The Optimists of Nine Elms (1973 Anthony Simmons)

Simmons also wrote the novel and adapted it with Tudor Gates, better known for Hammer films. He began making documentaries, then the odd feature such as Judi Dench Four in the Morning (1965), ended up directing TV episodes.

Two children, Donna Mullane and John Chaffey, in a grimy riverside Nine Elms, gradually befriend a street entertainer, Peter Sellars. There's something about the depressed setting and the girl's and Sellars' performances that make this so melancholic (she rarely smiles). A melancholy which I loved, I don't know why (like a grey day).

Shot by Ian Pizer with lots of footage put together well by John Jympson. The busker with the budgerigars (Don Crown) is amazing.

The music, fittingly enough, was by George Martin, who died on March 8.