Marxist feminist meets factory boss. Sparks fly, and not the romantic kind... at first.
Season 1 • Episode 4
LatestSummer Term. Robyn returns to Rummidge to find urgent messages from Vic and Charles - and from Philip Swallow, inviting her to meet a famous American visitor. What will happen to Robyn and Vic in their relationship and their careers? The endings of the Victorian novels taught by Robyn may provide clues.
Dr Robyn Penrose is a lecturer in English at Rummidge University. Vic Wilcox is the Managing Director of Pringle's, an engineering firm in Rummidge. They meet when Robyn is told by her Head of Department to "shadow" Vic as part of Industry Year. They are initially hostile to each other but gradually come to understand each other's point of view. Based on the novel by David Lodge.
Acting
Gwynne and Clarke's exquisite hostile chemistry
Writing
Lodge's razor-sharp academic satire intact
Production
Perfect grimy 1989 Midlands authenticity
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
David Lodge loosely based Rummidge on Birmingham, where he taught. The university scenes were filmed at his actual institution.
Released at the tail end of Thatcherism, the series captures the exact moment British universities were being forced toward 'enterprise'—Robyn's Industry Year placement was painfully real policy.
GB
