Cirrus@Austlit

Vaguely described in contemporary newspapers as

'an off-beat little section on youth's contact with the aged.

The two main characters, played subtly by Patience Collier as the aged lonely woman and Gary Bond as the lonely youth were really a minor essay on that subject.

Not quite ABC Australia stuff but very much BBC Australia stuff, apparently.'

Source:

'Under the Long White Shroud', The Canberra Times, 12 July 1966, p.11.

Richard Ciddle suspects his wife Clara of having an affair (as he himself is); when she admits it, he offers a divorce on the condition that he first meets her lover. Since she is not in fact having an affair, she invents one by kissing a stranger at London Airport, believing him to be about to fly out and therefore eligible for a mild deception. Not only is the man not leaving, he is subsequently hit by Richard's car, and the plan begins to unravel.

An archaeologist wishes to make a marriage settlement on his grand-daughter, to save taxes. Since she is already married, he convinces her and her apparently doting husband to separate and later remarry, as a reward for which she will inherit a stately home in magnificent grounds.