The Befrienders

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The Befrienders
Genre Drama
Created byHarry W. Junkin
Written byHarry W. Junkin
Chad Varah
Directed by Ken Hannam
Simon Langton
Starring Maggie Walker
Patrick Connor
Peter Halliday
Megs Jenkins
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
No. of series1
No. of episodes11
Production
ProducersHarry W. Junkin
John Henderson
Running time50 minutes
Original release
Network BBC1

The Befrienders is an 11-episode British television drama series which aired on BBC1 in 1972. [1] The series was based on the work of the Samaritans, the suicide prevention charity founded in 1953 by the Reverend Chad Varah. [2] [1] [3] Each episode depicted a fictional, dramatised story of an individual in a predicament leading them to contemplate suicide. [1] [4] Only one of the 11 episodes ended with a death by suicide. [1]

Contents

At the time that the television series was broadcast, the Samaritans had 122 branches in the UK, one in the Irish Republic, and nine in other countries. [5] Most branches offered a 24-hour telephone service staffed by trained volunteers who would listen, often providing callers with relief in being able to have a confidential conversation with an anonymous voice. [5] Some callers were encouraged to come to their local centre; in extreme cases, an emergency squad would be dispatched to assist the caller in person. [5]

The series was written by Harry W. Junkin, with Varah as an advisor. [6] The leading cast members included Megs Jenkins, who played a Samaritans volunteer named Janet. [7]

Pilot

On 30 November 1970, BBC1 screened a pilot of The Befrienders as part of its Drama Playhouse series. [8] [9] The play was titled "Drink a Toast to Dear Old Dad" and was written by Harry W. Junkin. [10]

The story focused on a 17-year-old boy struggling with his wealthy, self-indulgent parents who held wild, drug-fueled parties nightly, which were preventing him from studying for his A-level exams. [11] [8] [10] [12] He goes to the Samaritans for help after seeing a poster in the post office. [8]

Anticipating a large influx of calls following the broadcast, the real-life Samaritans obtained an additional telephone number to add up to 50 more lines from callers seeking assistance. [13] Despite complaints that the plot of the pilot was "far-fetched", the BBC decided to move forward with the series. [6] A spokesperson for the BBC later said that The Befrienders was "a logical development" following its police dramas Z-Cars and Softly Softly , and part of a move toward more programming for social help. [14]

Series

The first episode of The Befrienders was broadcast on 19 February 1972. [1] Titled "Allenby and Son, Ltd.", the episode featured guest star Glyn Houston playing a successful estate agent who faces a sudden change in circumstances, and seeks help from the Samaritans. [15]

Publicity for the new series emphasised that while Junkin was the main writer, Varah had personally reviewed each script for accuracy. [16] [15] Varah himself wrote the script for the sixth episode called "Nobody Understands Miranda", which aired on 25 March 1972. [2] [17]

The tenth episode, "Odds Against", featured Mary Miller as the wife of a compulsive gambler with mounting debt played by Frederick Jaeger. [18]

The final episode on 29 April 1972, called "Fallen Star", featured Patrick Troughton as Jim Goody, a former professional football player who clings to his past glories but is bankrupt and bitter, and reaches out to the Samaritans after his wife leaves him. [19] [20] The episode had a happy ending when the ex-footballer, initially too proud to accept what he perceived as "charity" from a director of his old football club, was persuaded that working as a chauffeur was an acceptable solution to his financial problems. [20]

Critical reception

Pilot

The 1970 pilot "Drink a Toast to Dear Old Dad" received a "wildly mixed reception" immediately after it aired. [21] Critics did not like the plot, which included the angry father planting marijuana in his teenage son's bedroom and reporting him to the police for revenge, complaining that it seemed unrealistic and implausible. [22] [12] [10] Terry Dwyer wrote in the Leicester Mercury that the episode "came very close to being a parody of the more usual situation of parental anxiety over a layabout son". [12] In a review for The Observer , George Melly wrote, "Seldom have I seen on television a more incredible hotch-potch of morally dubious attitudes, fake drama and the worst kind of tear-jerking schmalz. At the same time, I must own up to frequently bursting into astonished laughter." [10] Jean Blackmore said in the Western Daily Press , "I roared with laughter all the way through. My apologies to the playwright, and to the Samaritans if I was not meant to." [22] Dwyer suggested that "a straight-forward documentary on The Samaritans would, perhaps, be more acceptable as a tribute to their work". [12]

Nonetheless, the Birmingham Post 's Pamela Hedges found "some flashes of reality" and suggested that if The Befrienders were to become a full series, there were "vast possibilities for 'human stories' which could have wide television appeal". [23] A bright spot was actress Faith Brook, who was praised by Blackmore for her "magnificent" turn as the boy's mother, [22] which Melly called "a pathetic creature...and by far the best conceived character in the play". [10]

Series

In February 1972, Ivor Jay wrote in the Birmingham Evening Mail that the first episode had him in tears, and predicted that the series would "woo only wallowing masochists", asking "for goodness sake, who has this hunger for even more melancholy jitters?" [24]

In March 1972, Rita Wharton wrote in the Leicester Mercury that "Despite the series' good intentions and sensitive handling of typical case histories, one wonders who gains what out of having tales of human misery and despair recounted week after week". [17] She suggested that the work of the Samaritans might be better served through a documentary rather than a dramatisation. [17]

A review in the Coventry Evening Telegraph about the final episode said, "This was a down-to-earth sort of script which highlighted an everyday problem and at the same time drove home that the Samaritans are not a bunch of fussy do-gooders, but ordinary people who are prepared to give up their own time to listen to other people's problems without dishing out mushy sentiment." [20]

Impact

In an article published on 18 March 1972, lead actress Megs Jenkins told the Hull Daily Mail that following the initial broadcast of The Befrienders, the Samaritans had gained 250 new volunteers in London alone. [25] The show had generated a large number of calls to the Samaritans, as well as a man in Manchester who had similar phone number to the main number based in London. [25]

By October 1972, the Samaritans were reporting that the number of clients they were assisting at branches nationwide had nearly doubled since before the show began. [26]

A 1975 study published in The British Medical Journal found that although The Befrienders did not have preventative effects, it did result in an influx of calls to the Edinburgh branch of the Samaritans. [27]

In 2022, the Express & Echo reported that the show had inspired a volunteer at the organisation's Exeter, Mid & East Devon branch to work with the Samaritans for fifty years. [3]

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Holding, T. A. (May 1974). "The B.B.C. 'befrienders' series and its effects". British Journal of Psychiatry. 124: 470–472. doi:10.1192/bjp.124.5.470 – via EBSCOhost.
  2. 1 2 Armson, Simon (10 November 2007). "Rev Dr Chad Varah". The Guardian. Retrieved 30 December 2024.
  3. 1 2 "Community News". Express & Echo. 15 September 2022. Retrieved 30 December 2024– via ProQuest.
  4. ↑ "Drop in suicides as Samaritan influence grows". The Guardian Journal. Nottingham. 16 February 1972. Retrieved 3 January 2025– via Newspapers.com.
  5. 1 2 3 "Weekend". Harrow Observer. 18 February 1972. Retrieved 4 January 2025– via Newspapers.com.
  6. 1 2 Southam, Harold (18 February 1972). "[Letter to the Editor] The Samaritans Expect Big Influx of Calls". Walsall Observer. Retrieved 4 January 2025– via Newspapers.com.
  7. ↑ Green, Valerie (30 March 1972). "'The homely image makes me shudder'". Leicester Mercury. Retrieved 6 January 2025– via Newspapers.com.
  8. 1 2 3 "Work of Samaritans in B.B.C.1 'Drama Playhouse'". Evening Sentinel. 30 November 1970. Retrieved 3 January 2025– via Newspapers.com.
  9. ↑ "Samaritans will take up many more 'life lines'". Lincolnshire Echo. 28 November 1970. Retrieved 3 January 2025– via Newspapers.com.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 Melly, George (6 December 1970). "The Samaritans as serial material". The Observer . Retrieved 4 January 2025– via Newspapers.com.
  11. ↑ "Star choice". Leicester Mercury. 30 November 1970. Retrieved 4 January 2025– via Newspapers.com.
  12. 1 2 3 4 Dwyer, Terry (1 December 1970). "Samaritans with an unreal air..." Leicester Mercury. Retrieved 4 January 2025– via Newspapers.com.
  13. ↑ "Samaritans on TV may mean rush of calls". Daily Post. 30 November 1970. Retrieved 4 January 2025– via Newspapers.com.
  14. ↑ "Friendly listeners who save lives". The Age. Melbourne, Australia. 11 April 1972. Retrieved 6 January 2025– via Newspapers.com.
  15. 1 2 Mulrooney, John (19 February 1972). "STAR CHOICE". Cambridge Evening News. Retrieved 4 January 2025– via Newspapers.com.
  16. ↑ "SAMARITANS ARE STARS OF NEW SERIES". Evening Sentinel. Stoke-on-Trent. 19 February 1972. Retrieved 4 January 2025– via Newspapers.com.
  17. 1 2 3 "Drama and despair..." Leicester Mercury. 27 March 1972. Retrieved 5 January 2025– via Newspapers.com.
  18. ↑ "THE BEFRIENDERS: 'Odds Against'". The Guardian Journal. Nottingham. 22 April 1972. Retrieved 6 January 2025– via Newspapers.com.
  19. ↑ "The Befrienders – "Fallen Star" by Stephen Rich". Hull Daily Mail. 29 April 1972. Retrieved 6 January 2025– via Newspapers.com.
  20. 1 2 3 "Wrong Prescription". Coventry Evening Telegraph. 1 May 1972. Retrieved 6 January 2025– via Newspapers.com.
  21. ↑ Blackmore, Jean (9 December 1970). "On my TV last night – HESS IS STILL A GREAT ENIGMA". Western Daily Press. Bristol. Retrieved 4 January 2025– via Newspapers.com.
  22. 1 2 3 Blackmore, Jean (1 December 1970). "Drama? More like a comedy". Western Daily Press. Bristol. Retrieved 4 January 2025– via Newspapers.com.
  23. ↑ Hedges, Pamela (1 December 1970). "Television". The Birmingham Post . Retrieved 4 January 2025– via Newspapers.com.
  24. ↑ Jay, Ivor (21 February 1972). "What Ethel might have said..." Birmingham Evening Mail. Retrieved 5 January 2025– via Newspapers.com.
  25. 1 2 Davies, Sue (18 March 1972). "Befriender Meg is too ready to give advice". Hull Daily Mail. Retrieved 6 January 2025– via Newspapers.com.
  26. ↑ Cox, Elaine (4 August 1972). "SAMARITANS: New branch is bursting its seams". Ealing and Acton Gazette. Retrieved 6 January 2025– via Newspapers.com.
  27. ↑ Holding, T. A. (1975). "Suicide and "The Befrienders"". The British Medical Journal. Retrieved 30 December 2024– via National Library of Medicine.
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