Secrets (play)
Encyclopedia
Secrets is a one-hour 1973 BBC Television
play by Michael Palin
and Terry Jones
, starring Warren Mitchell
as the owner of a chocolate
factory. The play was part of a series called Black and Blue
, which featured black and blue (saucy) comedy.
they have already been melted down, blended with the chocolate, boxed up as Secrets Chocolates and shipped off to Worthing
. Despite a desperate chase the boxes containing the men's remains are sold and eaten.
To everybody's surprise, market research
shows that the chocolate-eating public enjoyed the Worthing batch's unusual "full-bodied" taste. When the factory responds by blending beef with its chocolate recipe the results are disastrous. There is only one possible conclusion: the public enjoys the taste of human flesh.
Faced with bankruptcy there is only one thing the factory can do: admit what has happened, and then start "recycling
" corpses as chocolate ingredients. This proves to be an astonishingly popular move, and Britain
's economy flourishes thanks to cannibalism
.
Soylent Green
, which took an altogether more serious view of a similar subject, was released in the same year. A feature film remake of Secrets, Consuming Passions
, was released in 1988.
of the play was wiped by the BBC
following a large number of complaints after the first broadcast. The only known surviving version is a VHS
copy of a half-inch reel-to-reel domestic videotape
recording made by producer Mark Shivas
from the mastertape at the BBC and transferred onto VHS in the 1980s. In 2004 this version was included as an extra on the Region 2 DVD
of Palin and Jones's series Ripping Yarns
. The recording is fuzzy and grainy, frequently flickers and rolls and, at one point freezes completely for several seconds - probably as a result of early home video recorders only accepting half-hour tapes.
BBC Television
BBC Television is a service of the British Broadcasting Corporation. The corporation, which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a Royal Charter since 1927, has produced television programmes from its own studios since 1932, although the start of its regular service of television...
play by Michael Palin
Michael Palin
Michael Edward Palin, CBE FRGS is an English comedian, actor, writer and television presenter best known for being one of the members of the comedy group Monty Python and for his travel documentaries....
and Terry Jones
Terry Jones
Terence Graham Parry Jones is a Welsh comedian, screenwriter, actor, film director, children's author, popular historian, political commentator, and TV documentary host. He is best known as a member of the Monty Python comedy team....
, starring Warren Mitchell
Warren Mitchell
Warren Mitchell is an English actor who rose to initial prominence in the role of bigoted cockney Alf Garnett in the BBC television sitcom Till Death Us Do Part , and its sequels Till Death... and In Sickness and in Health , all of which were written by Johnny Speight...
as the owner of a chocolate
Chocolate
Chocolate is a raw or processed food produced from the seed of the tropical Theobroma cacao tree. Cacao has been cultivated for at least three millennia in Mexico, Central and South America. Its earliest documented use is around 1100 BC...
factory. The play was part of a series called Black and Blue
Black and Blue (TV series)
Black and Blue was a BBC TV comedy-drama series, first broadcast in 1973. It was so named because of the black and blue humour.The show consisted of 6 episodes of 50–60 minutes duration, each episode was a separate self-contained playlet...
, which featured black and blue (saucy) comedy.
Story
Three men fall into a mixing vat in the factory, and before anyone can shut down the production lineProduction line
A production line is a set of sequential operations established in a factory whereby materials are put through a refining process to produce an end-product that is suitable for onward consumption; or components are assembled to make a finished article....
they have already been melted down, blended with the chocolate, boxed up as Secrets Chocolates and shipped off to Worthing
Worthing
Worthing is a large seaside town with borough status in West Sussex, within the historic County of Sussex, forming part of the Brighton/Worthing/Littlehampton conurbation. It is situated at the foot of the South Downs, west of Brighton, and east of the county town of Chichester...
. Despite a desperate chase the boxes containing the men's remains are sold and eaten.
To everybody's surprise, market research
Market research
Market research is any organized effort to gather information about markets or customers. It is a very important component of business strategy...
shows that the chocolate-eating public enjoyed the Worthing batch's unusual "full-bodied" taste. When the factory responds by blending beef with its chocolate recipe the results are disastrous. There is only one possible conclusion: the public enjoys the taste of human flesh.
Faced with bankruptcy there is only one thing the factory can do: admit what has happened, and then start "recycling
Recycling
Recycling is processing used materials into new products to prevent waste of potentially useful materials, reduce the consumption of fresh raw materials, reduce energy usage, reduce air pollution and water pollution by reducing the need for "conventional" waste disposal, and lower greenhouse...
" corpses as chocolate ingredients. This proves to be an astonishingly popular move, and Britain
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
's economy flourishes thanks to cannibalism
Cannibalism
Cannibalism is the act or practice of humans eating the flesh of other human beings. It is also called anthropophagy...
.
Soylent Green
Soylent Green
Soylent Green is a 1973 American science fiction film directed by Richard Fleischer. Starring Charlton Heston, the film overlays the police procedural and science fiction genres as it depicts the investigation into the murder of a wealthy businessman in a dystopian future suffering from pollution,...
, which took an altogether more serious view of a similar subject, was released in the same year. A feature film remake of Secrets, Consuming Passions
Consuming Passions
Consuming Passions is a 1988 black comedy film conceived - though not actually written by - Michael Palin and Terry Jones. The film stars Vanessa Redgrave, Jonathan Pryce, and Sammi Davis and was directed by Giles Foster...
, was released in 1988.
Preservation and DVD release
The original videotapeVideotape
A videotape is a recording of images and sounds on to magnetic tape as opposed to film stock or random access digital media. Videotapes are also used for storing scientific or medical data, such as the data produced by an electrocardiogram...
of the play was wiped by the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
following a large number of complaints after the first broadcast. The only known surviving version is a VHS
VHS
The Video Home System is a consumer-level analog recording videocassette standard developed by Victor Company of Japan ....
copy of a half-inch reel-to-reel domestic videotape
Videocassette recorder
The videocassette recorder , is a type of electro-mechanical device that uses removable videocassettes that contain magnetic tape for recording analog audio and analog video from broadcast television so that the images and sound can be played back at a more convenient time...
recording made by producer Mark Shivas
Mark Shivas
Mark Shivas was a British television producer, film producer and executive. He began his career at BBC Television in the 1960s, and quickly became one of the department's noted producers...
from the mastertape at the BBC and transferred onto VHS in the 1980s. In 2004 this version was included as an extra on the Region 2 DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
of Palin and Jones's series Ripping Yarns
Ripping Yarns
Ripping Yarns is a British television comedy series, shown on BBC 2 from 1976 to 1979. It was written by Michael Palin and Terry Jones of Monty Python fame...
. The recording is fuzzy and grainy, frequently flickers and rolls and, at one point freezes completely for several seconds - probably as a result of early home video recorders only accepting half-hour tapes.
External links
- Secrets at the Internet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie Database is an online database of information related to movies, television shows, actors, production crew personnel, video games and fictional characters featured in visual entertainment media. It is one of the most popular online entertainment destinations, with over 100 million...
.