Armchair Theatre (TV Series) The Death of Glory (1973) User Reviews

The Death of Glory

[Prismark10 · 6/10 · 20 April 2020]

There is a strange familiarity with the characters in The Death of Glory.

Maybe because I went to school at a time when a lot of the older male teachers I encountered had either been in the army or done National Service.

I also met a lot of pub bores like the one portrayed by Bill Maynard.

This is a simple story. Billy Turnbull (Warren Clarke) lives with his father Reg (Bill Maynard) who was a Sergeant Major in the army and likes to tell tall tales about his army days.

Billy is a figure of fun in his job for a construction company. He wanted to join the army like his father but he had TB as a child.

The military obsessed Billy leads a Salvation Army band, at least he can wear a uniform. Even some at the Salvation Army think he is a pompous windbag.

This is a character study, people like Billy and Reg are commonplace. The twist being that after Reg suddenly dies, Billy learns that he never had TB. His father never wanted Billy to enlist as it meant he would be left all alone.

It is evident from Clarke's performance that Billy would never cut it in the army.

Interesting character study

[Leofwine_draca · 6/10 · 17 December 2021]

Quite an interesting character study from the ARMCHAIR THEATRE stable. This one's very well cast with Bill Maynard and Warren Clarke playing a father and son for whom the military is extremely important. As the story progresses via conversation, we learnt just what makes these men tick, and it says a fair bit about the human condition.

Superlative piece of drama

[thegenegenie · 10/10 · 20 April 2014]

Billy Turnbull is a junior payroll manager in a construction company, but his waking hours are dominated by thoughts of the army. He is self-disciplined and exacting, traits which make him less than popular with his workmates, who constantly deride him and seek to prick his bubble of pompousness. Warren Clarke judges the character of Billy to perfection, who has a chip on his shoulder and an aching desire to live up to the exploits of his ex-sergeant major father Reg, played by Bill Maynard. Although Billy is not the sort of chap that many people would warm to on first acquaintance, Clarke's sensitive portrayal of a fundamentally decent man, but with few social skills and an inferiority complex, leads the viewer to sympathise and empathise with him by the end, as not all is as it seems at first blush...

I got The Death of Glory on an Armchair Theatre DVD compilation a couple of years ago, and have watched it a few times now - I have to say that this ranks for me as the best single piece of short TV drama I've ever seen. This episode alone is well worth the price of the DVD. I always knew Warren Clarke was a fine actor, but he excels himself here. Catch it if you can.