''The Knowledge'' is a 1979 British

comedy-drama Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...

television film A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

about a group of men and a woman doing " The Knowledge", the training required to become a

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

taxi driver. It was directed by

Bob Brooks Bob Brooks (26 December 1927 – September 2012) was an American film director, photographer and advertising creative. He created numerous advertising campaigns, directed several thousand TV commercials in the UK, US and Europe, and directed ...

with an

ensemble cast In a dramatic production, an ensemble cast is one that is composed of multiple principal actors and performers who are typically assigned roughly equal amounts of screen time.Random House: ensemble acting Linked 2013-07-17 Structure In contrast t ...

including Nigel Hawthorne, Mick Ford,

Jonathan Lynn Jonathan Lynn (born 3 April 1943) is an English stage and film director, producer, writer, and actor. He is known for directing the comedy films such as '' Clue'', '' Nuns on the Run'', ''My Cousin Vinny'', and '' The Whole Nine Yards''. He als ...

and Maureen Lipman.

Plot

Four out of work

ers apply to do "The Knowledge" to become London taxi drivers. They have to contend with learning approximately 15,842 streets and 468 set routes as well as Mr Burgess, a notoriously sadistic examiner from the Public Carriage Office.

Cast

* Nigel Hawthorne as Mr Burgess * Mick Ford as Chris Matthews *

Kim Taylforth Kim Taylforth is an English actress. She is the sister of ''EastEnders'' actress Gillian Taylforth. She trained in acting at the Anna Scher Theatre School in Islington. Her earliest TV appearance was in the BBC sitcom, ''Steptoe and Son'', when ...

as Janet *

as Ted Margolies *

David Ryall David John Ryall
Retrieved 28 December 2014 (5 January 1935 – 25 December 201 ...

as Titanic * Michael Elphick as Gordon Weller * Maureen Lipman as Brenda Weller * Lesley Joseph as Val *

Gary Holton Gary Frederick Holton (22 September 1953 – 25 October 1985) was an English singer-songwriter, musician and actor from London. He was the frontman of the band Heavy Metal Kids (1972–1977), worked with Casino Steel (1981–1984), and played ...

as Eddie Hairstyle * June Watson as Lilian * Philippa Howell as Miss Stavely

Production

In 1978

Jack Rosenthal Jack Morris Rosenthal (8 September 1931 – 29 May 2004) was an English playwright. He wrote 129 early episodes of the ITV soap opera ''Coronation Street'' and over 150 screenplays, including original TV plays, feature films, and adaptations. ...

received a telephone call from

, an American who had lived in London for many years, wanting to make a film about something "exclusive to London". After some discussion they decided on " The Knowledge", the training and testing required to become a driver of a hackney carriage. They initially pitched the idea to Euston Films as a feature-length drama before settling on the concept of a comedy drama. Executive producer Verity Lambert agreed to commission a 90-minute television film, despite reservations that Rosenthal and Brooks would struggle working together. Rosenthal researched the story by accompanying taxi drivers around London to collect their stories about doing The Knowledge. Lambert later recalled "Jack Rosenthal and Bob Brooks had this good ideait was Bob's idea and Jack wrote it." It was the first production by Euston Films to make use of

Steadicam Steadicam is a brand of camera stabilizer mounts for motion picture cameras invented by Garrett Brown and introduced in 1975 by Cinema Products Corporation. It was designed to isolate the camera from the camera operator's movement, keeping th ...

. In his autobiography, Rosenthal describes Nigel Hawthorne as "such a lovely actor" who "gives a superlative, unforgettable comic performance as Mr Burgess, based on a real-life, notoriously sadistic examiner".

Reception

''The Knowledge'' was nominated for a BAFTA in the category Television, Best Single Play in 1980. When shown in 1995 on

Channel Four Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service in ...

during a

Thames Television Thames Television, commonly simplified to just Thames, was a franchise holder for a region of the British ITV television network serving London and surrounding areas from 30 July 1968 until the night of 31 December 1992. Thames Television broa ...

tribute, film historian Geoff Phillips described it as "certainly the best TV play Britain has ever produced". In 2000 it was voted #83 in the BFI TV 100. A theatrical adaptation of the film, directed by Maureen Lipman, was staged at the Charing Cross Theatre in London, running from 4 September through 11 November 2017. The cast included Steven Pacey as Mr Burgess.

References

External links

*
''The Knowledge''
at

BFI The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

Screenonline Screenonline is a website about the history of British film, television and social history as documented by film and television. The project has been developed by the British Film Institute and funded by a £1.2 million grant from the National Lo ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Knowledge 1979 films British comedy films 1979 comedy films British television films Films about taxis 1970s English-language films 1970s British films