Playing Away

Monocle, pipe in clenched jaw, retired colonel and vicar showing slides of the Masai in the village hall for Third World Week - all this lacks is Basil Radford and Naunton Wayne for a picture of the Home Counties in the '30s according to Agatha Christie. The trouble is, it's set in the present. The annual cricket match between a Suffolk village and Brixton begins with a phone call from Derek (Farrell) - almost lockjawed with good breeding - to Willie Boy (Beaton), loveably demonstrative captain of the partying Brixton XI. Willie Boy dreams of returning to Jamaica, and his experiences in chilly Sneddington help him make up his mind. Most of the cultural exchanges are on the obvious level of introducing the whites to the herb, a bit of fancying, and the odd racist remark. The cricket match turns into a shambles, Brixton wins, but Sneddington discourteously fails to lay on an end-of-play 'Spot of lunch, old boy?' celebration. Miss Marple would have served tea and Osbornes at least.