THE YEAR OF THE SEX OLYMPICS / CERT: 15 / DIRECTOR: MICHAEL ELLIOTT / SCREENPLAY: NIGEL KNEALE / STARRING: LEONARD ROSSITER, TOBY VOGEL, BRIAN COX, SUZANNE NEVE / RELEASE DATE: APRIL 20TH
A common format of British TV in the 1960s was the one-off ‘TV play’, including those broadcast in BBC anthology series Theatre 625; one of the most well known and challenging dramas of this strand was 1968’s The Year of the Sex Olympics, written by Quatermass creator Nigel Kneale, which receives a new DVD release courtesy of the BFI.
In the future depicted, society is stratified into the hi-drives and the low-drives. The hi-drives produce repetitive, lowbrow media content for the low-drives to uncritically consume, with the aim of keeping society pacified. Nat Mender (Vogel) works on one such show, ‘Sex Sports’, in which contestants are judged on their sexual abilities, the true aim being to satisfy the audience’s sexual urges so they don’t procreate and the population is kept from growing. But Nat’s not satisfied with this over-controlled life, and when a colleague goes rogue and broadcasts provocative art, he’s inspired to make a change, pitching a show in which he and partner Deanie (Neve) live in the wild “like the before times” as an excuse to get away from it all.
Like if Black Mirror were produced 50 years early, it’s high-concept, cynical sci-fi, and extremely prescient; Kneale was ahead of his time in his prediction of reality TV, and it’s amazing how familiar this world feels to those of us unfortunate enough to have tuned into an episode of Big Brother or Love Island. While it moves towards a seriously grim final act, it also has a sharp sense of humour, particularly in the other shows glimpsed such as erotica ‘ArtSex’ and eating/fighting contest ‘The Hungry Angry Show’.
Kneale’s script is compelling, and the plight of Mender tragically engaging. There are very strong supporting turns from Leonard Rossiter as the TV station’s conflicted controller and Brian Cox as an increasingly psychotic director who delights in his control of both contestants and audience, even if some of the other supporting cast come across too theatrical by today’s standards.
The extras are worth watching, even if mostly repeated from earlier releases. There’s an introduction to the drama by Kim Newman, commentary by Cox, an interview with Kneale, plus an archive featurette about the BBC and a new gallery of Joyce Hammond’s costume designs. Also included is a booklet with new essays.
The highlight of the extras, however, is Le Pétomane, a half-hour comedy starring Rossiter as Joseph Pujol, a fart-based impressionist who wowed crowds at the Moulin Rouge. Essentially half an hour of fart jokes, it’s vastly different to Sex Olympics in tone, the only obvious connection being Rossiter, but it’s a lot of fun and works as a palate cleanser if the main feature has left you feeling down.
