{"id":5804,"date":"2025-12-18T18:18:20","date_gmt":"2025-12-18T18:18:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.survivors-mad-dog.org.uk\/blog\/?p=5804"},"modified":"2025-12-18T18:18:20","modified_gmt":"2025-12-18T18:18:20","slug":"morris-perry-talks-bollards-to-the-bbc-in-1976-nationwide-segment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.survivors-mad-dog.org.uk\/blog\/2025\/12\/18\/morris-perry-talks-bollards-to-the-bbc-in-1976-nationwide-segment\/","title":{"rendered":"Morris Perry talks ‘bollards’ to the BBC \u2013 in 1976 Nationwide segment"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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NEWLY RELEASED ARCHIVAL footage of the hugely respected British character actor Morris Perry\u2013who memorably appears as the misanthrope Doctor Richard Fenton in the third series Survivors<\/em> episode <\/strong>Mad Dog\u2013shows him as a representative of Islington council in London, persuasively making the case for the widespread introduction of parking ‘bollards’ on the borough’s streets.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The segment, shot on location on 16mm film in the Spring or Summer of 1976, was recorded as a news feature for the weeknight BBC early evening current affairs show Nationwide<\/em> (1969-83).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It became viewable online<\/a> earlier this week\u2013<\/strong>for the first time since its transmission\u2013<\/strong>as part of the project to release more material from the BBC’s archives onto the corporation’s official BBC Archive YouTube<\/a> channel. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The installation of ‘bollards’ of various designs across Islington\u2013to prevent drivers from parking their vehicles half-on-the-road and half-on-the-pavement on already busy streets\u2013had proved a controversial local party political issue in the mid-1970s, despite the benefits it brought to pedestrians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Debates in the Islington press about the development proved sufficient to attract the interest of Nationwide<\/em>‘s news editors\u2013<\/strong>who contacted the council.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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So what’s the connection between a Survivors<\/em> actor and ‘bollards’ being installed on the streets of London?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to his prolific and varied stage and screen career, Morris Perry was also a political actor. Elected as a Labour councillor in Islington in the 1970s, he was soon a natural fit to chair the borough’s Arts & Recreation Committee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The limited council records available online also suggest that Perry became chairman of Islington’s Planning Committee for a time. He would, of course, have been entirely unfazed at the idea of representing the council on camera, when the borough was looking for an effective public face.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The short Nationwide <\/em>feature mixes ‘vox pops’ with local residents with the opinions of two local council officials. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In contrast to the unfocused complaints of the (poorly prepared) opposition councillor, Perry is an articulate and unruffled defender of the bollards’ utility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While Perry’s natural fluency is instantly recognisable, for fans of his acting career, this news segment is an unexpected context in which to find him. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Within months of this Nationwide <\/em>appearance, Perry would travel to the Derbyshire Peak District to record the classic Survivors<\/em> episode Mad Dog<\/strong>, alongside Denis Lill (Charles Vaughan).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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