Kinvig: Difference between revisions

*Kinvig*
Kinvig
	The original DVD cover with Kinvig and Miss Griffin
Genre	Science Fiction
Directed by	Brian Simmons
Starring	Tony Haygarth; Patsy Rowlands; Prunella Gee; Colin Jeavons
Country of origin	Vereinigtes Königreich
Original language	Englisch
No. of series	1
No. of episodes	7
Production
Running time	30 Minuten
Production company	London Weekend Television
Original release
Network	ITV
Release	4 September –; 16 October 1981

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Kinvig is a sci-fi comedy television series made by London Weekend Television in 1981.

Synopsis

Ineffectual dreamer Des Kinvig (Tony Haygarth) runs a rundown little electrical repair shop in the small town of Bingleton where he lives with his mumsy, scatterbrained wife Netta (Patsy Rowlands) and oversized pet dog Cuddly.

One day his shop is visited by the beautiful, sharp-tongued Miss Griffin (Prunella Gee) who seems at first just another dissatisfied customer. However after encountering a flying saucer while walking the dog one night, Kinvig discovers she is actually a scantily-clad alien from the planet Mercury who desperately needs the help of the scruffy, bearded Des and his exceptional brain to stop an invasion of the evil ant-like Xux who are replacing people with robot duplicates.

Kinvig's friend Jim Piper (Colin Jeavons) is a lifelong UFO watcher and wild-eyed conspiracy buff who is consumed by jealousy when Des tells him about his extra-terrestrial exploits.

It is left intentionally ambiguous whether Kinvig's experiences with aliens are real or the product of an overactive imagination.

The show was produced by LWT, and only ran for one series of seven episodes. It was written by Nigel Kneale (more famous for Quatermass), directed and produced by Les Chatfield, with original music by Nigel Hess.

Reception

Around the time of original transmission, Kinvig was positively reviewed by The Times, the preview stating that "Cast splendid, direction deft".^[1]

However, to later TV historians, Kinvig is not considered to be one of Kneale's better productions. The Guinness Book of Classic British TV claims that apart from Jeavons' performance, Kinvig was "a huge disappointment".^[2]

Peter Nicholls also criticised the program, saying the scripts "lacked the precision required for decent farce". Nicholls also noted that some viewers objected to Kneale's depiction of science-fiction fans as being the same as UFO enthusiasts, and states Kinvig is notable for its "contemptuous treatment" of the leading characters. ^[3]

Science fiction historian Brian Stableford dismissed Kinvig as "very silly" and echoed Nicholls' criticism of the show, calling Kneale's script "ignorant" for implying that all science fiction fans are also obsessed with UFOs.^[4]

Cast

Tony Haygarth as Des Kinvig
Patsy Rowlands as Netta Kinvig
Prunella Gee as Miss Griffin
Colin Jeavons as Jim Piper
Danny Schiller as Sagga
Stephen Bent as Loon
Alan Bodenham as Bat
Simon Williams as Buddo
Patrick Newell as Mr. Horsley
Betty Hardy as Mrs. Snell

References

^ "Pick of the week's television". The Times. 1981-09-04. p. XII.
^ The Guinness Book of Classic British TV, by Paul Cornell, Martin Day and Keith Topping, Second Edition. Guinness Publishing Ltd., 1996 ( pg. 398).
^ Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, edited by John Clute and Peter Nicholls, Orbit Books, 1993 (pgs. 669,672).
^ The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Science Fiction edited by David Pringle. Carlton, 1996. ISBN 185868188X (p.154)

External links

Kinvig at IMDb

[1] "Pick of the week's television". The Times. 1981-09-04. p. XII.

[2] The Guinness Book of Classic British TV, by Paul Cornell, Martin Day and Keith Topping, Second Edition. Guinness Publishing Ltd., 1996 ( pg. 398).

[3] Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, edited by John Clute and Peter Nicholls, Orbit Books, 1993 (pgs. 669,672).

[4] The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Science Fiction edited by David Pringle. Carlton, 1996. ISBN 185868188X (p.154)

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@@ Line 53: / Line 53: @@
 Ineffectual dreamer Des Kinvig ([[Tony Haygarth]]) runs a rundown little electrical repair shop in the small town of Bingleton where he lives with his mumsy, scatterbrained wife Netta ([[Patsy Rowlands]]) and oversized pet dog Cuddly.
-One day his shop is visited by the beautiful, sharp-tongued Miss Griffin ([[Prunella Gee]]) who seems at first just another dissatisfied customer.  However after encountering a [[flying saucer]] while walking the dog one night, Kinvig discovers she is actually a scantily-clad alien from the planet [[Mercury (planet)|Mercury]] who desperately needs the help of the scruffy, bearded Des and his "exceptional brain" to stop an invasion of the evil ant-like Xux who are replacing people with robot duplicates.
+One day his shop is visited by the beautiful, sharp-tongued Miss Griffin ([[Prunella Gee]]) who seems at first just another dissatisfied customer.  However after encountering a [[flying saucer]] while walking the dog one night, Kinvig discovers she is actually a scantily-clad alien from the planet [[Mercury (planet)|Mercury]] who desperately needs the help of the scruffy, bearded Des and his exceptional brain to stop an invasion of the evil ant-like Xux who are replacing people with robot duplicates.
 Kinvig's friend Jim Piper ([[Colin Jeavons]]) is a lifelong [[UFO]] watcher and wild-eyed [[conspiracy buff]] who is consumed by jealousy when Des tells him about his extra-terrestrial exploits.