, but found it a bit disjointed. We are too young to remember this, but did watch the film “ Scandal “ in the late eighties. At the moment, we can’t be bothered to watch anymore, unless we can be convinced it gets better. So far the film was much better.

suziewoozie Tue 07-Jan-20 13:07:23

I’m finding the detail fascinating. JP was a nasty piece of work wasn’t he ? And the whole Establishment closed ranks - transcripts of evidence given to Lord Denning in his enquiry which names names won’t be released until 2048 I believe.