Tip jar

If you like CaB and wish to support it, you can use PayPal or KoFi. Thank you, and I hope you continue to enjoy the site - Neil.

Buy Me a Coffee at ko-fi.com

Support CaB

Recent

Welcome to Cook'd and Bomb'd. Please login or sign up.

March 28, 2024, 01:16:02 PM

Login with username, password and session length

'Whatever Happened To The Likely Lads?' thread

Started by Serge, July 15, 2015, 03:25:16 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

Serge

Oh yes, I should mention, just because I do get a little tired of Audrey constantly attacking Terry, that's to take nothing away from Sheila Fearn, who plays the part brilliantly. It's good that they managed to keep her and Olive Millbourn as Mrs Collier to give the show some consistency. I seem to remember reading somewhere that Fearn had given up acting, but would come out of retirement if they ever did another 'Likely Lads' (I think we should start calling a reuinion 'The Unlikely Lads', seeing as it's never going to happen...)


monkfromhavana

My favourite sitcom of all time too.

I just like the themes, which are timeless (settling down vs living life and how priorities change over time), and the fact that it always makes me laugh. I always loved the Christmas special where they go out for a quiet pint at lunch and come home on a forklift. Thelma looking out the window seeing Bob go up 'n' down.

Off-hand, the only jarring bits for me is the "is he being rude?" line that Thelma's mum uses far too often.

Serge

I don't mind that line so much, but it's a shame that Joan Hickson couldn't/wouldn't play the role in the second series. Nothing against Noel Dyson, but she just doesn't quite come across as being as formidable as Hickson.

Serge

And so, the next two episodes. I'll Never Forget Whatshername is, quite simply, sitcom writing at its peak. Every scene, every line of dialogue (with one exception - I'll come to that) shines, and the actors rise to it perfectly. The highlight for me is the scene where Terry goes around to see Bob the day after his cheeky phonecall[nb]And did Terry and Thelma get it together on that supporters club outing in 1967? Although it's never confirmed either way in this episode, a line of dialogue in an episode of series 2 would seem to indicate that they did.[/nb] The references to Thelma needing sal volatile, Terry's 'It'll never stand up in court', Bob's face approaching Prince George levels of smugness, especially at the line, "I did" (or "Ah did" as he pronounces it), and all of the dialogue about 'eight stars' - this is all pure gold.

Other highlights are Bewes' background acting during the scene where Thelma is phoning a friend to see if she'll go out with them and Terry, Bolam's tour-de-force performance on the phone in the opening scene (I always love 'one-sided' phonecall acting) and Thelma grabbing the incriminating photo and checking the inscription. As I mentioned before, the tightness of Clement & Le Frenais' scripts are a marvel - the way that Bob's self-righteous bleating at his perceived wronging builds and builds through the episode until he has the rug pulled from under his feet by Jackie Norris' revelations at the end is amazing (though he still ends up with the last laugh.)

First appearance of Jack and Gloria (though Jack is called 'George' in this episode for some reason) and their particularly welcoming pub. In fact, the only thing that bothers me about this episode is one line of dialogue that Thelma has, when she asks of Jackie's brother, "Didn't he used to cycle down potholes?" Why would the clever and sensible Thelma come out with such a ridiculous line? But anyway. Ignoring that, this is comedy at its best, and a treat from beginning to end.

References to Terry's injury that he never talks about: 1. Total so far: 8.

And Birthday Boy is almost as good. The first appearance of Olive Milbourn, perfect as Mrs. Collier. First reference(s) to Deidre Birchwood. Classic business with a pair of ear-rings ("I'm not a bloody gypsy!") Interesting that Bolam is playing a character nearly nine years younger than his actual age. (Bewes a mere 7 years older than Bob.) The scene between Bob and Terry in the living room is great - Terry refusing to be brightened by any of Bob's encouragement. Bob can't share a birthday with Bruce Forsyth if he's a Capricorn, though - Brucie's birthday is 22nd February, which makes him a Piss-ces. (And, out of curiosity, I looked up James Ogilvy, who is supposed to share a birthday with Terry, to find that he was born on 29th February - a layer of humour built in that's so subtle it's unreal.)

But the highlight of this episode is the scene between Terry and Colin in the pub - the escalating heights of silliness in the conversation between two men who've only just met for the first time is still perfectly realistic. Brian Grellis is fantastic in this episode, and, although it wouldn't have fitted in with the show realistically, it's a shame that he couldn't have become a regular character - I still like to believe that he and Terry became friends and hung out together afterwards. Also:
"Hello!"
"You what?"

A party with Juliet Bravo and Biggins! (The latter becoming the second cast member in common with 'Porridge'.) Podge is actually a bit of a prick in these scenes, moaning about wanting to go to the pub for darts, and making his swift exit as soon as he can. Some of Brigit Forsyth's facial reactions during these scenes are brilliant. And another perfectly executed pay-off. How good is this show?

No references to Terry's injury in this one, sadly.

monkfromhavana

Cheers Serge! Thanks to your re-watching I've discovered that there are several episodes I'd forgotten about completely. I only watched them again last year on YT after about a 20-year gap and it appears that they're missing several episodes.

Twibbie

Found all this stuff on YouTube (all of which should have been included in the DVD boxset):

+This channel with loads of old radio comedy including all the radio episodes of The likely lads. I've downloaded all the ones for which there is no TV episode equivalent. It looks like there's a ton of interesting stuff that has been kindly shared.

+The likely lads - Christmas night with the stars from Christmas 1964, only shortly after the first series had launched. The material's not great compared to the normal stuff but it's a nice curio. Somehow it looks much more Christmassy than most sitcom Christmas episodes, i wonder if that's just because of the lo-fi picture.

+Of course the full Whatever TV theme.

Anyway. Working through Whatever now, the first three episodes are all very strong, with 2 and 3 respectively getting straight down into the pair's differing philosophies. Terry's rant about everyone living in the same house, getting up at the same time, having the same low-calorie breakfast cereal, going to work at the same time, coming home at the same time and having it off the same two nights of the week is incredibly cutting. Bob's retort: What's wrong with wanting to be the same as other people? What's wrong with progress? Why romanticise the past? What i always love is that this isn't some deft subtext, Clement and La Frenais put these major social questions front and centre and sit there picking at them like a scab for the entirety of the show.

Moving on and I'll never forget whatshername mark a bit of a change in mood to me. There are still some corking lines and set-ups, and the details and performances are fine-tuned as Serge is forensically describing but it's around this point i think the pacing of the jokes slows down a bit - i remember thinking this last time i watched them through. It's a testament to the quality of the plotting and dialogue that the show is just as watchably alive even when this is the case. Terry's cheeky phone call is a monumental laugh, one of those bits where knowing the punchline actually adds to the excitement of seeing it coming, like the little piggies galloping up Terry's spine in the earlier episode.

Were 13-episode series common when this was made? I'm always struck by the pacing of the storyline arcs, it adds so much believability. You mentioned the constant name-dropping earlier, i think if the show rattled through more quickly these would feel a lot more like the props they are than the actual real emotionally-attached anecdotes they come across as.

Serge

The only other 13-episode comedy show I can think of is 'Monty Python's Flying Circus', but I'm sure there are others. The fact that, including the Christmas special, they wrote 27 episodes of this in two years is pretty incredible.

Serge

As I've already written about No Hiding Place on here before, I'll just link to that here. But I will add that Brian Glover is the third actor common to both this and 'Porridge' and Audrey's line about her imaginary limbo dancing lover lowering his pole is a sudden piece of smut that I never expect from her!

Guess Who's Coming to Dinner? is another classic, which tells its story in just four scenes (three, if you include the whole piece at Alan & Brenda's as one scene.) The first is a lengthy scene at Terry's, where he sits in his armchair whilst his mother, Bob and Audrey all take turns at taking potshots at him. (Though I have to agree with his mother about his annoying habit of using several cups rather than one.) Two lines eerily prefigure later moments in Bolam's career - he's twice compared to Andy Capp, who, of course, he went on to play in ITV's short-lived screen version in the eighties, and the line about him only using rude words when playing Scrabble is echoed in a later scene from one of the Beiderbeckes, where he and Barbara Flynn play a game of rude-word Scrabble. [nb]Of course, it's entirely possible that Alan Plater was deliberately referencing this - Terry Collier and Trevor Chaplin do share the same initials, after all.[/nb]

The ubiquitous Julian Holloway - I'm convinced he appeared in literally everything that was made in the seventies[nb]EDIT: And it only just strikes me that he makes an appearance in 'Porridge' too, albeit the film version.[/nb] - is great as Alan in the second and third scenes. Brenda is even ruder to Terry than even the script makes out - he is, after all, asking after her parents and her auntie Elsie, and it's nice of him to remember them, but Brenda would rather forget her entire past before she went up in the World. This episode contains one of the cleverest jokes ever:
"Terry would never deny he grew up above a chip shop."
"I never grew up above a chip shop...."
And Brigit Forsyth is on top form as Thelma again.

The final scene is back at Terry's and he's back in the armchair again. It's very touching that he's so grateful towards Bob and Thelma for defending him. The exchange about the metamorphosis of the frog has another great pay-off too.

References to Terry's injury that he never talks about: 1.  So far: 9.

Twibbie

Quote from: Serge on July 18, 2015, 09:46:07 PMAnd Birthday Boy [...] Some of Brigit Forsyth's facial reactions during these scenes are brilliant.

Was going to mention Forsyth's reaction when Terry's feeling the girls in the living room and mentions her. She doesn't know whether to be angry, embarrassed or bullish and ends up none of the above. Perfect. That whole scene is just one great line after another. Terry being rude about other people might seem like easy writing but his insults are so sharply worded.

Terry's completely unreasonable behaviour during the eye spy in No hiding place, to say nothing of his homophobia and xenophobia towards literally every nationality in the world... it's really quite astonishing that he's such a sympathetic character. In the hands of different writers and a different performer he could so easily have hit the wrong note.

Completely with you regarding Olive Milbourn, who's absolutely towering in Guess who's coming to dinner. Weary, frustrated, taken advantage of, but her devotion to Terry is never in doubt for all her complaining about him. The building tension between Brenda and the rest is perfectly pitched, as is Terry's genuine appreciation of Thelma (him not even being able to bring himself to say "we haven't always seen eye to eye"). And the line about the "deep south", i've somehow overlooked that in previous viewings.

Serge

Ha ha! Yeah, I love the 'deep south' line. I think Julian Holloway plays it perfectly when Terry is slagging off London football clubs - a sort of sad puzzlement that he hasn't encountered anybody who could hate a whole swathe of people because of where they come from. You're right about the writing and the performance making Terry a more sympathetic character, though.

Birdie

Hey Serge, why not check out The Sitcom Club on iTunes hosted by this site's very own Mooncat and Ocho?  They've just covered the Likely Lads and also did Going Straight quite recently also:)

Serge

Sadly, with my limited attention span, I would just get bored listening to it. Which is not to cast a slur on either Mooncat or Ocho, just that I can't listen to things like radio or podcasts without my mind wandering. I can listen to music all day long, and read or watch TV, but just listening to people talking is not something I can do.


ajsmith

I'll just stick this likeably tuneful tribute song* to Rodney Bewes (featuring liberal use of quotes from the 1974 Xmas special) here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8RB8IiGyM8

*Not by me or anyone I know.

Ignatius_S

Quote from: Twibbie on July 19, 2015, 02:51:57 AM...Were 13-episode series common when this was made?..

Yes, but shows wouldn't always stick with that for the entire run - so a show might have 12 episodes, then 13 for the next series.

Dad's Army and Steptoe and Son definitely did at times and I'm almost sure two favourites of mine, On the Buses and Bless This House had some series of 13 episodes. The ITV Doctor sitcoms in the 1970s has long series – just had a quick look and between 1969-79, there were nine series (with varying names) and 150 episodes in total. There was a tenth series in 1991 with a much more modest seven episodes. As George Layton has been mentioned in this thread, there is a connection!

In any event, the 13 episode structure of Whatever really worked to the narrative as you say.

ajsmith

Do people think the mythical posited  90s series would have been worthwhile? Would it have been a  worthy continuation, or a regretted 'Liver Birds '96' style memory-ruining travesty? I always regretfully think it probably would have been actually pretty good, in a parallel universe where Bolam wasn't a pompous prick.

Ignatius_S

Quote from: ajsmith on July 20, 2015, 02:43:08 PM
Do people think the mythical posited  90s series would have been worthwhile? Would it have been a  worthy continuation, or a regretted 'Liver Birds '96' style memory-ruining travesty? I always regretfully think it probably would have been actually pretty good, in a parallel universe where Bolam wasn't a pompous prick.

Firstly, I don't think we can put this all on Bolam – there would be a lot of other variables at play. Secondly, he didn't want to do Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads; however, when told about the ideas for the series, he laughed so much that he agreed to it there and then. Maybe if he was convinced by the quality, he would do it? It's not as if everything he does is gold.

With regards to the Bolam and Bewes relationship, the former takes his work very seriously and going from memory, but I think there were issues when Whatever was being made. Both muff lines in episodes, but I would say that it's far more evident with Bewes. In the book, which I mentioned earlier on, one of the writers made some reference to Bewes can be 'a silly boy' sometimes.

IIRC, another revival was first touted in the mid to late 1980s and every so often, it's been trotted out again with new/changed details. For example, Terry had a big payout when knocked over (whilst drunk) by a car, which become him winning the lottery. However, for quite a few years, Clement and La Frenais have said they haven't bothered trying to discuss it with Bolam as there would be no point, so not sure why it still gets talked about.

The Auf Wiedersehen, Pet revival was well received but it was trading on the earlier show an awful lot and my own view is that it didn't bring anything new to the table. Whatever is one the great comedy sitcoms that has the rare distinction of a sequel being better than the original series – for me, another series there would have carried too much risk for too little gain.

Although I liked the basic idea for a third bit of the cherry, I did feel there was a risk of everything has gone/goes badly for Bob but Terry is laughing, excessively. When the writers had expanded on their ideas in public, that's what it sounded like had happened. Cue lots of 'it's so unfair'. Also, although I'm sure it would have worked, why not mix things up? There was a comment along the lines that naturally, Terry would be single – why?

One of the truly great elements of the first series of Whatever is that there was some commentary what was happening in society at the time. Although the second series is still excellent, that element was lacking to the overall detriment. This is not disrespect to either writer, but they've lived in LA for three decades or so (actually, one might live over here part of the time) which I think would make it hard to incorporate that element again. My gut feeling that the driving desire to do chiefly because of a fondness for the characters – that's understandable (very) but not sure if that's enough.

monkfromhavana

I'd still take Bewes over Bolam any day of the week. Bolam is by far the better actor, but everything I've read about him seems to suggest that he's utterly humourless in real-life. I could understand him not wanting to talk about "WHTHLL" if it had typecast him, but it clearly hasn't.

It's why, for largely the same reasons, I will always prefer Lewis Collins to Martin Shaw.

Ignatius_S

Quote from: monkfromhavana on July 20, 2015, 09:42:13 PM
I'd still take Bewes over Bolam any day of the week. Bolam is by far the better actor, but everything I've read about him seems to suggest that he's utterly humourless in real-life. I could understand him not wanting to talk about "WHTHLL" if it had typecast him, but it clearly hasn't....

Michael Glynn, who produced two of the parts of the Beiderbecke Trilogy, describes Bolam as a "kind individual" particularly to other actors if they're having trouble when nailing a piece of business. The series writer, Alan Plater commented that Bolam's co-star, Barbara Flynn, thought he was wonderful because he was so supportive of everyone on the set and made their life a lot easier. Bolam is intensely private and is the sort of person who doesn't come across that well when being interviewed (there was a Wogan interview, where he's clearly uncomfortable) but he's hardly the only actor to be like that.

Another person that Bewes hasn't spoken to in years is his brother, because of the latter, ironically, spoke to the press.

Serge

Quote from: Ignatius_S on July 20, 2015, 03:34:48 PM
Secondly, he didn't want to do Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads; however, when told about the ideas for the series, he laughed so much that he agreed to it there and then.

I didn't know that Bolam was resistant to 'Whatever Happened To...?' I'm glad they did manage to win him round.

QuoteWith regards to the Bolam and Bewes relationship, the former takes his work very seriously and going from memory, but I think there were issues when Whatever was being made. Both muff lines in episodes, but I would say that it's far more evident with Bewes. In the book, which I mentioned earlier on, one of the writers made some reference to Bewes can be 'a silly boy' sometimes.

I have heard that Bewes was notorious for fluffing lines quite badly, usually towards the end of a scene, meaning they had to retake, though as you point out, there are plenty of fluffs by both of them that are kept in.

I've long thought that the idea of the 'Whatever Happened To Whatever Happened To The Likely Lads' (as they should call a third round) that gets trotted out about Terry being rich and Bob struggling is just a pat answer that Clements and le Frenais have come up with when they're asked that inevitable question, and that they probably haven't thought much deeper than that about how that would work.

I'm probably not going to get much chance to watch much more this week due to work, but I will carry on reviewing each episode as and when I get a chance to catch up with them.

Ignatius_S

Quote from: Serge on July 20, 2015, 10:48:52 PM
I didn't know that Bolam was resistant to 'Whatever Happened To...?' I'm glad they did manage to win him round....

I'll have to check the Webber book, but I think the response was 'No... not with him'. However, one of the writers took him out for a meal (and wine) and went over the ideas, which Bolam adored and laughed heartily at.

This interview was quite an interesting one by Bolam:

QuoteDon't mention the L-word, you're warned before interviewing James Bolam. The actor who played the incorrigibly laddish Terry Collier in The Likely Lads is apparently loath to discuss anything about Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais's classic sitcom. Emboldened by Bolam's twinkly manner, however, I took courage and brought up the unmentionable over lunch with him last week. I lived to tell the tale.

At first it looked like I wouldn't, as he frostily declared that he never bothers to watch the re-runs which are doing so much to make him popular with a whole new generation. "It's something I did 25 years ago," he harrumphed. "Do I want to see how I was then? No, thank you. It's depressing enough to see how I am now."
Then he pooh-poohed the idea that he might keep in touch with his co- star Rodney Bewes, who played Bob Ferris, the other Likely Lad. "Why should I?" he asked. "In this business, you do one job and then move on. You wipe everything else out - you have to. You can't live in the past."

But he melted before you could say, "What became of the people we used to be?" Smiling slowly over his plate of spaghetti in a central London restaurant, Bolam soon proved more than happy to talk about the role he is still most famous for. "The Likely Lads has lasted because the characters struck reality," he reckoned. "People could identify with them. Mothers could identify with sons, and sons could identify with themselves.

"The series works so well because there's an underlying truth about it all," he continued, suddenly and unexpectedly warming to his theme. "That's why classics are classics. When you watch Laurel and Hardy, there's a fundamental truth about them, a believability which I never find with Chaplin. In the same way, you can believe in Bob and Terry."

Bolam's one worry has always been that he will be typecast as Terry. "That's always a danger," he nodded. "In those days, if you did an ad, you were persona non grata. Now you do an ad, and you get a series out of it."

Over the years, Bolam has been associated with some of the best writing television viewers can buy - from The Likely Lads, through When the Boat Comes In to The Beiderbecke Affair. He is concerned that original writing of this quality is becoming a seriously endangered species. "Things get turned down now because the TV companies feel they won't get the ratings," he lamented. "Producers don't want to make a mistake, so they just do what everyone else does. People won't take risks as much as they did. The BBC used to produce terrible things as well as wonderful things. You have to have the licence to make a fool of yourself."

A fit 59-year-old, Bolam is still very much in demand. He has already played leading roles in two successful BBC1 dramas this year - Have Your Cake and The Missing Postman (released this week on video). Producers like his sure presence on screen. "I'm quite singular and strong in my approach," he confirmed. "I tend to know what's required. A lesson I've learnt over the years is that you can only do one thing at a time. Too many actors try to do too much and end up falling between two stools. That's why I like directing [he has mounted several successful theatrical productions]. You can say to the audience, `There's where you watch'. If you have too much going on, it confuses them."

He is soon to appear as an out-and-out psycho in a one-off TV drama, The Stalker's Apprentice. "Evil guys are not hard to get into," he said, with relish. "Baddies are always much more fun. Goodies tend to be reactive, whereas baddies tend to make things happen."

A modest, unassuming man, Bolam has long shunned the limelight - he was granting me a rare interview. As we parted, he reflected on his past reticence with the press. "One should be judged not by what one is, but by what one does," he mused. "Also, the media encourage the notion that you are like your parts. Does that mean that you can't play Macbeth unless you go out and murder someone, or that you can only play Hamlet if you don't like your mother? It's just acting."
http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/tv-eye-bolams-boats-come-in-1244604.html

Quote from: Serge on July 20, 2015, 10:48:52 PM...I have heard that Bewes was notorious for fluffing lines quite badly, usually towards the end of a scene, meaning they had to retake, though as you point out, there are plenty of fluffs by both of them that are kept in...

Personally, I quite like that they are kept in – if anything it emphasises the overall brilliance, rather than detracts from it. Also, I think they can show how good Bolam is – there are some muffs that I feel are only really noticeable from repeated viewing.

Quote from: Serge on July 20, 2015, 10:48:52 PM...I've long thought that the idea of the 'Whatever Happened To Whatever Happened To The Likely Lads' (as they should call a third round) that gets trotted out about Terry being rich and Bob struggling is just a pat answer that Clements and le Frenais have come up with when they're asked that inevitable question, and that they probably haven't thought much deeper than that about how that would work....

My impression they've put more thought into it:

QuoteThey debated reviving The Likely Lads in 1996, "but because of Jimmy's attitude it wasn't even worth exploring," says La Frenais, who explains their planned sequel:

"Rodney had started a business and gone bankrupt, and Terry had been in a car crash that didn't really hurt him but got an enormous insurance settlement, so he ended up better off than Bob.

"And Bob's two children had let him down: one was a roadie, and the other was in rehab."

AND if the series was still going today? "They'd be retired," says La Frenais. "Terry has his nest egg from the car crash.

"Bob would have recovered from his bankruptcy and bought a place in Spain, but sold it to a British gangster who paid way less than Bob paid for it. It's a litany of disaster for Bob."
http://www.express.co.uk/life-style/life/539563/Dick-Clement-Ian-La-Frenais-The-Likely-Lads

The whole piece is worth a read – but notice how 'revue' was spelled - and I liked this:
Quote
"I remember a night shoot, where Rodney and Jimmy had to run up the street," says Clement, 77.
"They disappeared around the corner and didn't come back. We found them in a pub. They'd had enough of filming."

shiftwork2

I can't really contribute to the thread but I'd like to say this is a cracking read chaps, keep it up.

Serge

Quote from: Ignatius_S on July 22, 2015, 01:46:02 PM'No... not with him'.

Blimey....that sounds like there was already tension between Bolam and Bewes, though I wonder from which side that might have come?

QuotePersonally, I quite like that they are kept in – if anything it emphasises the overall brilliance, rather than detracts from it. Also, I think they can show how good Bolam is – there are some muffs that I feel are only really noticeable from repeated viewing.

Yeah, they are really things you only notice when you've watched them to within an inch of their life, like I have! It's like Rowan Atkinson's stumble in his first scene with Tom Baker in 'Potato' - you only really pick up on it on a later viewing.

I remember Bolam in 'The Missing Postman'! I'd already enjoyed the novel (by Mark Wallington, who I think also wrote the screenplay) and although he wasn't the first person I'd have thought of to play the title character, he was excellent. Jim Carter was also his usual quality self as the copper in that. Thanks for that interview, it sheds some interesting light on Bolam - though his quote about working with people and moving on did put me in mind of David St Hubbins claiming that in a week he wouldn't miss Nigel Tufnel any more than he'd missed Ross McLochness!

Will hopefully get a chance to watch a few more episodes tomorrow - a day off with no plans!

Serge

Storm In A Tea Chest next. I do actually get annoyed with Terry's whinging about the lifting and carrying he's having to do - for the most part, it's one fairly moderate tea chest full of odds and ends he's having to hump about, not a container full of lead tiles! As someone who's had to shift 40-odd boxes of books and two dozen boxes of records several times over the years without a twinge to speak of, I don't feel much sympathy for him here!

That aside, there is a lot of great stuff in this episode. Bob calling Terry out on his military fantasies (though I do think it would be funnier if Terry had actually done undercover work during his time in the army!) A lot of great dialogue about treasured possessions and their worth to their owners - particularly like the exchange about Terry's lump of lava. Also love the following bit of dialogue:
"This is no ordinary rabbit."
"True."
I don't know how Bolam puts so much into one word.

Of course the highlight(s) of the episode are the scenes with Robert Gillespie[nb]Hello SMBH![/nb] as the world weary and exasperated sergeant at the police station. Again, just the way he delivers the lines lifts them into a higher realm: "...and allegations of police brutality" being a favourite.

On a brutally sexist note, I would like to say that Brigit Forsyth looks amazing in this episode.

References to Terry's injury that he never talks about: 1.  So Far: 10.

Serge

The Old Magic starts the run of four episodes leading up to the wedding at the end of the series. Like 'Guess Who's Coming To Dinner?', it's basically told in three (or four) scenes. The opening finds Terry ill in bed and Bob coming to visit to invite him out to dinner. During the conversation it's revealed that Terry isn't Bob's best man, given that he's been away for so long. Thelma's sister is also mentioned, a seemingly innocuous thing which plays a large part later in the episode.

The whole scene (or two scenes) in the restaurant are fantastic. Terry's little retch and hand to the throat after tasting the wine is a move I've nicked myself on many occasions. Gertan Klauber is terrific as the slightly officious waiter. And after spending the whole scene going on about how faithful he is/will be to Thelma, The Ferris Libido comes crashing in at full force at the twenty minute mark. The excellent Anita Carey makes her first appearance (and her friend went on to be half of the couple who
Spoiler alert
get killed at the back of the houses
[close]
in 'An American Werewolf In London') and the reveal that she is Thelma's sister is perfectly done. Clement and le Frenais' tight writing again!

The final scene is great, the weasly Bob trying to make out he's had a change of heart about the best man, when in actual fact, Frank Clarke is ill and can't make the wedding. Bewes plays this scene brilliantly - the look on his face when he's rumbled, and pouting and sulking at the end. But Bolam gets the best line: "Ask away, little paleface."

References to Terry's injury that he never talks about: 1 (plus bonus limp.)  So far: 11.

And then Count Down is just highlight after highlight. The introduction of Joan Hickson as Mrs Chambers: everything is just right - the hair-do, the butterfly glasses, and her faintly scary demeanour. As I said earlier in the thread - formidable! I like the fact that she never addresses Terry directly, every cutting remark is done through a third person. 'The great adventure of sleeping together for the rest of your life.' The dialogue about Big John Gibson is another example of what I was talking about in a previous post - a few lines and you get the entire character of a person you'll never see.

The scene at the tailors is amazing. Though it does suffer at the beginning from the audience having hysterics at the sight of the Lad's bare legs - have they really never seen the like before? One woman sounds like she's having a baby. British TV stalwart Robin Parkinson plays the tailor nicely - I especially like his forced false laugh at Bob's joke. And the line, "He was married in a blizzard." First appearance of Bill Owen as Mr Chambers, and again, the casting is spot on. Two uses of the phrase 'stap me', which I'd like to see make a return to regular use. And his delayed laughter at jokes always kills me.

The hassock/cassock/cossack/Toschak exchange is hilarious. And as the three men are harried out of the shop, I love Bill Owen's non-sequitur, "a woman's work is never done."

Twibbie

Not much to add there, the performances of Robert Gillespie and Joan Hickson are spellbinding. I love how Thelma's mum is so openly contemptuous not only of Terry but also Bob. Terry's plans for an alternative taxi route so he isn't driven past all the pubs in his wedding get-up is hilarious, it also puts me in mind of that great scene in No hiding place where the newspaper-vendor is passed by the apparently driverless car.

Serge

Ha ha! Indeed. I also forgot to mention that Robert Gillespie is another actor who went on to appear in 'Porridge'.

And so, the last two episodes of series one. Boys Night In is nearly all Bolam & Bewes - only Gillespie and Michael Stainton appear within the last few minutes. I like the shots of a stony faced Terry as Bob tries his wedding speech gags on him. The mention of 'John Webb and the stomach pump' makes me laugh because I have a friend with that name. Another reference to the great adventure of sleeping together. And the repeated references to iron jelloids are funnier than they have any right to be.

I always find the scene where they're talking about fantasies a bit....not creepy, but slightly jarring. The reference to 'Top Of The Form' certainly wouldn't make it into a show today! The whole set-up of Bob getting ink all over his trousers is another bit of perfection - it doesn't seem in the least bit contrived. I also like that Bob doesn't want to wake the cat up, but has no compunction about waking Terry.

Gillespie is excellent again - "You don't want to turn up on your wedding day looking and feeling terrible........like I did." A brief Doctor Who reference that always cheers me up. And then we're into the big day itself.

End Of An Era. I do like that it slightly puts you on the wrong foot by opening with a scene of Thelma and Susan, followed by Mrs Chambers and the mighty Auntie Beatie. The script and the performances catch the boredom of Bob and Terry's wedding morning to a tee.

The scene between Bob and Terry in the church, with Terry endlessly referencing films and talking about Guatemalan spiders is fantastic. The line about Mrs Chambers 'opening the new wing of an abbatoir' is a killer. And then, after all of Bob's nervousness, Thelma arrives at his side looking beautiful and everything's alright.

Terry's speech is brilliant - laying the groundwork earlier in the show with Bob giving Terry the photo album is a masterstroke. (And Terry's lack of speech at that point is quite touching, too.) Mr Chambers' delayed laughter again. And then the slightly weird ending, where Terry stands watching Bob & Thelma walk away for just a beat too long.....because, of course, that scene should have ended with Jutta appearing at the airport (again, the groundwork for this scene was laid earlier in the episode), and April Walker[nb]Who was, sadly, cast in another role that she didn't ultimately play yet again a couple of years later - she was the original choice to play Sarah-Jane Smith in 'Doctor Who', but Jon Pertwee vetoed her casting for some reason.[/nb] still has a credit at the end, despite being cut out. Clement and Le Frenais ultimately decided against Jutta appearing, which would have created an entirely different second series - and I'm glad about that, as series two has some of my favourite episodes, and I'm looking forward to getting stuck into them again later this week!


Twibbie

Yeah the lecherous stuff in the fantasy dialogue is a bit uncomfortable but the lines about going into Europe and bringing on a sub and "go on, go on" are some of my favourite material. And Bolam's delivery when Bob asks him for a pencil, "Would you believe it, i haven't got one".

My inbuilt resistance to all forms of sentimentality means i find some parts of End of an era a bit of a drag, although the abattoir line is superb. I also find Aunt Beattie saying, "... i'm going up!" incredibly funny for some reason.

I had no idea about the edit at the end. Glad they did.

Serge

Quote from: Twibbie on July 23, 2015, 11:54:36 PM"Would you believe it, i haven't got one".
Quote"... i'm going up!"

Yes! Two killer moments.

I don't think that 'End Of An Era' wallows in sentimentality too much, I think it gets the balance just right - it is a big step away from the life he's had for Bob, so they do have to acknowledge that it's sad on some level. (Though I do like the fact that Terry's already making plans for them the night that Bob gets back.)

Serge

Frustratingly, my computer at home seems to be kaput, so until I can sort that problem out, I'm limited to going online at work! So I'll try and post my 'reviews' whenever I can, but it may be more sporadic.

Anyway, started series 2 last night with Absent Friends. The use of a few shots from the end of the previous series leads to one of the great continuity errors - Bob seems to have somehow had a haircut between the departure lounge and the plane. I have used Bob's 'imagine the aeroplane is a giant bus' ruse to calm my own nerves on flights before now. (It doesn't really work.) Bill Owen is fabulous again in this episode. I like Bob's 'gorte norte' and will definitely be saying it if I ever go to Norway.

Some great scenes between Bob and Thelma in this episode, Bob almost always coming off worst. I love the line (used again later in the series) about getting Terry to move into the spare room, or Thelma staying in the spare room and Terry moving in with Bob. Oh, and the line (and delivery of): "Lucky bloody Terry!"