I've always been a big fan of John Thaw since seeing an Inspector Morse episode as a young teenager. His amazing ability to bring a character to life and suck you into the role grabbed me from the offset and I followed his TV work ever since.
John was born in Manchester on 3rd January 1942 and always wanted to be an actor. He was encouraged by his teachers and at the age of 16 he joined RADA and trained as an actor. John Thaw had parts in many television shows, films and stage shows including: Redcap, The Sweeney, Dead Man's Chest, Thick as thieves and more recently Inspector Morse and Kavanagh Q.C.
After his death in 2002 from cancer it was decided to release a tribute to John in the form of a DVD box set. In November of the same year this set was released.
To be honest it was a bit of a let down. Contained in the set are: The Dead of Jericho - The first Inspector Morse Episode. (Cert 15) (1987) Nothing but the truth - First
Kavanagh Q.C episode and (Cert 15) (1995) Goodnight Mister Tom - A film of the book by Michelle Magorian (PG) (DVD release 1999)
The Dead of Jericho begins the Inspector Morse run with Morse finds himself investigating the death of his girlfriend. Initially thought to be suicide Morse and his sidekick Lewis (Kevin Whately), set out to prove that something is not quite right here and prove that she was murdered finding who did it in the process. Inspector 'Endeavour' Morse, as we later find out he is called, is top of his field, loves classical music, beer and women. (More so in the books than the TV films.) John breathed life into the character that Colin Dextor had been writing about and gave him an all new presence on screen. John Thaw was a shy man who came alive in front of a camera as any Inspector Morse fan will tell you.
The DVD has interactive menus, biographies of the characters, a look behind the scenes, interviews with the cast and sound options.
I was late getting into Kavanagh Q.C but ended up liking it quite a lot. It was a totally different role for John but he settled into it perfectly. The character was from Manchester just like John and he once said he wanted to give the character a proper northern accent, which he did, having being trained to speak 'proper' English at RADA. We are launched straight into the private life of James Kavanagh, a highly respected barrister, when we see his family; his two children and his wife, but also his mistress. James is having an affair and the first episode not only sees him fighting for a student accused of rape, but also his demons. John almost turned down this part as he hated wearing hats and saw the wig as a very similar item he did not want to spend hours wearing. Luckily for us he agreed in the end.
There are no special features on this DVD but menus are interative.
Goodnight Mister Tom is an emotional film based on the book of the same name. Tom is an elderly gentleman living in the country enjoying his quite life when 9 year old Willie Beech is billeted to him during the war after being evacuated from London. Willie is a sorry little soul with a bad upbringing and oh so very shy. Tom is happy with his life as it is and is not best pleased to start with, with Willies' company. As the film progresses though Tom and Willie get close and we see a beautiful relationship flourish so much so that when Willie is taken back to London, Tom goes down to get him back ignoring the fact that there are bombs dropping all over the place and he is right in the middle of the blitz. The acting in this film is brilliant. The characters build and you start to feel an affinity for them very quickly. There are smiles and tears in this film and these are felt by the viewer too. The best bit for me is when Willie calls Tom Dad. The tears flowed!
The DVD has English Subtitles, interactive menus and in-depth-biographies of the characters.
All in all this is a nice package but it is nothing new. It would have been better if we had been given more of John Thaw as a person; interviews after the shows, looks into his life, but as it is we just get what was already on the DVDs to start with in their original states.
The disks are housed in an out box with John on the front and a short description of the disks on the back. It looks nice and it a nice addition to a collection but a little disappointing if you already have these programmes on original DVD.
All in all fair.
The set is available from play.com for £14.99
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Production Year: 2004 - Drama - Director: Nick Cassavetes - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over, 12 years and over - Starring: Rachel McAdams, Ryan Gosling, Gena Rowlands
i must admit that i had never heard of him untill now! Great review. Em x
silverstreak 11.09.2005 17:59
I don't think he did a great deal of interviews, by all accounts he was an extremely private man, and I suppose there just wasn't the material around to go on the DVD. A wonderful actor and someone I still find it hard to take in that he's no longer around. Karen
RICHADA 11.09.2005 17:54
John Thaw was a brilliant actor if anything in my opinion UNDER rated, his characters are better remembered than the man. Goodnight Mister Tom was undoubtedly a marsterpiece - I remember being absolutely spellbound by that when they first screened it. A great man, sorely missed. Richard.
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