The Walls Came Tumbling Down

Harold Crombie (Robert Lang) is something of a nonentity - the sort of man who merges into the background so well that even his office colleagues barely notice he's there. 

For 25 unexceptional years Crombie has gone through the motions of his job-stamping "Seen and Approved" on various documents. At home, if anything, Crombie is even less chatty. Every evening and weekend he disappears, often carrying mysterious parcels into his room. Locked out in frustrated curiosity are his wife Esme (Joan Newell), their daughter Juliette (Anna Middleton) and their lodger, Captain Brickman (Ronald Fraser). 

Two happenings, however, are to have far-reaching effect. At home Captain Brickman storms Crombie's Citadel. 

And at the office Crombie strikes out, relieving his pent-up frustrations swiftly and unexpectedly by applying his "Seen and Approved" stamp to a pretty typist's knickers. 

The Walls Came Tumbling Down was a 60-minute comedy broadcast on 23 April 1966 at 10.15pm as an Armchair Theatre presentation. Also starring in the cast were Norman Bird, William Mervyn and Rita Webb. The play didn't meet with much critical approval, one critic calling the characters "supremely silly."     

Published on April 4th, 2020. Adapted from original TV Times (1966) article by Sarah Snow..