‘The Knowledge’ at Charing Cross Theatre
On the 27th of December 1979, Thames Television screened ‘The Knowledge’, a comedy drama detailing the ups and downs of a group of students studying The Knowledge of London; the intense training process which must be undertaken in order to become a London taxi driver.
The play was written by the late Jack Rosenthal who interviewed many cabbies for his research. At the time- as indeed now- insights into what The Knowledge involved are extremely rare, so the film was something of a revelation.
Jack Rosenthal (image: Wikipedia)
The play’s most memorable character was Mr Burgess, a sadistic examiner played by Nigel Hawthorne.
Burgess was based on a real examiner- Mr Findlay, a formidable Scotsman who would emphasise his accent when testing students as a means of intimidating and bamboozling them.
The play, which was nominated for a BAFTA in 1980 and appeared in the BFI’s top 100 television plays in 2000, has now been revived for the stage and will be running at the Charing Cross Theatre from tonight- the 4th September 2017- until the 11th November.
It is directed by Maureen Lipman who was married to Jack Rosenthal and appeared in the original television production.
To find out more and to book tickets, please click here.
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Glimpse of the past…Puppy Seller, Shoreditch 1946
It’ll sound unethical (and rightly so) to today’s sensibilities, but for many years Club Row in Shoreditch hosted a pet market every Sunday where punters could buy anything from the tiniest of birds to a fully grown monkey. In 1953 journalist Kaye Webb wrote that “A cacophony of whimpers, yaps, yelps and just plain barking will guide you to the spot…”
The market survived until 1983 when new laws banning the sale of live animals on the street were introduced.
The photograph below was taken by the American Life magazine in 1946.
Puppy seller, Club Row 1946 (copyright Life Magazine)
Candid Capital: Vintage poster
Vintage poster
An old advertisement for an art exhibition which took place in August 1978, still stuck to brickwork at Baker Street tube station, 2016
View from the Mirror 