Post by rhort on Oct 5, 2012 2:44:48 GMT -5
We being this final episode of series 3 with something of a watershed, as we see the another small piece of real evidence of the beginning of Yvonne’s move onwards and upwards, with the preparations for viewing a new flat in a more upmarket area. Gary is generally unenthusiastic to begin with, and Yvonne is her usual derisory self, as she attacks various aspects of Gary’s character, his dress sense, and most specifically, his apparent inability to have children. Despite moving onto the defensive, and standing by his ability for self determination, Gary still changes his apparel in accordance with Yvonne’s ‘suggestion’. As they view the peripheral facilities associated with the flat, Gary’s apathy persists, until that is, Yvonne points out that the flat is much nearer to Gary’s shop than their place in Cricklewood, which yields an unsurprising upturn in his interest.
Gary meets Reg in an uncharacteristically aggressive mood, finding him most perturbed by the fact that the ARP have constructed a hut on his allotment, thus denying him the ability to be able to grow his own vegetables. Gary experiences a certain amount of confusion at Reg’s initial insistence that his allotment has been ‘stolen’, which has lead to him writing a letter to the Prime Minister in order to have the issue resolved. We can see here that Reg is left handed as he is writing the letter.
As Gary moves on to Phoebe, he sees she is not feeling her best, and is instantly concerned that she may be feeling ill again. The reaction of the audience shows just how they feel about Phoebe’s choice of meal, as she tries to explain something of why she’s not feeling too good. The reading of the letter from Donald then brings something of this episode’s subplot to light, however, this is moved over quite quickly, and leads to the excellent line about the Pyramids. Phoebe then begins to pile more pressure on Gary about the two of them spending time together, with Gary in his usual flap about needing to move backwards and forwards through the portal as freely as possible.
Back to the 90s, and we see a typical miscommunication between Gary and Ron over the sports ‘excuse’, leading Yvonne to deliver the excellent ‘flannel’ line in reference to Ron, showing once again how she feels about him, in combination with telling us something of just how well she actually seems to know him. The two men giving us even more evidence of the way they operate together, on a sort of wing-and-a-prayer basis, neither of them seeming to be entirely on the other’s wavelength when it comes to the specifics of their capers.
Phoebe’s dropping of hints about parenthood takes a step up, as she is naturally moving towards a point where she needs to press the matter with Gary, and the introduction of the house for rent is an interesting plot device used to help bring this about. As Gary is again forced to look around a property he’s not really interested in, whilst his partner is clearly far more impressed with it (and it’s walk-in larder), however, being left alone in the house for a moment or two finally gives Phoebe the opportunity to tell Gary that she is pregnant. As Gary works to allay Phoebe’s fears about what this will mean, he is then put in the position where he has to come to terms with the fact that everyone will think that Donald is the baby’s father, and this has a visible effect on him.
Partly by coincidence, and partly by design, Gary returns to discuss the matter with Ron who is, of course, his first port of call whenever a crisis raises its head, but the two of them engage in a little light banter on the subject of moving house before Gary tells Ron that he and Phoebe are going to have a baby. This then leads to Gary very definitely examining which of Yvonne and Phoebe actually needs him the most. The mood of this scene is kept largely comical by Ron’s ‘speech impediment’ and ‘could be twins’ lines, and the realisation that stems from the ‘same age as my father!’ comment.
Back the war, and Reg is clearly very proud of his letter from Downing Street, having already committed it to memory, and reciting it to anyone unable to move out of earshot fast enough. Gary moves fairly quickly on to Phoebe, and the more serious matters therein, showing himself to be the stronger one as she is on the verge of a breakdown whilst she tries to deal with her problems, whereas Gary himself shows that he can provide much relief with a series of quick solutions to all her worries. As has been examined before, this level of self assurance displayed by Gary is one of his most welcome personality traits, both to Phoebe, and the other wartime Londoners.
As we return to Cricklewood, Gary finds Yvonne in a similar mode to Phoebe, stressing and surrounded by boxes as she unpacks, when this episode is very firmly dated by the use of the ‘Squarial’ line (anyone remember these?!). Gary is the given more cause to show his concern with his partner’s happiness, leading the audience to presume they know what Yvonne is about to say, which is very cunningly sidestepped, only for Yvonne to then deliver the final line of this series, to which ‘Nicholas reacts’.
I’d give this episode a 90% rating. It’s got some of the best lines of this series, and leaves a genuine dilemma to carry us over to Series 4.
Gary meets Reg in an uncharacteristically aggressive mood, finding him most perturbed by the fact that the ARP have constructed a hut on his allotment, thus denying him the ability to be able to grow his own vegetables. Gary experiences a certain amount of confusion at Reg’s initial insistence that his allotment has been ‘stolen’, which has lead to him writing a letter to the Prime Minister in order to have the issue resolved. We can see here that Reg is left handed as he is writing the letter.
As Gary moves on to Phoebe, he sees she is not feeling her best, and is instantly concerned that she may be feeling ill again. The reaction of the audience shows just how they feel about Phoebe’s choice of meal, as she tries to explain something of why she’s not feeling too good. The reading of the letter from Donald then brings something of this episode’s subplot to light, however, this is moved over quite quickly, and leads to the excellent line about the Pyramids. Phoebe then begins to pile more pressure on Gary about the two of them spending time together, with Gary in his usual flap about needing to move backwards and forwards through the portal as freely as possible.
Back to the 90s, and we see a typical miscommunication between Gary and Ron over the sports ‘excuse’, leading Yvonne to deliver the excellent ‘flannel’ line in reference to Ron, showing once again how she feels about him, in combination with telling us something of just how well she actually seems to know him. The two men giving us even more evidence of the way they operate together, on a sort of wing-and-a-prayer basis, neither of them seeming to be entirely on the other’s wavelength when it comes to the specifics of their capers.
Phoebe’s dropping of hints about parenthood takes a step up, as she is naturally moving towards a point where she needs to press the matter with Gary, and the introduction of the house for rent is an interesting plot device used to help bring this about. As Gary is again forced to look around a property he’s not really interested in, whilst his partner is clearly far more impressed with it (and it’s walk-in larder), however, being left alone in the house for a moment or two finally gives Phoebe the opportunity to tell Gary that she is pregnant. As Gary works to allay Phoebe’s fears about what this will mean, he is then put in the position where he has to come to terms with the fact that everyone will think that Donald is the baby’s father, and this has a visible effect on him.
Partly by coincidence, and partly by design, Gary returns to discuss the matter with Ron who is, of course, his first port of call whenever a crisis raises its head, but the two of them engage in a little light banter on the subject of moving house before Gary tells Ron that he and Phoebe are going to have a baby. This then leads to Gary very definitely examining which of Yvonne and Phoebe actually needs him the most. The mood of this scene is kept largely comical by Ron’s ‘speech impediment’ and ‘could be twins’ lines, and the realisation that stems from the ‘same age as my father!’ comment.
Back the war, and Reg is clearly very proud of his letter from Downing Street, having already committed it to memory, and reciting it to anyone unable to move out of earshot fast enough. Gary moves fairly quickly on to Phoebe, and the more serious matters therein, showing himself to be the stronger one as she is on the verge of a breakdown whilst she tries to deal with her problems, whereas Gary himself shows that he can provide much relief with a series of quick solutions to all her worries. As has been examined before, this level of self assurance displayed by Gary is one of his most welcome personality traits, both to Phoebe, and the other wartime Londoners.
As we return to Cricklewood, Gary finds Yvonne in a similar mode to Phoebe, stressing and surrounded by boxes as she unpacks, when this episode is very firmly dated by the use of the ‘Squarial’ line (anyone remember these?!). Gary is the given more cause to show his concern with his partner’s happiness, leading the audience to presume they know what Yvonne is about to say, which is very cunningly sidestepped, only for Yvonne to then deliver the final line of this series, to which ‘Nicholas reacts’.
I’d give this episode a 90% rating. It’s got some of the best lines of this series, and leaves a genuine dilemma to carry us over to Series 4.