| Trinity Tales | |
|---|---|
 Credit sequence segueing from medieval illustration to pub beer-mat | |
| Genre | Comedy drama |
| Written by | Alan Plater |
| Directed by | |
| Starring |
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| Composers |
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| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language | English |
| No. of series | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 6 |
| Production | |
| Producer | David Rose |
| Running time | 50 minutes |
| Original release | |
| Network | |
| Release | 21 November (1975-11-21) – 26 December 1975 (1975-12-26) |
Trinity Tales is a 1975 British television series, consisting of six 50-minute programmes, written byAlan Plater and shown onBBC2. It was loosely based onGeoffrey Chaucer'sCanterbury Tales, updated to a modern setting.
The series evolved from a stage play by Plater, "Trinity Tales or The Road to Wembley", which was performed by the Birmingham Repertory Theatre Company from 30 January 1975 to 22 February 1975.[1]
A bus carrying supporters ofrugby league clubWakefield Trinity is on its way from Wakefield to aChallenge Cup Final at London'sWembley Stadium. To pass the time each of the characters on the bus tells a story. The teller of the best tale will win a free fish-and-chip supper provided by "Stan the Fryer", a chip shop proprietor. Along with Stan, the travellers are Nick, the bus driver, "Smith, the Man of Law" (a policeman), "Alice, the wife ofBatley", "Dave the Joiner", his girlfriend "Judy the Judy" and a writer referred to as "Eric the prologue". On the way they stop off at several pubs. At one stop-off point they pick up the pub's lugubrious landlord, Reuben.
Names such as "Stan the Fryer" and the "Wife of Batley" are parodies of the names of the Chaucerian characters, theWife of Bath and theHuberd the Friar. The figure of Chaucer himself is replaced by the writer Eric.[2]
Plater adapted five of the original stories:the Miller's Tale,the Wife of Bath's tale,the Reeve's Tale,the Knight's Tale andthe Franklin's Tale. Another story begun by Eric is cut off by the other pilgrims for being boring, just like Chaucer's tale ofSir Thopas in the original.
The tales are told in ways that parody TV and film clichés of the era.[3] ThusThe Man of Law's Tale, is a pastiche of 1973 film,The Sting,[2] and Eric's unfinished tale is told in the style of an artyfilm noir. The actors playing the "pilgrims" also perform the roles of the characters in the various tales, usually reflecting the personality of their pilgrim.[2][3]
The tales typically involve techniques such as breaking the narrative with songs, and comic Brechtian alienation devices, including characters commenting on their own roles in the story.[3]
The tales were first broadcast from 21 November to 26 December 1975 on BBC2. The series was repeated in 1977.[4]
Audio Cues[1]