A comedy produced by Tyne Tees Television and originally transmitted on the 26th January 1968 that follows the adventures of Tony; a young man down on his luck as he tries to make a better life for himself. The film follows him falling in love with a young woman, gets a job in a factory and being lead-astray by two layabouts he meets in a pub. The film ends at La Dolce Vita nightclub where Tony wins roulette as well as the woman’s affections. The film also includes a number of dream sequences...

A comedy produced by Tyne Tees Television and originally transmitted on the 26th January 1968 that follows the adventures of Tony; a young man down on his luck as he tries to make a better life for himself. The film follows him falling in love with a young woman, gets a job in a factory and being lead-astray by two layabouts he meets in a pub. The film ends at La Dolce Vita nightclub where Tony wins roulette as well as the woman’s affections. The film also includes a number of dream sequences where Tony invents water and has a James Bond type adventure. The film opens on a misty and snowy view of the Newcastle skyline. The Tyne Bridge can just about be made out in the distance. Title: Tyne Tees Television presents A group of men walk underneath a large crane that is built on a quayside. Title: Turn-Up for Tony Tony rushes past in the opposite direction and nearly knocks into the men. He turns and smiles at the camera before walking around a snowy dock yard. Credit: Staring Tony Tanner The film cuts to another general view of the Newcastle skyline with the Tyne Bridge in the distance. A sign painted against the side of a large building reads ‘The Salvation Army Men’s Palace. Good Food and Beds’. The film fades to a corridor inside the Salvation Army building. A man in a long overcoat and cap comes out of a room and walking away down the corridor. The camera pans left as Tony appears in the doorway of his room wearing a scarf, jacket and flat-cap.  He bends down to pick up his worn-out shoes. The laces are made of string. Another man appears from the room next to his, tucking his scarf inside his long overcoat and walks away along the corridor. Tony returns to his room. Sitting on his bed Tony ties his shoe laces and sees that the front of the shoe has come apart at the seams.  He stands up and looks in a small rectangular mirror. The film fades to a dream sequence showing Tony in a smart business suit standing in front of a large round mirror looking at himself with pride. He puts on a bowler hat and holds up a Carnation to his jacket. A woman’s hand appears holding another Carnation which he takes and places it inside his lapel. The film fades back to Tony standing inside the Salvation Army room looking in the mirror. Feeling sorry for himself he takes out a tobacco tin and walks away. Standing in the doorway of the room Tony lights a cigarette by striking a match to the sole of his shoe. Suddenly a tramp appears behind him wearing a crooked hat, scarf. He jacket is held together with a piece of string. He looks intently at Tony as he lights his cigarette and smacks his lips together. Tony takes a satisfying drag from his cigarette and smiles. As he blows out the smoke he sees the tramp standing beside him. Tony tries to move away from the tramp to stand on the other side of the doorway but the tramp follows keeping his eyes on the cigarette and sniffing the air as the smoke blows in his direction.  In frustration Tony drops the cigarette into the tramps hand and walks away. With a big smile on his face the tramp takes a drag from the cigarette. Coming down a set of steep steps Tony comes out of the Salvation Army building onto the corner of Pilgrim Street and Dog Bank. Standing beside a set of railings he does a number of stretching exercises and runs on the spot to too keep warm. He turns and walks away down Dog Bank with the Tyne Bridge roadway passing overhead. Passengers get of the 59 ‘United’ bus that is heading to Blyth.  Commuters come out of Newcastle Central Stations and cross Neville Street.  As the camera follows them crossing the road it stops on Tony who is standing in the middle of the road with his hands in his pockets. The clock above the entrance to the railway station chimes and the face shows 9am. Tony crosses Neville Street and begins to walk up Pink Lane past an electrical shop that is having a sale. In the window of a shop he adjusts his scarf and walks quickly past a flatbed truck delivering beer to a public house. Standing inside a cigarette kiosk a young woman wearing a scarf over her hair arranges her display. Tony appears and doffs his cap to her. She smiles and offers him a cigarette. He drops a few coins in a tray, takes the cigarette and they begin chatting. Another man appears behind Tony wanting to buy a packet of cigarettes. Tony walks away. Outside ‘Harwood’s’ wallpaper shop and ‘Lindano’s Restaurant’ Tony looks back at the woman and smiles. From inside her kiosk the woman looks at Tony with a smile. Not looking where he is going Tony trips on his seamless shoe and falls to the ground. She looks at him with sympathy. He gets up, picks up his cap and walks away. The film cuts to Tony walking into the local ‘Unemployment Insurance’ office. He comes out and stands in the doorway looking unhappy. He turns up the collar on his jacket and walks over to a short wooden fence. He takes out a cigarette from his tobacco tin, sits on the fence and lights it. Again, the tramp appears and bends down towards Tony looking intently at the cigarette and then at Tony. Seeing the tramp Tony turns away defiantly and takes another drag. Realising there isn’t a chose in the matter Tony gives the cigarette to the tramp who comes to sit on the fence next to him. The tramp takes a drag from the cigarette and passes it back to Tony. There is a close up of Tony’s face looking depressed. He takes a drag and believes he is passing it back to the tramp. In fact a policeman is now standing beside him. He looks down at Tony and using just two fingers tells him to move along. Tony gets up, drops the cigarette and walks away. The camera pans down to the policeman’s feet where the cigarette has landed. The tramp bends down and picks it up and walks away. Tony and a number of other pedestrians walk along the road towards a tunnel over which is a railway line passes.    The film fades out and back to Pink Lane with Tony approaching the kiosk. Standing beside it he bends over to see if the woman is inside. Slowly he creeps closer to the kiosk and believes it to be empty. He looks around the far side of the kiosk before walking to the rear. The film cuts back to the front of the kiosk where the woman comes up from underneath the counter holding a broke piece of electrical equipment.  She opens the door at the rear of the kiosk which smashes into Tony. Looking dazed she catches him before he falls and helps him into the kiosk where he does fall to the floor. As she helps him up the policeman walks past and sees the commotion going on inside. From inside the kiosk the woman tries to explain the situation to the policeman as Tony crawls out of the back door. The film fades again to show an overhead view of Tony walking across a piece of waste ground. He comes to a stop on Scotswood Road and looks up in amazement at the newly completed high rise block of flats at Cruddas Park. A young couple push a baby in a pram past Tony who is standing on the site of some cleared houses. They cross Scotswood Road and make their way towards Cruddas Park. Tony looks up at one of the high rise flats and the film fades to another dream sequence. Inside one of the new apartments the woman from the kiosk is seen placing a bottle of Newcastle Brown Ale and glass on a dining room table. She stands back and check's her watch as she hears the front door closing. She walks over to a small mirror and check's her hair before standing looking expectantly beside a half open sliding door. Beside her is another door which opens and Tony, in a smart business suit and bowler hat, appears. Smiling he takes off his bowler hat and walks up behind the woman and places it over her face making her jump. They smile and they kiss each other. She takes his bowler hat and heads into the kitchen as he takes a seat at the table. She places his dinner on the table before him and Tony begins to eat. She looks down at him looking for his approval. As a joke he looking disapprovingly which she takes offence and walks off towards the door. Tony gets up from the table and stands in the doorway beside her, his arms around her elbows. He points inside the room which cuts to a small baby sleeping in a crib. The film cuts again to a line of cribs full of sleeping babies. She kisses him, goes into the room and places a sign on the door which reads ‘Man Wanted’. The film fades back to reality and Tony standing outside the gates of a factory. A sign hangs from the gate that reads ‘Man Wanted. Apply Inside’. Tony turns away, realises the situation and marches towards the factory. The film cuts to a set of double door which Tony begins to open. Looking worries he turns away and, in his imagination, see the woman standing with a sign around her neck reading ‘Man Wanted’. The word man is underlined which she is pointing at. With a look of determination he pulls open both double doors and marches inside. He knocks on the glass window of the reception deck, opens it and speaks with someone inside. Eventually he turns and walking into the factory where the film fades out. In a white boiler-suit, but still wearing his hat and scarf, Tony follows a foreman who is wearing a white lab coat through a factory. All around are machinery and pipes which the foreman points at. He takes a wrench from on top of a large drum and shakes it in Tony’s face. They continue walking towards camera. While the foreman isn’t looking Tony stops and stands on a set of industrial scales. The foreman on seeing Tony does not look amused and they continue out of shot. At a conveyor belt the foreman points out to Tony what he is expected to do. Tony looks on and seems to understand. The foreman walks away not looking convinced. Standing at the conveyor Tony uses hand gestures to try and remember what he is supposed to do. Along the conveyor a powder is being transported and Tony leans over and looks intently as it goes past. He picks from the powder granules and throws them over the side of the conveyor. As he reaches the far end of the conveyor his scarf gets stuck in the machinery which he has to pull out with some difficulty. To show the passage of time the film cuts between views of the conveyor and Tony standing over it looking bored, occasionally flicking granules. Eventually Tony is seen kneeling beside the conveyor flicking the occasional granule. Seeing the foreman coming down a set of stairs he quickly jumps to attention flicking bits of powder into the air. The foreman collects a sample of the powder in a jar the top of which is placed on the moving conveyor. Seeing it travel along the conveyor Tony picks up the lid, walks behind the foreman and when he is looking for the top Tony passes it to him. The foreman points to Tony to take the jar away. The film cuts to a laboratory surrounded by tubes and glass flasks. Tony gives the jar to a laboratory worker who has a fake goatee beard and glasses. The lab worker pours a sample of the powder into a test-tube, adds a liquid and stirs. As he holds the test-tube in the air he sees Tony standing beside him. He looks annoyingly at Tony who turns away and begins another dream sequence. The film cuts to a laboratory where Tony, in a fake goatee beard and glasses, is working on an experiment. A small glass beaker containing a colour liquid is attached to a series of clamps and tubes. The young woman from the kiosk appears beside him in glasses and is also wearing a lab coat. They look down at two beakers being shaken by a centrifuge machine. Their heads go up and down in time to the centrifuge before turning a looking at each other.  General view of the laboratory set up and two Bunsen burners heating two flasks. On the side of the laboratory table are two cylinders; one saying ‘Oxygen’ the other ‘Hydrogen’. As the woman writes in a notebook Tony walks around the table pointing out both cylinders. He nips a rubber tube and looks at his watch like he is taking someone’s pulse. He flicks a series of switches on a machine causing a series of small lights to come on. He speaks to the woman who makes a note in her book. Removing his glasses he walks around a tall piece of equipment before putting his glasses back on. He flicks a switch on the machine and the film quickly cuts back to the beaker with coloured liquid which is seen draining away. The centrifuge continues to shake as the film cuts to a close up of a series of droplets of clear liquid falling into a glass. Tony picks up the glass and passes it to the woman who looks on expectantly. She drinks from it before passing it to Tony who also takes a sip. Looking proud of his achievement the woman falls to the ground kneeling in front of Tony. The film cuts to a series of newspaper headlines. The first reads ‘British Scientist’s Greatest Achievement. Water is invented. H2O Formula’. The front page of the Daily Express reads ‘Water Could Link Empire. H2O=British Triumph’. There is also a photograph of Tony mopping his brow. The film cuts to the front page of the Daily Mirror which reads ‘Professor’s new wonder liquid. World Acclaims Drain Brain’ with another photograph of Tony. The front page of The Journal newspaper reads ‘Local scientist dramatic breakthrough. Water Means Jobs for N.E. Factories may be set up in near future’. Superimposed over a view of a cheering crowd Tony is seen waving majestically. The image fade to show a shelf in a public house full of glass bottles of water. A sign above the cash register reads ‘Water. Bottled or Draught’.  The film cuts to a woman pulling a pint of water from a barrel and a man drinking it. Another superimposed view of Tony appears waving in front of a view of a swimming pool with people diving in. A man takes a shower that is beside the pool. The film cuts to a naked woman taking a shower. She turns, with her hands across her breasts, and smiles at the camera. The film cuts to a man washing his car and then to a group of firemen putting out a fire with a hose which is spraying water high into the air. There are various views of water being used including fountains in a garden, someone flushing a toilet, water being pumped out of a dam and of a fast flowing river all superimposed over a view of Tony waving and saluting his achievement. In an empty studio Tony kneels on a gown that is laid out on the floor. Using a sword a woman’s hands dab’s Tony on each shoulder signifying his knighthood. The woman offers Tony her hand which he kisses. At this point the film returns to reality and Tony is seen kissing the hand of a young woman in the factory. She is holding a tray and places in his hand his pay packet. She smiles and runs away. Tony opens the packet and seeing the money inside smiles and walks out of shot. The film cuts to an exterior view of ‘City Stylish’ store. In the window are various men’s suits and shirts. Tony comes out of the shop in a new suit followed by a sales assistant carrying his old clothes. Taking only the cap Tony walks out of shot leaving the salesman holding his old clothes. Back in Pink Lane Tony, with a bouquet in his hand, check's himself out in the mirror of a shop window. At the kiosk the woman stands on the outside wearing an overcoat. She is closing the shutters for the day. The policeman approaches her and gives her a hand and chat together. In the background Tony comes into shot and seeing the two of them together and turns around. As the woman and policeman walk towards Neville Street Tony walks closer to the empty kiosk looking despondent. He turns and walks away back up Pink Lane giving the flowers to another woman who is standing on the pavement. At Neville Street next to ‘Lindano’s Restaurant’ the policeman and woman separate; the policeman turning left and the woman turning right. The film cuts to an exterior and window of a public house. The word ‘ Bar’ can be seen in the stained glass window. Tony walks past looking unhappy with his hands in his pockets. Seeing that the building is a pub he marches inside and stands beside the empty bar holding his money in the air. Two young men with quiff haircuts appear and stand either side of Tony. One of the men winks at Tony while the other smiles. A woman pulls three pints of beer into glasses which are balanced on a tray. The drinks are placed on the bar and Tony hands over a note in payment. The three begin to drink the beer. More beer is poured and paid for with smaller and small amounts of money. There are views of each of the men drinking and getting more and drunk. The film cuts to show various neon-sign hanging outside various Newcastle nightspots including  the ‘Lion & Lamb’, ‘Bacchus Lounge’, ‘Wine Cellar’, ‘Blaydon Bar’, ‘Balmbras’ ‘Music Hall & Buffet’. Carrying the drunken Tony the two layabouts stand outside La Dolce Vita nightclub. One of the men points at the neon sign. Tony, with cigarette hanging from his lips, tries to turn and walk away but the two men carry him inside.  He drops his cigarette which is picked up by the tramp who has cardboard tied around his ankles with string. He takes a drag. Inside the nightclub Tony is lead towards the roulette wheel by the two layabouts and is placed at the table beside a number of well-dressed men and women. Tony takes a pound note from his inside pocket which is handed over to the croupier by one of the layabouts. It is converted into a chip which is passed to Tony by the croupier using a rake. Taking Tony’s hand one of the layabouts places the chip on a number on the roulette table. As the ball spins in the roulette wheel Tony becomes dazed and another dream sequence begins. The film cuts to different roulette table in a darkened room. On one side of the table sits Tony in a white tuxedo beside a young woman. The croupier pushes over a large number of £5000 rectangular shaped chips as winning. On the other side of the table stands the young woman from the kiosk beside the policeman who is now dressed in dark tuxedo and has a patch over his right eye. Behind them stand the two layabouts also in dark tuxedos. Tony places a bet along with the policeman who also has a hooked hand. The wheel is spun and Tony wins the bet and is passed all the £5000 chips by the croupier. As the wheel is spun again for another bet Tony looks across to the woman who is winking at him in Morse code.  He writes the message down the wrist of his shirt. It reads ‘Save Me’. Tony smiles coyly as he looks at the hooked man who is holding a cigar in his other hand. He looks back at Tony angrily before getting up and dragging the woman away. She tries to fight and looks pleadingly at Tony. The film cuts to an askew view of a corridor with three doors. Walking slowly into shot Tony walks past the first door. One of the layabout’s jumps out from a doorway and Tony quickly hits him over the side of the neck knocking him to the floor. He walks onto the second door and is again attached by the second layout who is also knocked onto the floor. As Tony approaches the third door another man with moustache and tuxedo appears. They pretend-fight before Tony stops, takes a coin from his pocket and places it onto the back of his hand. As the man looks down at the coin Tony hits him over the back of his neck knocking him to the floor. Tony continues along the corridor and around a corner. Tony appears at a door that seems to be at the rear of a theatre. A wrapped fire hose hangs behind the door. Surrounded by ropes, baskets and crates the hooked man holds the woman by her wrist. She is kneeling on the floor as he leans menacingly over her shouts and points his hook at her in anger. Tony quietly enters the room. The hooked man takes one of the hanging ropes in his hook. As he does so Tony pulls on a rope that is hanging next to him and the hooked man is pulled into the air. As he hangs kicking in the air Tony approaches and helps the woman to her feet. They embrace and as the shadow of the swinging hooked man passes in front of Tony’s face he wakes up back in the nightclub.   At the roulette wheel turns for anther bet one of the layabouts wakes Tony up. They all look on in amazement as the croupier hands over to Tony a large number of chips. As the two layabouts begin to argue Tony slips away under the table. The two layabouts look around the club for Tony. With his winning chips in his hand Tony comes out from under the table and crawls towards the cash window. He hands overs his chips and while the woman counts out the cash he ducks-down beneath the window. Collecting his money he crawls towards the exit. Looking up a set of stairs Tony gets to his feet and heads towards the exit. Halfway down he knocks into a woman carrying a cigarette tray. It is the young woman from the kiosk. They both look at each other in surprise and mouth the word ‘You!’ They both laugh as Tony holds up his winning. Grabbing her wrist he leads her down the stairs, along a passageway and down a second set of steps. She tries to resist and packets of cigarettes fall of the tray onto the floor. They come down the final set of sets where he removes the cigarette tray from around her neck and places it on the cloakroom desk. The woman smiles and grabs her jacket which is behind the desk. Tony helps her put it on and with his arms around her shoulders they head out of the door into the street. As they come through the door they see the tramp standing there. Going back inside Tony pays for the cigarette tray which he hands it to the tramp. Tony and the young woman run off into the night. As the tramp begins to stuff his pockets with the cigarette packets the two layabouts come down the last set of stairs and ask the cloak girl if she has seen Tony. She points outside. Seeing the tramp standing just outside the nightclub they ask him if he has seen Tony. He points then in the wrong direction. He then takes a cigar from the tray and puts it in his mouth. The film ends with Tony and the young woman heading off into the night running along a snowy street past a telephone box. There is general view of the Tyne Bridge and Newcastle skyline at night. End credit: Tony, Tony Tanner End credit: The Girl Sheila Falconer End credit: Tramp Ted Lund End credit: Policeman Norman Mitchell End credit: The Layabouts Brian Baker and Derek Calder End credit: Forman Eric Longworth. Office Girl Angela Ellison. Lab Worker Brian Ellis. By permission of the Flora Robson Playhouse, Newcastle upon Tyne End credit: Story by Robert Tyrrell and Tony Tanner End credit: Music by Bill Hutchinson. Sound Effects Brian Ranger End credit: Director of Photograph Eric Coop F.R.S.A. Camera Assistant Peter Sandford End credit: Film Editor Peter Dunbar End credit: Produced and Directed by Robert Tyrrell End title: Turn-Up for Tony was filmed on locations in the North-East of England End credit: A TTT Production. Tyne Tees Television independent television for the North East of England