The story being that of Miss Fozzard, head of Soft Furnishings at a department store, whose life has recently been dominated by the stroke that's incapacitated her brother, and has made their already fractious relationship worse.
Her regular chiropodist having moved away, she's now being treated by semi-retired widower Mr Dunderdale, a man in his sixties she's obviously quite charmed by. The fact that his interest in chiropody stems from an obvious foot fetish initially passes her by, to the point that she cheerfully recounts their sessions at work, oblivious to the fact that it makes her the subject of gossip. Meanwhile at home she's also missing the subtext of her brother's relationship with his new young carer, which will have unexpected financial implications for them. Miss Fozzard Finds Her Feet is Bennett taking a characteristically sideways, sympathetic look at prostitution: While it doesn't overtly offer sympathy to sex workers it does suggest their world is not as far away from respectable-looking lives as it may seem. And in the delivery of the final line comes the new take I was talking about: Where the original found shame, Peake's performance has become more mischievous and confident as the story's gone on - there might be a word for what Miss Fozzard's doing, but she's not necessarily going to let it weigh down on her.
The title The Shrine refers to the impromptu tributes of flowers and cards at the roadside sites of fatal accidents. I may be wrong but it feels like a comparatively recent phenomenon, in this country at least, and indeed this is the second of the all-new monologues Bennett has written to replace the Thora Hird ones that can't currently be remade. Last in the collection of current and future dames is Monica Dolan as Lorna, whose husband Clifford died in a motorcycle accident by a remote road; initially unimpressed by the idea of visiting the spot where he died, it becomes a major part of her mourning process as she does "sentry duty" there a couple of times a week, to the point that people start to be concerned for her.
After An Ordinary Woman you could be forgiven some trepidation about where Bennett would head with the latest new monologue, but The Shrine, also directed by Hytner, is more in the gently sad vein than an incestoriffic shocker, and while it revolves around yet another spouse discovering secrets, these are a much gentler affair than some of the murders and abuse uncovered in earlier Talking Heads. Dolan gives a lovely, layered performance as Lorna enjoys discovering a whole new Clifford while regretting that he never let her meet him. It's been an interesting revisiting of some well-loved pieces, seeing how well some hold up compared to others - and I still want to suggest that when it's safe again to get actresses of suitable age into the studio that they complete the set by remaking the Thora Hird ones; and using actresses from the originals would be a nice tie-in to the way they reused their cast: Assuming that the long-retired Routledge wouldn't be up for a return, may I suggest Maggie Smith for A Cream Cracker Under the Settee* and Stephanie Cole in Waiting for the Telegram?
Talking Heads by Alan Bennett is available until June 2021 on BBC iPlayer.
Running time: 40 minutes (Miss Fozzard Finds Her Feet,) 25 minutes (The Shrine.)
Photo credit: BBC.
*I know, it doesn't seem an obvious match until you imagine her as Doris furious with herself for falling over
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