Post by rhort on Dec 21, 2012 3:49:32 GMT -5
This episode kicks off in spectacular form with Yvonne looking GREAT! 
As she and Gary have breakfast, Yvonne sets off to try and persuade Gary to be a bit healthier, and move away from the fry up, towards something that won’t do quite so much damage to his arteries. As Yvonne, fairly subtly, outlines her plans for moving her current situation on, she talks about her new business partner, Clive, who has not only a plethora of excellent business ideas, but also a pony tail, and Gary seems more concerned about this than his apparent interest in both his wife, and the money in their savings account.
Moving on to the shop, and Gary is carefully taking notes about the next few days of the war, in order to make sure that Phoebe and the baby will be ok, if he’s born any time soon. As Ron arrives, the topic of conversation quite naturally moves on to the birth, then taking a turn back to more contemporary issues. Ron then pushes the chat towards a suggestion that Clive might be more interested in Yvonne than any business dealings, leading us squarely to another point where Gary is forced to examine his relationships with Yvonne and Phoebe, as Ron moves closer to the question of who Gary actually loves the most. Ever on the defensive over this issue, Gary cleverly turns things around, by asking Ron which take away meal he would prefer, given a straight choice between one of the other for the rest of his life, leading Ron to see the alternative perspective therein.
Our first trip to the Royal Oak finds Reg and Margie discussing the arrival of the local midwife, in the form of the formidable Miss Weatherell, who is upstairs with Phoebe, which causes a certain amount of concern for Gary, who seems to be wondering if anything is wrong. As the issue of Phoebe having a home birth crops up, Gary experiences yet more consternation, wondering if this is the best way to handle things. As the midwife arrives in the bar, affording Reg an opportunity to drop himself in it, Gary begins to come to terms with the fact that he will only have a limited amount of control over the coming events, and so he retreats to the bedroom to talk to Phoebe about things.
Gary goes to see Phoebe in the bedroom, and she is unsurprisingly dwelling on the issue of Gary being away for a lot of the time. As Gary tries to allay her fears on that, he also finds himself with the uphill struggle of trying to convince her that he should be present at the actual birth, however, she seems at this point to be firmly set on not having him there, as was echoed by Miss Weatherell. When Phoebe begins to have some pains, Gary runs to get help, and we next see him in the bar, pacing back and forth with Reg, who has a go at trying to smoke, almost as if he’s attempting to get into some sort of character Gary is leading him towards. As it comes to light that this has been just a false alarm, Reg has another opportunity to drop himself in it with the Midwife.
A brief, but crucial visit back to Cricklewood, and Yvonne details the plans she has for a business trip with Clive to Harrogate, and when she mentions the booking of a hotel, Gary immediately sees the parallels with the scenario that Ron set out earlier, and shows more of his jealous streak when he exhibits his concern. Yvonne almost seems to enjoy this, however, she continues to tell Gary about how she foresees her business empire to progress, and also takes this opportunity to sneak in the fact that she’s ‘invested’ all of their savings into the business, causing Gary even more headaches, and forcing Yvonne onto the defensive when he raises objections.
Another brief visit to the 40s, and Gary finds that Phoebe has been out shopping for fresh vegetables, despite the advice she’s been given to take things easy. Her trip out has, however, exposed her to a number of scary stories about parenthood from various people she’s met, causing her to begin to worry about various things that could go wrong, and Gary has to work to put her mind at rest, which then in part, seems to have something of the desired effect on Phoebe, as regards Gary’s presence at the birth, in that she seems to have come around to his way of thinking.
When Gary gets up on Thursday (Miss Weatherell’s projected day of the birth), his quick chat with Yvonne in the kitchen completely skirts her issue with Clive, who she contacts several times on the phone in order to enquire as to where he is. Gary, as is so often the case, has other things weighing on his mind, so is essentially oblivious as he runs out to head for the shop. Ron’s arrival at the shop suggest that he too needs advice, but Gary still has only one thing on the brain, and his agitation is evident as Ron takes on the role of councillor once more, calming Gary down and helping him to put things into perspective. Choosing to ignore his own issues for the time being, Ron lets Gary get off whilst he looks after the shop for him.
On returning to the Royal Oak, Gary discovers that Miss Weatherell is drunk, and Phoebe has gone into labour, and thus he is pressed into service to assist with the birth. When he arrives in the bedroom, he has something of a minor panic attack, and almost runs away, but in the end, he finds he can’t leave Phoebe and he comes to help. As the labour continues, Margie realises that something is amiss, and Gary decides that he’s out of his depth, so runs to try and sober up Miss Weatherell, however, after he and Reg have tried various things, the crying baby signifies that it’s all over.
Back in the shop, Yvonne turns up to find Ron is also drunk, and she joins in with him, despite the fact that it’s only 11am. As the two of them bond, they exchange their problems, with Yvonne telling Ron that Clive has done a runner with the money, and Ron tells her that his printing firm has been taken into receivership, almost giving away the game for Gary at the same time with a badly time comment about the items he prints for him.
Meanwhile, at the Royal Oak, Gary and Phoebe’s baby has been born, and everything seems fine. As Miss Weatherell leaves, we are treated to the excellent “never drink on duty” line, and Gary and Phoebe listen to the bells ringing, whilst they muse about the future, an issue at the very heart of this series.
I’d give this episode an 85% rating. A good end to series 4, with the birth of Gary’s son being one of the defining moment of Goodnight Sweetheart.
As she and Gary have breakfast, Yvonne sets off to try and persuade Gary to be a bit healthier, and move away from the fry up, towards something that won’t do quite so much damage to his arteries. As Yvonne, fairly subtly, outlines her plans for moving her current situation on, she talks about her new business partner, Clive, who has not only a plethora of excellent business ideas, but also a pony tail, and Gary seems more concerned about this than his apparent interest in both his wife, and the money in their savings account.Moving on to the shop, and Gary is carefully taking notes about the next few days of the war, in order to make sure that Phoebe and the baby will be ok, if he’s born any time soon. As Ron arrives, the topic of conversation quite naturally moves on to the birth, then taking a turn back to more contemporary issues. Ron then pushes the chat towards a suggestion that Clive might be more interested in Yvonne than any business dealings, leading us squarely to another point where Gary is forced to examine his relationships with Yvonne and Phoebe, as Ron moves closer to the question of who Gary actually loves the most. Ever on the defensive over this issue, Gary cleverly turns things around, by asking Ron which take away meal he would prefer, given a straight choice between one of the other for the rest of his life, leading Ron to see the alternative perspective therein.
Our first trip to the Royal Oak finds Reg and Margie discussing the arrival of the local midwife, in the form of the formidable Miss Weatherell, who is upstairs with Phoebe, which causes a certain amount of concern for Gary, who seems to be wondering if anything is wrong. As the issue of Phoebe having a home birth crops up, Gary experiences yet more consternation, wondering if this is the best way to handle things. As the midwife arrives in the bar, affording Reg an opportunity to drop himself in it, Gary begins to come to terms with the fact that he will only have a limited amount of control over the coming events, and so he retreats to the bedroom to talk to Phoebe about things.
Gary goes to see Phoebe in the bedroom, and she is unsurprisingly dwelling on the issue of Gary being away for a lot of the time. As Gary tries to allay her fears on that, he also finds himself with the uphill struggle of trying to convince her that he should be present at the actual birth, however, she seems at this point to be firmly set on not having him there, as was echoed by Miss Weatherell. When Phoebe begins to have some pains, Gary runs to get help, and we next see him in the bar, pacing back and forth with Reg, who has a go at trying to smoke, almost as if he’s attempting to get into some sort of character Gary is leading him towards. As it comes to light that this has been just a false alarm, Reg has another opportunity to drop himself in it with the Midwife.
A brief, but crucial visit back to Cricklewood, and Yvonne details the plans she has for a business trip with Clive to Harrogate, and when she mentions the booking of a hotel, Gary immediately sees the parallels with the scenario that Ron set out earlier, and shows more of his jealous streak when he exhibits his concern. Yvonne almost seems to enjoy this, however, she continues to tell Gary about how she foresees her business empire to progress, and also takes this opportunity to sneak in the fact that she’s ‘invested’ all of their savings into the business, causing Gary even more headaches, and forcing Yvonne onto the defensive when he raises objections.
Another brief visit to the 40s, and Gary finds that Phoebe has been out shopping for fresh vegetables, despite the advice she’s been given to take things easy. Her trip out has, however, exposed her to a number of scary stories about parenthood from various people she’s met, causing her to begin to worry about various things that could go wrong, and Gary has to work to put her mind at rest, which then in part, seems to have something of the desired effect on Phoebe, as regards Gary’s presence at the birth, in that she seems to have come around to his way of thinking.
When Gary gets up on Thursday (Miss Weatherell’s projected day of the birth), his quick chat with Yvonne in the kitchen completely skirts her issue with Clive, who she contacts several times on the phone in order to enquire as to where he is. Gary, as is so often the case, has other things weighing on his mind, so is essentially oblivious as he runs out to head for the shop. Ron’s arrival at the shop suggest that he too needs advice, but Gary still has only one thing on the brain, and his agitation is evident as Ron takes on the role of councillor once more, calming Gary down and helping him to put things into perspective. Choosing to ignore his own issues for the time being, Ron lets Gary get off whilst he looks after the shop for him.
On returning to the Royal Oak, Gary discovers that Miss Weatherell is drunk, and Phoebe has gone into labour, and thus he is pressed into service to assist with the birth. When he arrives in the bedroom, he has something of a minor panic attack, and almost runs away, but in the end, he finds he can’t leave Phoebe and he comes to help. As the labour continues, Margie realises that something is amiss, and Gary decides that he’s out of his depth, so runs to try and sober up Miss Weatherell, however, after he and Reg have tried various things, the crying baby signifies that it’s all over.
Back in the shop, Yvonne turns up to find Ron is also drunk, and she joins in with him, despite the fact that it’s only 11am. As the two of them bond, they exchange their problems, with Yvonne telling Ron that Clive has done a runner with the money, and Ron tells her that his printing firm has been taken into receivership, almost giving away the game for Gary at the same time with a badly time comment about the items he prints for him.
Meanwhile, at the Royal Oak, Gary and Phoebe’s baby has been born, and everything seems fine. As Miss Weatherell leaves, we are treated to the excellent “never drink on duty” line, and Gary and Phoebe listen to the bells ringing, whilst they muse about the future, an issue at the very heart of this series.
I’d give this episode an 85% rating. A good end to series 4, with the birth of Gary’s son being one of the defining moment of Goodnight Sweetheart.