Terry on the Fence

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Terry on the Fence
Terry on the Fence film Opening titles (1985).png
Opening titles
Directed by Frank Godwin
Starring Jack McNicholl
Neville Watson
Tracey Ann-Morris
Jeff Ward
Production
company
Release date
  • 1985 (1985)
Running time
70 min
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Budget£180,747

Terry on the Fence is a 1985 British children's drama film directed by Frank Godwin and starring Jack McNicholl, Neville Watson, Tracey Ann-Morris, and Susan Jameson. [1] [2] It was produced by the Children's Film and Television Foundation.

Contents

It cost £180,747. [3]

Plot

A young tearaway becomes involved with a gang of criminals.

Cast

Reception

The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "Made on a slender budget of £185,000, under the auspices of the Children's Film and Television Foundation, Frank Godwin's adaptation of Bernard Ashley's novel was intended to 'get away from the black and white of goodies and baddies'. With the virtual collapse of the Saturday-morning matinee audience, the CFF saw the need to aim their features at a wider film and television audience, comprised of both children and adults. In Terry on the Fence, this proves to be a distinct advantage, allowing the strong, clear narrative to delve into greyer areas of moral ambiguity. This centres on Terry and Les, victim and victimiser, and the bond which develops between them out of something more than fear. In its attention to social detail, though, the film tends to lapse into a schematic and stereotypical portrayal of the boys' home environments. The Harmers are nice lower-middle-class people who reward the errant Terry with a stiff word or two, and a hot bath. Les' mum, on the other hand, is a brassy, bingo-playing blonde who whacks him about the head for getting a little mud on the carpet. Similarly, the disparity between the punishments meted out to Les and Terry tends to suggest that the criminal episode was only a temporary aberration, and that nice middle-class boys don't get into trouble unless forced into it by undesirable working-class lads." [4]

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References

  1. ↑ "Terry on the Fence". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 9 August 2024.
  2. ↑ "Terry on the Fence (1985)". BFI. Archived from the original on 25 September 2019.
  3. ↑ "Back to the Future: The Fall and Rise of the British Film Industry in the 1980s - An Information Briefing" (PDF). British Film Institute. 2005. p. 29.
  4. ↑ "Terry on the Fence". The Monthly Film Bulletin . 53 (624): 215. 1 January 1986 – via ProQuest.


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