Bankrupt, The (Play For Today BBC-2 1972 with Joss Ackland and Sheila Allen)

UK / BBC-2 (For Play For Today) / 1×75 minutes / Broadcast 27 November 1972

Writer: David Mercer / Producer: Graeme McDonald / Director: Christopher Morahan

An entry in the Play For Today anthology series. Drama. Ellis Cripper, a washed up travel executive who has been declared bankrupt after his company goes belly up, returns home to his father country cottage and finds himself heading towards a breakdown.

David Mercer was a playwright who used the themes of madness and insanity in his work and whilst this is a minor piece, with too many dream sequences (or fragments from Cripper’s troubled mind), it is still worthy of attention.

cast
Joss Ackland as Ellis Cripper
Sheila Allen as Angela
David Waller as Gowran Cripper
Alethea Charlton as Anne
Peter Cellier as James
Bob Hoskins as Taxi Driver
John Woodnutt as Doctor

Head of film reviews at The Viewers Guide with an erudite, insightful, slightly sardonic, deep appreciation for classic cinema. Has a habit of quoting obscure lines from old films in everyday conversation. He keeps a meticulously organized film logbook. He's a bit of a tea snob.