Ken Jones : great memories

I can remember Ken Jones popping up in some great comic roles throughout my childhood and teen years. The earliest that I can remember was a play about a man who suddenly decides to try and win an Olympic medal, albeit having no athletic prowess at all. He wakes every morning to the sound of the distinctive theme music from the 1964 Tokyo Olympic games. Despite being a shape totally at odds with long distance running, he maintains a strict training regime with hilarious ineptitude. In his first race (cross country) he suddenly becomes exhausted and collapses. When he does eventually finish in darkness, everyone else has gone home long ago. I presume looking at ken's long list of credits this must have been 'The Golden Vision', part of 'the Wednesday play' series. I don't suppose there is any tape of it about now, which is a sad loss. Does anyone else remember seeing this play?

A few years later i recognised him in the film 'Melody', brilliantly playing the school teacher Mr Dicks. Later on, he resurfaced in the very funny but (i think) underrated 'the Squirrels', which I hope does still exist somewhere and at some point in time, will once again grace our TV screens. Perhaps on a special nostalgia channel.

Add to this, his many excellent cameo appearances, particularly in 'Porridge' and 'The Liver Birds' and Ken has given me and countless others, a real good laugh over the years. Thank you very much.

'The Golden Vision' was a play about the great Everton footballer of the 1960's Alex Young, who was known by his nickname of 'The Golden Vision.' It is not the same as the play you have described.
Nevertheless, it was an entertaining and very enjoyable play which centred on a group of Everton supporters (including Ken Jones), and their all consuming passion for their football club.
It may be possible to obtain a copy if you are still interested.
best regards.

Hi Ron

thanks for taking the time to correct my assumption that 'The Golden Vision' was the play about the hopeless athlete with aspirations on winning a gold medal - you can see from the title why I thought it was the play. it was so long ago and I was quite young, so it's very possible that Ken Jones wasn't the lead part in the play - I'll have to put the synopsis on a discussion site and see if I can find anymore about it.

The real 'the golden vision' sounds like it was also a good play - was it a comedy? I remember Alex James, sadly only at the end of his career when he was playing for stockport (i think) against my local team gillingham in the old third division.

martyn

If I can understand you here - Ken Jones was certainly in the play about the man who wanted to go into the Olympics - he turned his home into a gym and trained obsessively every day - I don't know what it was called though.

Hi bongo

thanks for responding to my original message - its good to know that i have got the right guy - i'd forgotten that i'd written this about ken - i'll do some more investigating and see if i can come up with the title now?

martyn

Hi bongo

it was called

Go for Gold

http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/221010

That was it - I seem to remember it changed my life for a bit as I suddenly started running; soon got over that though.

We sing from the same hymn sheet, marty-124. I write this on the day Ken Jones has died. He was a wonderful character actor and I was always taken by his hangdog, 'loveable-rogue' persona. He was also a familiar face around Aberystwyth, my nearest town. He and his wife retired to this area a few years ago and I often bumped into him. We would nod to each other - strangers do around here. One day, I promised myself, I would tell him what I thought of his acting career.

Last year I finally plucked up the courage to talk to him, as he asked to join my table in a crowded cafe. Right! This was it! I told him that I always felt, as a kid, that a show would be worth watching if he was in the cast. This was before he ever did Porridge. I told him I loved his performance in a play as the would-be marathon runner for the Tokyo Olympics, who trained by running in his living room. At each end was an upright mattress and bed springs, so he could bounce off and fit 26 miles into 15 feet of flooring.

As I recall, he told me this was called The Golden Vision. When I looked it up, I could see it was about 6 different characters; whereas I remember this Olympic play as being a story all in one. My memories of it tally with your own. I was just telling my son about the ill-fated cross country run.

20 minutes ago I found a YouTube version of The Golden Vision - it does not seem to be the right one at all!!!!!!!!!!!! Ken Jons was over 80 when we spoke

I have come back to IMDB to dig further and have stumbled across your post first. And I have seen the reference to Going For Gold. Finding it is like gold so thanks to one and all.

And thanks to Ken Jones, RIP.

"Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence" Carl Sagan

Hi there

Firstly it is very sad to hear of Ken's death - ironically, on a day, when against the odds, Great Britain did actually win an Olympic gold medal, in the Skeleton bob sleigh. Would have been great if Ken had tried his luck at that sport as well - the thought of him hurtling down an icy tube on a5b4 tin tray is making me smile.

How fantastic that you got to meet him and express your admiration for his comic brilliance. And that he had an enjoyable retirement in a beautiful part of the country - i'm basing this opinion of Aberystwyth on the new police show Hinterland, which i think is filmed there?

It would be great to see Go for Gold (1973) again, it's such a shame that a lot of marvelous TV programmes were wiped in the sixties and seventies because of the high cost of video tape. Maybe it does exist somewhere and someday we'll get to see his hilarious performance again.

Thanks for posting, it's good to know that other people appreciated Ken's genius!

Yep, Hinterland (Y Gwyll, when first broadcast in Welsh only)is filmed all around here. The hotel in episodes 1 and 2 is my local.


"Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence" Carl Sagan

I might have viewed these episodes out of order as i'm finding it on "catch-up" - was the hotel the place with the hidden room where, at the end, they confront guilty party in the back garden.

Yes, that's it. I have removed bathrooms from rooms 7 and 8 - Room 10 was the bad one in the series! My previous office was in the building used as the police station.

It was funny - in the show, they left Aberystwyth to go to this hotel in Devil's Bridge (once a children's home, according to the script). When it switched to them in the car, on their way, I thought 'you're lost mate, there is no mountain road between Aber and Devil's Bridge'. When we see the car arriving, through the hotel window, I KNEW they were lost. Aber is in the opposite direction!!!!!!!!!

"Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence" Carl Sagan

HELLO EVERYONE , JUST FOUND THIS MESSAGE BOARD AND WANTED TO CONTRIBUTE TO KEN JONES TRIBUTE . oops caps lock on , well I'm very pleased Im not the only one who rated Ken highly , he was always great in all his appearances , very under rated for sure , I too was trying to remember the play for today and find it on you tube maybe, I thought it was going for gold , , but its not on there , I must say it was one of the best I ever saw , along with nuts in may Abigails party etc. etc. , Ken was brilliant , modelling himself on the famous Sydney Wooderson ! I remember it even after all these years so it must have been good . Pity its not available now maybe one day someone will have it and put it up there , I'm amazed by the stuff people have put up . I moved to Australia in 2003 , but keep up to date with UK on BBC website etc , but didnt know ken had died this year , on valentines day too . Such a loss , he was one of the UKs best comic actors for sure , I am sad to hear of his passing . Thanks for all the laughs Ken .