The Evening Standard, 20 February 2002, by Pete Clark.
"It's not nifty to be fifty."
-----------------------------------------------------------

What could be more irresistible for a man who is staring 
down both barrels of a halfcentury of existence, a man such 
as myself, than a television programme devoted to four 
others in the same position?

Here was a chance to share the trepidation and uncertainty 
of such a leap into the unknwon, and maybe the opportunity 
to pick up a few tips. The four main characters in 
*Manchild* (BBC2) certainly started with a swagger, which 
raised initial hopes. They went to karate classes and 
willingly submitted themselves to long massages. They wore 
clothes that hinted at something more ambitious than a high-
street chain and swanked around bars, eyeing up pretty women 
of half their age, without a suggestion that this pursuit 
might be in vain. I was particularly taken by the fact that 
none of them were in thrall to mobile phones - a 
characteristic that is a mark of the vintage - let alone the 
Palm Pilots and other gizmos that tidly parcel up a whole 
life in a small and sterile box.

For five minutes, I was thrilled to be a passenger on this 
ride. The voiceover by the Nigel Havers character brooked no 
pessimism at what he charmingly described as the approach of 
"the source scent of the big five-O."

All four characters - the other three played by Anthony 
Head, Don Warrington and Ray Burdis - were successful men in 
areas as diverse as decking, dental work and the flogging 
off of the scrapbooks of Yoko Ono at auction for very large 
sums of money. Apart from the Burdis character, Gary, they 
were either unmarried or divorced, and free to indulge the 
whims of an unfettered middle age. When Gary dared to 
suggest that there were consolations to being married, he 
was lightly mocked and told to buy love eggs.

Irritation began to set in as a result of Havers's 
voiceover. If it were not enough to be visually reminded 
that this remarkable man has managed to avoid all the 
ravages of age - the hair luxuriant, his figure trim, eyes 
and mouth conniving to present a splendid fascimile of 
youthful spirits - then, just to rub it in, we were 
presented with a worldview 

[SORRY, THIS ARTICLE'S INCOMPLETE. IF ANYONE HAS THE REST OF 
IT, PLEASE LET ME KNOW.  --BETSY]



-----------------------------------------------------------
                     Bentley's Bedlam
            http://www.BetsyDa.com/bedlam.html

This website is for information and entertainment purposes only 
and is not intended to infringe on copyrights held by others.