Permissive (1972)

Naive duffel-coated teen runaway Suzy (Maggie Stride) turns up in London and seeks out her old school friend Fiona (Gay Singleton), who is a groupie with drab prog rock no-hopers Forever More.

Fiona takes Suzy under her wing, but the band aren’t quite so keen – throwing her out when they leave London for a short tour. Forced to live rough, she hooks up with the Nick Drake-like Pogo (Robin Daubigny), making a living from busking, sleeping amongst the rubble of the capital by night.

But when Pogo is knocked down and killed, Suzy is forced to seek out Fiona again, this time carving out a niche with the band – working her way through the members (so to speak) and the manager – before picking up the main prize of lead singer Lee (Allan Gorrie) – and ousting Fiona from her position of ‘queen of the groupies’ at the same time.

In one scene, a hippy asks Suzy what she wants in life. “Something to eat,” she replies, neatly summing up the death of the 1960s dream.

Prog bands Comus and Titus Groan also star and nobody has any fun whatsoever.

Suzy
Maggie Stride
Fiona
Gay Singleton
Jimi
Gilbert Wynne
Lee
Allan Gorrie
Kip
Stuart Francis
Mick
Mick Travis
Onnie
Onnie McIntyre
Lacy
Debbie Bowen
Pogo
Robert Daubigny
Rick
Stuart Cowell
Coral
Nicola Austin
Groupies
Nicole Yearne
Suzy Randall
Juliet Adams
Linda Dean
Greta Nelson
Maria Vasilou
Susanna East
Cathy Howard
Samantha Bond
Maria Frost
Louisa Livingston
Madeleine Collinson
Mary Collinson

Director
Lindsay Shonteff

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