I do love an anthology series as you are never too far away from a new world and new ideas. By it's very nature, some episodes of an anthology series will stick with you more than others but that's the nature of the beast. I was born in 1981 so had never heard of Armchair Theatre, a series that ran from 1956 to 1974, but had heard that there were a few episodes that were still fondly remembered by those who had seen them. One of these was Red Riding Hood, written by John Peacock, which takes the old Grimm fairytale into a modern setting.
The tale is of Grace, played with wide eyes innocence by Rita Tushingham, who is a put upon librarian. She lives and cares for her elderly annoying father and travels to see her entitled ungrateful grandmother who lives further away. She dreams of escaping the financial pressures of her life and the rut that she finds herself in.
When Keith Barron, the killer/ wolf of this story, moves into Grace's nan's house after killing her, he has designs upon Grace. They bond over their love of books and their dreams of travel when he informs her that his nan has gone away to see family for a fortnight. Grace and the wolf connect and bond over the two weeks but her mental health starts to deteriorate as she reconcile the fact that this freedom and affection is built on the back of her nan's death and her father slowly dying from starvation.
I really quite enjoyed this 50 minute episode. The neat conceit shows that Riding Hood isn't a poor victim but actually a young who wanted to be free from the impositions put upon her by society. Even after finding out about her nan's murder she willingly decides to escape reality with the wolf, even if for a while. The denouement of Grace's fragile mental state and guilt over what may have been real or imagined overwhelms her she suffers a break whilst in the childrens' section if th library.
Overall, I really enjoyed this episode and commend the acting and barebones set design. It shows that with very little budget but a neat idea you can look at the familiar through a slight wonky lens and end up with something quite unique. Fairy tales were always cautionary tales that taught us lessons and morals to keep to the status quo and in this poor Grace tries to buck that but pays the price. This is a fascinating time capsule of 1970s fashion, gender politics and subversion of societal expectations. Women were wanting more autonomy and unfortunately much of society wasn't ready.