Andrew Marshall and David Renwick followed up their superb L.W.T. sitcom 'Whoops Apocalypse!' with this, a caustic look at the newspaper business. 'Hot Metal' came out as the Thatcher years were drawing to a close. With memories of that time currently being refreshed thanks to retrospective documentaries, articles and films ( all guilty of looking through rose-coloured spectacles, such as the truly diabolical 'The Iron Lady' ), it is interesting to note how an important aspect is being ignored - the role the press played in keeping her in power. Most of the papers then ( as now ) pushed a right wing agenda as simplistic as an old cowboy movie - one side is always right and the other always wrong - making it impossible for reasoned political debate to take place in Britain due to the trivialising and personalising of the issues involved. The nickname 'The Iron Lady', for instance, suggests a woman of strong-minded principles and firm resolve, yet it was acquired for no other reason that Thatcher could not get through a speech without once mentioning The Iron Curtain. The British public had other nicknames for her, many of which are unrepeatable.
The first episode of 'Hot Metal' begins with the worthy but dull crusading newspaper 'The Daily Crucible' losing money so fast it is in danger of cancellation. It is then snapped up at a loss by millionaire 'Twiggy Rathbone' ( Robert Hardy ), owner of 'Rathouse Enterprises'. The character is a hybrid of Rupert Murdoch and Robert Maxwell. Rathbone insists he will be a hands-off owner, before appointing his twin brother 'Russell Spam' as the new managing editor. The paper's previous editor, 'Harry Stringer' ( Geoffrey Palmer ) is offered a new executive post, one that effectively robs him of any power. When he reports to his office, he finds Rathbone inside taking a bath. Harry's new office is the lift. Spam wants to turn around the ailing paper's fortunes by transforming it into a muck-raking scandal sheet, and signs freelance 'journalist' 'Greg Kettle' ( Richard Kane ). Kettle heads to Austria in pursuit of 'Lady Deborah' ( Edina Brychta ), Prince Andrew's latest squeeze. So determined is he to get dirt on her he hides in her wardrobe with photographers. Back in London, Spam runs a story insinuating that Lady Deborah has appeared in a porn video ( neat reference to the 'Koo! She's Starkers! headline in 'The Sun' when Prince Andrew was caught having a fling with porno actress Koo Stark ). As it turns out, the story is true, and so Spam's sleazy approach to journalism is vindicated. At the Austrian ski lodge, Greg Kettle meets a strange old man ( Aubrey Morris ) who claims to be the late Russian Premier Nikita Krushchev...
'The Tell-Tale Head' is a good opener, neatly setting out the premise and bearing all the hallmarks of a Humphrey Barclay production. Prince Andrew was single in those days and his sex life never out of the gossip columns. Some papers whitewashed him as the hero of the Falklands War ( he was a helicopter pilot ). Our sympathies are with Stringer as the paper he loves is destroyed by outsiders. Things will get worse for him over the coming weeks. Palmer is excellent in the role, but alas did not return for Season 2 - he was replaced by 'Dicky Lipton' ( Richard Wilson ). Luckily the paper has some good journalists left - we will meet one of them in the next episode - 'Bill Tytla', played by John Gordon Sinclair.
Funniest moment - Stringer is puzzled as to why Kettle has scheduled 'royal baby' coverage in the Crucible in the next few months. We then cut to Kettle using a pin to perforate a packet of condoms belonging to Prince Andrew!
The first episode of 'Hot Metal' begins with the worthy but dull crusading newspaper 'The Daily Crucible' losing money so fast it is in danger of cancellation. It is then snapped up at a loss by millionaire 'Twiggy Rathbone' ( Robert Hardy ), owner of 'Rathouse Enterprises'. The character is a hybrid of Rupert Murdoch and Robert Maxwell. Rathbone insists he will be a hands-off owner, before appointing his twin brother 'Russell Spam' as the new managing editor. The paper's previous editor, 'Harry Stringer' ( Geoffrey Palmer ) is offered a new executive post, one that effectively robs him of any power. When he reports to his office, he finds Rathbone inside taking a bath. Harry's new office is the lift. Spam wants to turn around the ailing paper's fortunes by transforming it into a muck-raking scandal sheet, and signs freelance 'journalist' 'Greg Kettle' ( Richard Kane ). Kettle heads to Austria in pursuit of 'Lady Deborah' ( Edina Brychta ), Prince Andrew's latest squeeze. So determined is he to get dirt on her he hides in her wardrobe with photographers. Back in London, Spam runs a story insinuating that Lady Deborah has appeared in a porn video ( neat reference to the 'Koo! She's Starkers! headline in 'The Sun' when Prince Andrew was caught having a fling with porno actress Koo Stark ). As it turns out, the story is true, and so Spam's sleazy approach to journalism is vindicated. At the Austrian ski lodge, Greg Kettle meets a strange old man ( Aubrey Morris ) who claims to be the late Russian Premier Nikita Krushchev...
'The Tell-Tale Head' is a good opener, neatly setting out the premise and bearing all the hallmarks of a Humphrey Barclay production. Prince Andrew was single in those days and his sex life never out of the gossip columns. Some papers whitewashed him as the hero of the Falklands War ( he was a helicopter pilot ). Our sympathies are with Stringer as the paper he loves is destroyed by outsiders. Things will get worse for him over the coming weeks. Palmer is excellent in the role, but alas did not return for Season 2 - he was replaced by 'Dicky Lipton' ( Richard Wilson ). Luckily the paper has some good journalists left - we will meet one of them in the next episode - 'Bill Tytla', played by John Gordon Sinclair.
Funniest moment - Stringer is puzzled as to why Kettle has scheduled 'royal baby' coverage in the Crucible in the next few months. We then cut to Kettle using a pin to perforate a packet of condoms belonging to Prince Andrew!
