The Wednesday Play (TV Series) Who's a Good Boy Then? (1966) User Reviews

I ahhhhhhhhhm!

[philipjetsimpson · 10/10 · 24 March 2004]

I remember seeing this "Wednesday Play" way back in the 1960's when I was a lad of 15.

If the BBC still have a recording of this play, then they certainly should put it out on DVD because in my opinion it is a true classic, which is the reason I remember it so well.

The story concerns a middle-aged couple played so very well by Ron Moody and Thora Hird who happen to be childless. They decide to put a card in the local newsagent's window for a lodger. Hey presto! Along comes evidently 'down-and-out' Ronald Lacey, the perfect 'child'. He arrives with battered old suitcase and is promptly welcomed in by this very odd couple. I can remember this play so vividly because it was so unusual and the characters so oddball, all three actors performing so superbly well together.

I won't give the whole of the story away just in case, and in the unlikely event, that it is put out on video, suffice to say if it is, see it! A great black comedy right up to the end when one sees poor old Ron Lacey from the outside of the house, high up in the attic, hands clutching at his prison-like bars at the window screaming, "I am, I am, I ahhhhhhm! (remember the title) whilst a very loud train roars by outside, almost drowning the poor young man's screams.

Great acting from all three, especially the hugely underrated Ronald Lacey.

Stays with one

[beresfordjd · 9/10 · 9 September 2007]

I remember little about this play other than that I enjoyed Ronald Lacey's performance. The final scene has stayed with me for 30 plus years it was so powerful.Why it has never been reshown has always baffled me. Lacey always gives a great performance (usually creepy, he was typecast - though I am sure there was more to him than that)The BBC must have a wealth of material which would deserve to be seen again.OK so technology has moved on and the quality of image might not stand up to todays standards but quality drama is quality drama and must be enjoyed by as many people as possible. Perhaps we should petition the BBC and encourage them to go through the archives and find treasures like this play.

A masterpiece.

[aunty2000 · 10/10 · 4 December 2011]

I can only agree whole heartedly with the previous comments. The names Ron Moody and Thora Hird are an indication as to the quality of the production. If this is a case of the original tapes having been lost or beyond repair, the story itself is good enough to withstand a sympathetic remake. It might even give a few modern TV producers a kick up the backside to see just what can be achieved without special effects, etc. The tagline became a running joke between my mother and I that lasted right up to her death over 30 years later, when she'd still threaten me with the Bill Oats treatment for my cheek. For some reason I'm required to write a tenth line - so here it is.

Chilling black comedy portrayed by superb actors.

[flipperthedolphin · 10/10 · 8 June 2007]

I remember this particular play very well even though it was broadcast so long ago. I was 16 years old at the time, and I remember watching it along with my mother. It was a wonderfully black comedy which was really rather disturbing, and we both found it excellent. The way the storyline builds, and the ending especially, are very well done indeed. I am sure it would stand broadcasting again if it's still available. I don't know if it has ever been repeated. I was inspired to look this up after having seen Ronald Lacey in the Likely Lads film broadcast tonight where he played yet another splendid cameo part. His performance in 'Who's a Good Boy Then?' is, in my opinion, one of the finest television performances that I have ever seen him portray and it left me feeling quite disturbed, and I can never think about attics in the same way!

Brilliant!

[jupitersongs · 10/10 · 4 September 2014]

Am not allowed to leave a link on here it seems as was told that I used a word that was too long! However, please check out the BFI website which has details of a screening on Sept 5, 2014.

It is on around 5.30 pm. Found out myself at short-notice. This play has haunted me for years. Mentioned it to a long-lost friend who was recently back in touch, and he recalled it very clearly too, with great affection.

Like the reviewer above I ended up having a standing-joke with my grandmother after watching the play with her way back in 1966. She would ask me: "Who's a good boy then?", and I'd reply"I am!" To the best of my knowledge it was never screened again.

Very highly recommended indeed. A work of genius. Shall beg my contact at the BFI to ask for it to be released on DVD. A distant, longed for treasure that curiously was both lost, and yet stayed with me for years....

1966? A Different World

[image-74070 · 10/10 · 27 July 2021]

I will never forget this play, it's etched in my mind, even if it was shown when I was 9. The BBC was caught up in the zeitgeist and sufficiently stirred to commission something new and exploratory. It's success was measured in the number of complaints that it received from the likes of "outraged of Sidcup" and "Apoplectic Colonel Mustard" and so on, who were more keen on seeing war films and westerns. Like a couple of other reviewers I watched this with my Mother. Had she known what was coming, she may not have been so relaxed but fortunately we both found the twisting storyline great TV. Impossible now to convey the spirit of those times and a cultural revolution of which this play was a small cog. What acting and what a surprise denouement. So pleased that I am not alone in this!!

Ronald lacey

[carolkitching · 10/10 · 6 September 2019]

Excellent sixties wierd play just the sort of thing to inspire creative writing

Ronald Lacey, gone too early

[cgs_arbour · 10/10 · 1 February 2020]

What a fantastic Wednesday Play this was, remembered specifically for Ronald Lacey's performance. It was 54 years ago and I was nearly 17 and it left a life long impression on me. " Who's a good boy then" Hopefully Renown Pictures have remastered it and Talking Pictures will show it

Who's a good boy, then? I am!.

[qjfrmqzx · 10/10 · 28 February 2021]

I well remember watching this play back in 1966. It was so well acted and so creepy. Thora Hird and her husband were seemingly a nice, ordinary, childless couple befriending this lonely and rather simple man, Billy Oates, while they're out shopping and taking him into their home. Thora Hird establishes the catchphrase "Who's a good boy?" very early on with Billy, just as she might with a child, which he readily joins in with answering "I am". And then things begin to go awry and you realise Thora Hird and her husband are anything but nice and ordinary. Billy is punished for some transgression by being locked in the attic with bars on the window. Just as a child might, Billy tries to earn approval for his release by crying out in tears of desperation over and over again, "Who's a good boy? I am!". To no avail. The play ends as his two captors go on with their lives a couple of floors below contentedly having a cup of tea in the sitting room. Oh yes, I remember this play, vividly. I'm not surprised others do too. It was a masterpiece. I'd love to see it again.