Jack Be Nimble

Made in 1980 for the third series of BBC2's 'Leap in the Dark' and written by poet Peter Redgrove 'Jack Be Nimble' is a curious story of witchcraft and female empowerment.

Jackie - played by future 'The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills' cast member, Lisa Vanderpump - is the latest in a line of empowered women and is coming into her abilties much to the fear of her family and friends as her growing abilities to predict such diverse things as maths, menstruation and motorbike crashes are increasingly alienating her from all those around her. Fortunately she has Grannie (sympathetically portrayed Audrey Noble) on her side who has a heartbreaking insight into what's going and can guide her to a resolution.

It is in parts a little incoherent and towards the end it trends towards amateurish pretensions, as does some of the acting, but it makes a valiant stab at highlighting the changing times for women and acknowledging the distance still to travel couched in a tale of witchcraft and magic that avoids many of the cliches of the genre and at it's end finds it's way to an open ended conclusion on the nature and use of Jackie's abilities.  

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