BBC2 Playhouse (TV Series) Going Gently (1981) User Reviews

A tough subject, beautifully played.

[dallas_nyberg · 7/10 · 16 April 2021]

To see two actors, who were primarily comedy players, switch to playing serious roles, is interesting.

Norman Wisdom, who always portrayed the buffoon in his movies, plays his part in this, completely restrained from comedy... and he does it perfectly.

As does Fulton MacKay.

Two men, both dying from cancer, sharing a hospital room. Two men from different backgrounds, who are like chalk and cheese.

Norman plays the terrified patient, who is unable to comprehend his situation and Fulton plays a sardonic Scot, who bitter outlook is ever present.

The interactions between the two is perfectly played.

The other player in this scenario is Judi Dench. She plays a nursing sister, who tends to these two men in their final days. She is perfect in this role.

It is not a pleasant story and there is no happy ending, but it is a scenario that would be played out in every hospital on a regular basis.

Well worth a look.

Absolutely First Rate

[jyogis · 10/10 · 18 May 2007]

"Going Gently" is a first class TV play which has received a new and well-deserved life on BBC's Judi Dench Collection. Dealing with two men in the terminal stage of cancer it hardly sounds like "must see" entertainment. However, I have never seen a better depiction of individuals coming to terms with illness and their mortality. It has much humour (albeit dark), and it also is comforting to see the principal characters retaining their individual personalities in spite of their environment and the discomfort and detached attitudes of hospital workers, family and others who must also cope with the reality of death. Norman Wisdom and Fulton MacKay turn in excellent performances as does Judi Dench in a somewhat secondary role. Highly recommended.

An excellent TV play but harrowing to watch

[RussianPantyHog · 6/10 · 27 December 2004]

I saw this play on TV way back in the early 1980s and I doubt it'll ever be shown again, but I still remember it. It's a very moving story about two men in their 60s sharing a hospital room and both dying from cancer. The drama comes from these two men having utterly different backgrounds and, at first, a strong dislike for each other, yet forced to share the most intimate of experiences. Fulton Mackay plays an intellectual retired university lecturer and Norman Wisdom has the role of a brash & uneducated former salesman. What makes the play particularly interesting is that Mackay and Wisdom are both very well known to British audiences as comedy actors so it was a huge departure, but I remember they played their roles with great sensitivity. Sadly Fulton Mackay really did die from this awful disease just six years later but Norman Wisdom is still working at age 89. IF Going Gently is ever shown again it's worth seeing.