for a late July release. As Davies and Mitchell completed their script, the Arthur TV play began to crystallise, and British filmmaker Leslie Woodhead was assigned the role of director. By early September production was scheduled to begin, with a planned broadcast of late September, but these plans were continually delayed. As problems with the TV play got progressively worse—and, consequently, distracted the Kinks from completing the post-production of the album—the release dates for both projects were pushed further and further back. In early October Ray Davies moved from Borehamwood back to his old family home on Fortis Green, in Muswell Hill, and travelled to Los Angeles, where he delivered the tapes to Reprise for Arthur’s American release. The album’s release date was set for 10 October, and the Kinks began gearing up for an upcoming US tour to support the album, for which they would depart on 17 October. Shooting for the TV play was set for 1 December. Roy Stonehouse was hired as a designer, and the casting was completed, but the show was cancelled at the last minute when the producer was unable to secure financial backing. Davies and Mitchell were frustrated at an entire year’s work wasted: Doug Hinman said Davies witnessed "his grand artistic visions once again dashed by bureaucracy and internal politics". Story and theme The story is partially inspired by the Davies brothers’ older sister Rose, who emigrated to Australia in 1964 with her husband Arthur Anning. Her departure devastated Ray Davies, and it inspired him to write the song "Rosy Won't You Please Come Home", included on the 1966 album Face to Face. The lead character in the album, the fictional Arthur Morgan—modelled after Anning—is a carpet layer whose family's plight in the opportunity-poor setting of post-war England is depicted. Writer Julian Mitchell detailed the story line and characters in depth, explaining in the liner notes for the album's LP release: Davies later commented in his autobiography, X-Ray, that Anning later "told me that he... knew it [Arthur] had been partly inspired by him... [it] reminded him of home... I told Arthur that I felt guilty for using him as a subject for a song, but he shrugged off my apology, saying that he was flattered." With an underlying theme of nostalgia, the songs describe the England Arthur once knew ("Victoria", "Young and Innocent Days"), the promise of life in Australia for