The Nigel Barton Plays

The Nigel Barton Plays are two semi-autobiographical television dramas by British playwright Dennis Potter, first broadcast on BBC1 in 1965 as part of The Wednesday Play strand. The first play, Stand Up, Nigel Barton, follows the eponymous character's journey from his childhood in a small mining community to winning a scholarship for Oxford while the second, Vote, Vote, Vote for Nigel Barton, sees him standing for Parliament of the United Kingdom as the Labour Party candidate in a by-election. Both plays develop several themes and utilize dramatic devices that would become major hallmarks of Potter's subsequent work.

Stand Up, Nigel Barton

The play opens with Nigel (Keith Barron) following his father (Jack Woolgar) to work at the local colliery; he questions why his father walks in the middle of the road instead of using the pavement, and laughs at his assertion that it is an old miners' tradition. As his father rushes to clock in, Nigel muses on the very different paths their lives have taken. The scene shifts to Nigel at school, then in a brief montage sequence we are carried to Nigel's arrival at Oxford in his freshman year. Nigel is introduced to the college scout who embarrasses him by calling him 'sir'. We then return to Nigel's school days where the class bully Georgie Pringle (Johnnie Wade) is called up to the front of the class to read a passage from the Bible. He chooses a passage from the Book of Ezekiel, which the teacher (Janet Henfrey) finds blasphemous and canes him for. She then calls Nigel, much to his embarrassment, and the chagrin of the class, to read another passage. The teacher praises Nigel for the clarity of his reading, for which he earns the contempt of his peers. That lunchtime, the other children, with Georgie as the ringleader, bully Nigel, leaving him upset and frustrated.

The play then returns to Nigel's Oxford days, where he is struggling to reconcile his working class background with his new found social mobility. When he returns home for the summer, Nigel finds himself a figure of suspicion amongst the local community, who believe him to have betrayed his roots by taking up his university scholarship. This leaves Nigel confused, and more frustrated as to where his allegiances lie. Back at New College, Nigel attends a party where he meets an upper class girl called Jill (Vickery Turner) who becomes enamoured with his unwillingness to adapt to the new social codes he encounters at university. He is also approached by a television producer who has witnessed Nigel in the debating chamber discussing class conflict, and is asked if he would care to be interviewed for a documentary on the subject.

Back at school, Nigel, in a fit of pique, has torn the stem of the class flower. That afternoon, as the teacher travels round the class looking for the culprit, Nigel breaks down. The teacher forces him to stand up and face responsibility for his actions. As Georgie starts to mock him, Nigel tells the teacher that he knows who it was who defaced the flower and announces it was Georgie. Immediately, the other children leap to Nigel's defence, and Georgie is dragged away to the headmaster's office to receive a caning. Back in the present day, Nigel's parents are visited by a journalist who informs them that he has seen a recording of Nigel's participation in the class documentary due to go out that evening, and wants to gauge their reactions to some of his comments. Nigel's father throws him out, angry at the journalist's insinuation that Nigel is ashamed of his roots.

That evening, Nigel watches the documentary with his parents. In the interview, he tries to explain that while he is proud of his heritage, he feels confused about where he now belongs — no longer believing himself to be part of the working class community in which he was born because of his academic success, yet unaccepted by his new peers at Oxford. He describes himself being "between two worlds", much to his father's anger. The play ends with Nigel's father walking out of the house and Nigel following him. They stand in the road for a moment and decide to go to the pub together: Nigel's father telling his son that he will be walking in the middle of the road.

Background

Potter claimed that the school sequences were inspired by his own school days, particularly the experience of being bullied for his perceived cleverness and the revenge Nigel meets out upon Georgie by destroying the class pot plant. Potter himself grew up in a small mining community, his father worked down the local pit, and drew upon his own journey from the Forest of Dean to Oxford.

Vote, Vote, Vote for Nigel Barton

When the Conservative MP for West Barset is killed in a hunting accident, Nigel is persuaded to stand for Parliament as the Labour candidate in the upcoming by-election, much to the disapproval of his wife, Ann (Valerie Gearon). Despite being beaten in his candidacy for the area in the last general election, Nigel is enthusiastic about the prospect of a political career and consults his former agent, Jack Hay (John Bailey), on launching their campaign. Jack arranges for Nigel to make several public speaking engagements, which terminate in a disastrous meeting at the local Women's Institute.

Nigel, Jack feels, is too earnest in his approach to party politics and must learn to compromise by working on his public image. Nigel resists Jack's attempts to transform him into "a dutiful party hack", believing that the success of his candidacy will rely on issues rather than personality. As Nigel's profile grows, he unwittingly finds himself being moulded to fit Jack's agenda. After a party debate at the town hall, Ann chastises him for his "cynical" performance, commenting that his idealism and conviction are being overwhelmed by Jack's influence. Nigel begins to have second thoughts about his suitability for public office, but Jack insists that Nigel is only behaving in a manner that would be expected of any candidate. When the two men go canvassing for votes the next day, Nigel's frustrations are compounded further by the wave of apathy he is greeted with as he and Jack go from door to door.

That evening, Nigel addresses a local Labour Party meeting and discusses his concerns about the campaign; conflict immediately ensures between Nigel's image-based brand of politics and the old socialist values of the committee. Jack is castigated for making Nigel "apologetic" about his left-wing ideals, while Nigel is accused of masking his politics to bolster his public persona. The meeting ends with all assembled singing "The Red Flag" in an act of solidarity, spoiled only by Nigel not knowing the words. His confidence severely shaken, Nigel embarks on the last stages of the campaign, which involves a visit to the local hospital to meet some of the residents. Nigel is sickened by Jack's increasingly exploitative methods for canvassing votes and becomes distressed by the plight of an elderly patient he meets, who pleads with the hospital staff to let him go home despite having his leg amputated. Nigel and Jack leave the hospital to get ready for a dinner being held by the Lord Mayor, Sir Hugh Archibald-Lake (Cyril Luckham), where both prospective candidates will make their final public appearances before the by-election.

At the dinner, Nigel listens to his opponent's address with silent disdain, becoming disruptive when the toastmaster (Fred Serman) begins to make disparaging comments about his age and his politics. Nigel, however, is haunted by the elderly patient he met earlier that day. When he rises to make his speech, he begins to attack the "empty platitudes" of party politics, much to the disgust of the other dinnerguests who attempt to silence him by banging at the table. In an act of defiance, Nigel makes a 'V' sign at Archibald-Lake, which is caught on camera by the newspaper photographers in attendance. In Jack's office the next day, on the eve of the election, an unrepentant Nigel receives a ticking off from his agent for costing them the election. Jack storms out, angry and upset at what he sees as Nigel's naivety in thinking he could "play the game" his way. Alone in the office, Nigel turns to address the viewer, reminds them that it's polling day tomorrow and asks them for their vote.

Background

Potter stood as the Labour Party candidate for Hertfordshire East, a safe Conservative Party seat, in the 1964 general election against the incumbent Derek Walker-Smith. By the end of the campaign, he claimed that he was so disillusioned with party politics that he did not even vote for himself. His candidacy was unsuccessful. Potter drew on his experiences canvassing support in Vote, Vote, Vote for Nigel Barton. The character of Jack Hay was inspired by Potter's own political agent Ron Brewer.

Sources

• Humphrey Carpenter, Dennis Potter: A Biography; 1998
• Graham Fuller (Ed.), Potter on Potter; 1993
• W.S. Gilbert, Fight and Kick and Bite: The Life and Work of Dennis Potter; 1995
• Nigel Williams (Ed.), Arena: Painting the Clouds; 2005