Sun 5 Mar 2017
A BBC TV Series Review by Michael Shonk: JANE (1982-84).
Posted by Steve under Comic Books, Cartoons, Comic Strips , Reviews , TV Comedy[7] Comments
JANE. BBC 2, 1982-84. Glynis Barbera as Jane Gay, Robin Bailey as Colonel Henry, Max Wall as Tombs, Dean Allen as Georgie Porgie, and Suzanne Danielle as Lola Pagola. Written by Mervyn Haisman; based on the long-running British The Daily Mirror comic strip “Jane” by Norman Pett. Title song written and performed by Neil Innes. Graphic Design Director: Graham McCallum. Illustrations: Paul Birkbeck. Producer Ian Keill. Directed by Andrew Gosling.
JANE was an odd and dated series even when it first aired in 1982. Jane Gay was a cheerful innocent blonde beauty whose love for adventure always resulted with Jane trying to save the day while wearing nothing but her underwear. Her loyal companion was her dog Fritz, a dachshund (aka wiener-dog).
JANE was based on a popular British comic strip created by Norman Pett, the comic strip JANE (aka JANE’S JOURNAL, OR THE DIARY OF A BRIGHT YOUNG THING) ran exclusive in The Daily Mirror from December 5, 1932 to October 10, 1959.
Jane has been adapted to other forms. Chrystabel Leighton-Porter played Jane in a burlesque stage play in the 1940s that traveled Britain entertaining the troops and town people during WWII. Leighton-Porter also played Jane in a 1949 film, THE ADVENTURES OF JANE directed by Edward G. Whiting. A 1987 movie JANE AND THE LOST CITY starred Kirsten Hughes and was directed by Terry Marcel.
The humor was juvenile, sexist and full of double entendres. The most unique aspect of the TV series was the settings. The actors performed in front of a green screen. Later a drawn background to resemble a comic strip background was added. The result featured an unusual look of the real actors performing within comic strip-like panels.
The TV adaptation was an hour long made up of five ten minute long episodes. The YouTube video of JANE has merged all five episodes together. There would be a second series two years later in 1984 called JANE IN THE DESERT.
Popular British actress Glynis Barber starred as Jane. Barber is better known for playing the strong independent roles of Soolin in Series Four of cult science fiction BLAKE’S 7 (1981) and Police Sgt. Harriet Makepeace in successful cop show DEMPSEY AND MAKEPEACE (1985-86). Jane was certainly a different type of woman for Barber to play, much to her credit Barber excelled in all three roles.
Set during WWII the story begins when Colonel Henry ask Jane to join him on a secret mission. The two are to meet a Professor in a haunted mansion. Before they can find the Professor they learn there is a Nazi spy in the area. Luckily for England, even stripped to her underwear does not stop Jane from fighting off Nazis and the Colonel’s advances.
JANE is a good example of a form of entertainment rarely seen today. That is a shame in a way. Jane was a determined woman who refused to let the limits she faced in that era’s culture stop her from experiencing a life of adventure. The men were all idiots for never seeing Jane as more than an object. Wisely, Jane willingly sacrificed her modesty for good of the entire free world — a job jolly well done.
March 6th, 2017 at 12:57 am
Jane spawned a few other strips (and I use the term advisedly), and lasted in various form well into the nineties.
The closest American equivalent was Milton Caniff’s MALE CALL for soldiers only.
March 6th, 2017 at 3:48 am
David, the comic strip was a big deal in England. It was created to win a bet as cartoonist Pett wagered he could created a comic strip as popular with adults as PIP, SQUEAK AND WILFRED was to kids.
In 1945 King Features tried to syndicate JANE to American newspapers, not a surprise with the nudity the strip failed here.
Besides Milton Caniff’s MALE CALL, wikipedia adds Pulp SALLY THE SLEUTH and LITTLE ANNIE FANNY as strips to owe JANE for inspiration.
MALE CALL starred Miss Lace who substituted for Caniff’s TERRY AND THE PIRATES character Burma.
Sally the Sleuth was created by Adolphe Barreaux in 1934 for SPICY DETECTIVE STORIES.
LITTLE ANNIE FANNY was done by Harvey Kurtzman and Will Elder for Playboy magazines.
America had been doing pornographic cartoons (often based on mainstream comic characters such as Popeye and Mickey Mouse) since the 1920s. But those were for small books and not any newspaper.
There are book collections of JANE, MALE CALL and LITTLE ANNIE FANNY. I don’t think Sally the Sleuth ever got her own book.
March 6th, 2017 at 4:52 am
The comic strip managed a fine light-hearted kind of suspense that was always readable.
March 6th, 2017 at 10:33 am
“The result featured an unusual look of the real actors performing within comic strip-like panels.”
Thank goodness for the YouTube videos. I hope they stay up for a while. This is a TV show that really has to been seen before you can understand how this series was produced. Amazing!
March 6th, 2017 at 3:18 pm
The settings tried to recreate the comic strip feel. The story, characters, and action can work in the fictional world of the comic strip but putting action in the real world would make everything too camp. Remember Batman in the 60s used comic strip sound effects written on the screen (Biff! Bam!).
In the 80s the sexism had to be softened by nostalgia (this was a character most of the audience had grown up with). It was interesting how it didn’t distract but how you the viewer got to accept it without noticing,
March 7th, 2018 at 7:55 pm
It is great that there is a space on Youtube for us to revisit this gem.
I agree, this series from its incarnation as a comic strip to a television series and later as a movie “Jane and the lost city” promoted fun and a sense of fantasy in a time of war, darkness and depression. If I can be critical of today, we seem to be doing the opposite. The world needs more Janes, brave, bold and beautiful and more entertainment that does not take itself too seriously but promotes the human need for fantasy and harmless humour. Top notch.
March 10th, 2018 at 2:30 am
Today’s PC world is too often humorless. In the era of Jane the boys enjoyed the pin-up art and the girls enjoyed the women outsmarting the idiot men that ran things.
But today we are learning more about the heroic woman of the past such as Jane and what limits they dealt with just to contribute. Today the Jane’s of this era no longer have to put up the Colonel Henry’s. This is a good thing.
The sex farce survives but it will change and adapt to the changing morals and culture. This Jane was dated after the 60s though hung on for decades.
If one can accept it as a spoof of the past it can still be a fun show to watch. And its visual style makes it an important one to view.