Second City Firsts (TV Series) The Permissive Society (1975) User Reviews

Minor yet diverting enough Mike Leigh teleplay

[Red-Barracuda · 6/10 · 28 April 2015]

The Permissive Society is a thirty minute teleplay devised by Mike Leigh. It was made for BBC Birmingham as part of their 'Second City Firsts' series of plays made specifically about characters from in that city. It's about an immature young man who brings his new girlfriend home for dinner along with his sister at their family home.

This is a very slight bit of work, with one setting and no real plot. The young man is somewhat annoying but by the end of the piece we have learned more about him that makes him more sympathetic. He and his sister both have relationship difficulties but of different kinds. It's a little too sparse to really say anything too much but I enjoyed it nevertheless. It does have a mid-70's Britain time-capsule feel to it which I liked and the characters were interesting enough.

A bit of an oddity of interest to Mike Leigh fans

[dr_clarke_2 · 6/10 · 9 May 2021]

Amongst Mike Leigh's ten television plays for the BBC are two episodes of the thirty minute anthology series Second City Firsts, which focused on characters living in Birmingham. Leigh's entry in the BBC's Second City First series of short films set in Birmingham. Of the two written and directed by Leigh, the second - 'Knock for Knock' - no longer exists, but the first, 1975's 'The Permissive Society', has survived and it's a bit of an oddity.

With only thirty minutes to play with, Leigh has only three cast members and thus focuses entirely on a trio of characters who have discussions that ultimately revolve around sex. Bob Mason stars as Les, a young man who is dating Veronica Roberts' Carol but has never made a pass at her due to his virginity and sexual naivety. The trio of characters is completed by Rachel Davies' Yvonne, Les' sister. The three cast members are fine, although this lacks the naturalism of most of Leigh's work, which probably reflects a lack of rehearsal time. Possibly as a result, a lot of the dialogue - especially during the small talk in the first half - sounds stilted and unconvincing and it doesn't help that Yvonne adds very little to the slight plot. However, in the second half, it becomes quite riveting, as the story gets to what is, really, the point and Les and Carol talk awkwardly about sex and the former's inexperience.

Anyone familiar with Mike Leigh's work will know that he preferentially films his television films and feature films entirely on location ('Abigail's Party' is a notable exception). 'The Permissive Society' was low budget and shot entirely in studio and is thus very stagey, although Leigh keeps the camera moving as much as possible and makes his customary use of close-ups to maximum affect. Amusingly, there is a scene in which Carol watches as Les strums his tiny instrument with growing confidence, which may or may not be a metaphor for something.

Amongst Leigh's BBC output 'The Permissive Society' feels entirely disposable. Nevertheless, it is bound to be of interest to fans of his work, and whatever its limitations it still demonstrates quite clearly his gift for characterisation.