Post by rhort on Sept 21, 2012 3:25:26 GMT -5
For the first time in a while, we see Gary actively hiding his obsession about the war from Yvonne, as she returns home from work to find him in bed, ‘suffering’ from the ‘illness’ that stopped him from going to the job interview a few days ago. Gary continues to maintain the façade of his excuse for not going, but Yvonne seems at first to simply be her typical unsympathetic self, however, reveals that she believes she knows that the actual reason was far more normal for Gary when he gets together with Ron.
Yvonne breezing in and back out again clears the decks for Ron to make an appearance, and we are shown that he is apparently back to his more usual self, and beer and curry are the order of the day. As the two men chat, Gary is once again focussing only on his own issues, as he laments the problems of his own making that are regularly putting him in a variety of awkward situations with both Yvonne and Phoebe. Ron essentially returns the ignorance sentiment, and for the most part ignores Gary, and concentrates on his food and the banal television programme which seems to be presented almost as an ideal accompaniment, or at the very least, a little escapism. The inclusion of “pizzas” (ie in the plural) for “about a tenner” seriously dates this episode (certainly in the area that I live in).
Reg’s comic relief in the first 40s scene of this episode is essentially used as a speed bump for Gary, as he turns up at the Royal Oak to find that Phoebe has been taken ill, and genuinely so in contrast to Gary’s recent faking in order to keep relatively on the right side of Yvonne. I quite enjoy the way Reg seems to be genuinely trying to engage Gary in conversation, despite the list of topics that can be regarded as off limits. One thing that I think shows here is the way that Reg views Gary almost as if he’s a form of entertainment, as I guess would be the case if such a person had come into the life of a wartime Londoner, and I think this comes across really well. Gary’s attempts to get Phoebe to take her medicine sets things up quite nicely for what is essentially the main plot element (for the 40s part at least).
A further brief scene with Yvonne sees her trying to drop hints to Gary about something that’s going on in her life that he’s not aware of, but on this occasion, he misses them completely, which gives us yet another telling insight into the state of their relationship, as his mind is focussed on other issues, and he is simply oblivious to anything and everything else. Yvonne’s disappointment is obvious, but she lets it go for now.
Phoebe’s illness then develops along with the episode, and Gary is introduced to the doctor, played with great aplomb by another favourite actor of mine, Jon Glover, who many might remember as Mr Cholmondley-Warner in the Harry Enfield sketch show of the 90s. Gary once again gives away something of his true nature when he mentions penicillin to the doctor, and seems surprised that it is unlikely that Phoebe will get any, which then sends him scurrying back to the 90s to get some for her. Needing more of the drug, he enlists Ron’s help as usual, bribing him with an illicit delivery of fast food (although the bag he hands over was far too small to contain all the items he mentions) in exchange for some more pills; those who like to take note of such things should watch what Gary does with the two bottles of pills at this point, as he decants the contents of one into the other.
Returning once again to the 40s, and Gary hatches a plan to get the drugs to Phoebe at the hospital, and ropes Reg in to help, again highlighting the bobby as Ron’s wartime counterpart. Despite the amount of practice Gary has had up to this point, pretending to be something that he’s not, Gary seems to get quite flustered by the pretty young nurse, but the edge seems to be taken off it as he watches Reg’s attempts to emulate him. Some more of the hero worship that Reg has for Gary emerges here, as Reg basically copies everything Gary said verbatim. As they move on, and a more demanding challenge looms in the shape of Phoebe’s GP making a reappearance, Gary’s immediate reaction is to hide Reg and try and deal with the issue on his own, giving an indication as to how much Gary values Reg’s input.
As the doctor instantly recognises Gary, he thinks he’s worked out what he is, and assumes that Gary is another doctor, hence the knowledge of penicillin, and so he takes to him quite well, discussing the coincidences of their training. As the doctor then lapses into a long speech about women, mirroring the one he gave earlier about social diseases, Gary manages to slip away, and finds Phoebe, who is conveniently hidden behind a curtain at the far end of the ward. As Gary underlines the importance of Phoebe taking the antibiotics, she delivers a very insightful line, “You never lie, do you Gary?”, bringing home to the viewer more the nature of Gary’s life on both sides of the portal.
Back to the 90s, and Gary’s problems are still coming thick and fast, with Yvonne’s revelation that she’s been seeing someone else. Gary’s instant reaction is perhaps to be expected, but then as he realises the parallels with his own situation, he softens, but this only seems to increase Yvonne’s sense of guilt, as she is unable to see why he’s being so nice about it. As Yvonne then suggests a course of action, Gary is put right on the spot about whether he really wants to save his marriage, or run back to the ailing Phoebe.
Choosing the former then pushes things on a bit, as Gary returns to Phoebe a few days later to find that she’s recovered from her pneumonia, no doubt the time he’s spent with Yvonne has done something to promote his decision to confess everything to Phoebe about his time-travelling exploits. The first time I saw this, as he started to tell her, I remember wondering if this was going to be the last episode.
I’d give this episode an 80% rating. Ron seems to be getting back on form, and there are some good laughs here.
Yvonne breezing in and back out again clears the decks for Ron to make an appearance, and we are shown that he is apparently back to his more usual self, and beer and curry are the order of the day. As the two men chat, Gary is once again focussing only on his own issues, as he laments the problems of his own making that are regularly putting him in a variety of awkward situations with both Yvonne and Phoebe. Ron essentially returns the ignorance sentiment, and for the most part ignores Gary, and concentrates on his food and the banal television programme which seems to be presented almost as an ideal accompaniment, or at the very least, a little escapism. The inclusion of “pizzas” (ie in the plural) for “about a tenner” seriously dates this episode (certainly in the area that I live in).
Reg’s comic relief in the first 40s scene of this episode is essentially used as a speed bump for Gary, as he turns up at the Royal Oak to find that Phoebe has been taken ill, and genuinely so in contrast to Gary’s recent faking in order to keep relatively on the right side of Yvonne. I quite enjoy the way Reg seems to be genuinely trying to engage Gary in conversation, despite the list of topics that can be regarded as off limits. One thing that I think shows here is the way that Reg views Gary almost as if he’s a form of entertainment, as I guess would be the case if such a person had come into the life of a wartime Londoner, and I think this comes across really well. Gary’s attempts to get Phoebe to take her medicine sets things up quite nicely for what is essentially the main plot element (for the 40s part at least).
A further brief scene with Yvonne sees her trying to drop hints to Gary about something that’s going on in her life that he’s not aware of, but on this occasion, he misses them completely, which gives us yet another telling insight into the state of their relationship, as his mind is focussed on other issues, and he is simply oblivious to anything and everything else. Yvonne’s disappointment is obvious, but she lets it go for now.
Phoebe’s illness then develops along with the episode, and Gary is introduced to the doctor, played with great aplomb by another favourite actor of mine, Jon Glover, who many might remember as Mr Cholmondley-Warner in the Harry Enfield sketch show of the 90s. Gary once again gives away something of his true nature when he mentions penicillin to the doctor, and seems surprised that it is unlikely that Phoebe will get any, which then sends him scurrying back to the 90s to get some for her. Needing more of the drug, he enlists Ron’s help as usual, bribing him with an illicit delivery of fast food (although the bag he hands over was far too small to contain all the items he mentions) in exchange for some more pills; those who like to take note of such things should watch what Gary does with the two bottles of pills at this point, as he decants the contents of one into the other.
Returning once again to the 40s, and Gary hatches a plan to get the drugs to Phoebe at the hospital, and ropes Reg in to help, again highlighting the bobby as Ron’s wartime counterpart. Despite the amount of practice Gary has had up to this point, pretending to be something that he’s not, Gary seems to get quite flustered by the pretty young nurse, but the edge seems to be taken off it as he watches Reg’s attempts to emulate him. Some more of the hero worship that Reg has for Gary emerges here, as Reg basically copies everything Gary said verbatim. As they move on, and a more demanding challenge looms in the shape of Phoebe’s GP making a reappearance, Gary’s immediate reaction is to hide Reg and try and deal with the issue on his own, giving an indication as to how much Gary values Reg’s input.
As the doctor instantly recognises Gary, he thinks he’s worked out what he is, and assumes that Gary is another doctor, hence the knowledge of penicillin, and so he takes to him quite well, discussing the coincidences of their training. As the doctor then lapses into a long speech about women, mirroring the one he gave earlier about social diseases, Gary manages to slip away, and finds Phoebe, who is conveniently hidden behind a curtain at the far end of the ward. As Gary underlines the importance of Phoebe taking the antibiotics, she delivers a very insightful line, “You never lie, do you Gary?”, bringing home to the viewer more the nature of Gary’s life on both sides of the portal.
Back to the 90s, and Gary’s problems are still coming thick and fast, with Yvonne’s revelation that she’s been seeing someone else. Gary’s instant reaction is perhaps to be expected, but then as he realises the parallels with his own situation, he softens, but this only seems to increase Yvonne’s sense of guilt, as she is unable to see why he’s being so nice about it. As Yvonne then suggests a course of action, Gary is put right on the spot about whether he really wants to save his marriage, or run back to the ailing Phoebe.
Choosing the former then pushes things on a bit, as Gary returns to Phoebe a few days later to find that she’s recovered from her pneumonia, no doubt the time he’s spent with Yvonne has done something to promote his decision to confess everything to Phoebe about his time-travelling exploits. The first time I saw this, as he started to tell her, I remember wondering if this was going to be the last episode.
I’d give this episode an 80% rating. Ron seems to be getting back on form, and there are some good laughs here.