Post by rhort on Dec 28, 2012 4:34:06 GMT -5
Beginning series 5 in the front room of the Royal Oak’s flat, we find something of a picture of married bliss with Gary and Phoebe sitting listening to a Noël Coward play on the radio. Gary is seen reading an old Radio Times, which certainly could have been something he should sell in his shop. Gary and Phoebe’s son Michael is then brought into the story, now more than a year old, he seems to be walking, but not yet talking, giving Gary the opportunity to tell him a story about the first three men going to the moon and finds he is unable to remember Michael Collins’ name (everyone forgets him even though his role was critical to the mission). As Phoebe returns from the kitchen, she overhears Gary and proceeds to ridicule his imagination, suggesting another tale would be better, which leads Gary to return the derision, pointing out the irony of some of the finer details of the story of Goldilocks.
At Phoebe’s suggestion, Gary takes Michael for a walk out in the street, safe in the knowledge that there will be no air raids tonight. As he comes across Reg, Gary’s 90s halogen torch causes something of a stir, being much brighter than torches of the wartime era, leading Reg to comment on the fact that it might actually be too bright. Hidden subtly among his comic relief (I particularly enjoyed the ‘Woolly Mammoths’ line), Reg inserts a reference to Jack The Ripper, which is something that we come back to later in the series, but Gary’s attention is soon refocused as the air raid warnings sound, and the bombers approach, meaning Gary has to duck down Duckett’s as the bombs begin to fall. A few moments later, Gary wakes in the back yard of his shop, having apparently been thrown through the portal by the force of a nearby bomb blast. Worried for a moment, he looks around for Michael, who is only a few feet away and certainly seems to be unharmed. As he takes Michael into the shop, he looks around for something to entertain him, and I really like Michael’s “I’ll have that!” attitude to the chocolate biscuit he’s offered.
A moment of crisis usually means only one thing, and finding that Gary runs straight to Ron will come as no surprise to anyone aware of this, however, it may come as a surprise to see Ron bouncing on a trampoline as Gary arrives. Ron’s health kick, hindered as it is by the beer he’s also drinking whilst ‘exercising’, has been prompted by recent comments about his weight and age, which came from an unexpected source. A combination of shellshock, stress and exhaustion eventually take their toll on Gary, and he passes out, waking a while later to find that Ron has been making bets on what he’ll say when he awakes. As Gary proceeds to detail the issues he’s facing, he tells Ron that he needs a large amount of cash in order to buy a flat in West London, so that he can move Phoebe and Michael out of danger. Ron points out that his change in circumstances might make things difficult, leading Gary to a moment of concern, which he is then distracted from, first by Ron noting that Phoebe is probably worried about him and Michael, and then further by the mention of Yvonne’s impending arrival back from Switzerland.
When Yvonne does arrive, it’s clear that she’s changed a great deal in the time since we last saw her, and the apparent rise of her business empire suggest that she has successfully overcome the issues caused by Clive at the end of the last series. Ron’s discussion with her about the printing he’s organising leads us on to the excellent ‘Hallo Vera’ line, which I’ve often thought gave a subtle mention to the series ‘Coronation Street’ in view of the fact that both Yvonne and Ron come from areas of the north of England which are quite close to where the series is set.
After a fairly messy explanation of who Michael is, Gary’s exit sees him rushing straight back to the portal. On the far side, Reg is not really helping as he tries to engage Phoebe in conversation about what might have become of Gary and Michael, and her fears aren’t eased any more as a ‘body’ is removed from the bombed-out shop. A moment later, Gary appears, and gives us this week’s eagle-eyed viewer moment, as ‘Michael’ is quite clearly a rather floppy doll. As Gary tries to calm Phoebe down, she naturally thinks about moving away from the East End, although her suggestion of Cornwall is a good deal further than Gary had in mind. Straight into excuses mode, and Gary falls back on his ‘War Work’ reasons for staying, making a sly reference to his 90s life by mentioning the ‘agent’ who recently returned from Switzerland.
Managing to find his way back to the shop (presumably through a certain amount of debris on the 40s side of the portal), Gary arrives just in time to let Yvonne in. Yvonne’s revelation that she has been to see one of the people Gary mentioned in his explanation of Michael’s presence, leads him straight into one of his now-famous babbling excuses, as he desperately fishes for a more believable story. On this occasion, Yvonne seems completely taken in, although not in the way Gary might have been hoping that she would be, and she concludes that Gary is very much in need of becoming a parent to satisfy some deep-rooted internal need. Gary seems mostly to ignore this, relieved to see that he’s deflected Yvonne’s suspicions away from anything more serious.
Having dealt with Yvonne, Gary returns to the 40s, and heads to the West End with Phoebe for a pivotal moment in the series, as they visit the flat they’re planning to buy. Despite the obvious upper class ambience of the area in general, shown not least of all by its expensive nature, the condition of some of the furniture in the flat gives Gary cause for concern, however, it also leads us cleverly into the excellent ‘Laura Ashley’ line. Just as Gary seems to relax more, especially given the fact that they are well clear of any areas of London that were bombed, an air raid warning sounds, and Gary seizes upon the opportunity to meet some of the neighbours by taking cover in the building’s private shelter. This is made difficult, however, by an officious doorman, who takes it upon himself to deny them entry on the grounds that they are not yet residents. This brings us to the introduction of one of my favourite recurring characters of the series, Noël Coward, played by the excellent David Benson, who appears briefly at the end of the scene to save the day.
I’d give this episode a 90% rating. Despite the 18 month gap, the story follows on nicely here, and gives us some good laughs whilst picking up the story without being too confusing.
At Phoebe’s suggestion, Gary takes Michael for a walk out in the street, safe in the knowledge that there will be no air raids tonight. As he comes across Reg, Gary’s 90s halogen torch causes something of a stir, being much brighter than torches of the wartime era, leading Reg to comment on the fact that it might actually be too bright. Hidden subtly among his comic relief (I particularly enjoyed the ‘Woolly Mammoths’ line), Reg inserts a reference to Jack The Ripper, which is something that we come back to later in the series, but Gary’s attention is soon refocused as the air raid warnings sound, and the bombers approach, meaning Gary has to duck down Duckett’s as the bombs begin to fall. A few moments later, Gary wakes in the back yard of his shop, having apparently been thrown through the portal by the force of a nearby bomb blast. Worried for a moment, he looks around for Michael, who is only a few feet away and certainly seems to be unharmed. As he takes Michael into the shop, he looks around for something to entertain him, and I really like Michael’s “I’ll have that!” attitude to the chocolate biscuit he’s offered.
A moment of crisis usually means only one thing, and finding that Gary runs straight to Ron will come as no surprise to anyone aware of this, however, it may come as a surprise to see Ron bouncing on a trampoline as Gary arrives. Ron’s health kick, hindered as it is by the beer he’s also drinking whilst ‘exercising’, has been prompted by recent comments about his weight and age, which came from an unexpected source. A combination of shellshock, stress and exhaustion eventually take their toll on Gary, and he passes out, waking a while later to find that Ron has been making bets on what he’ll say when he awakes. As Gary proceeds to detail the issues he’s facing, he tells Ron that he needs a large amount of cash in order to buy a flat in West London, so that he can move Phoebe and Michael out of danger. Ron points out that his change in circumstances might make things difficult, leading Gary to a moment of concern, which he is then distracted from, first by Ron noting that Phoebe is probably worried about him and Michael, and then further by the mention of Yvonne’s impending arrival back from Switzerland.
When Yvonne does arrive, it’s clear that she’s changed a great deal in the time since we last saw her, and the apparent rise of her business empire suggest that she has successfully overcome the issues caused by Clive at the end of the last series. Ron’s discussion with her about the printing he’s organising leads us on to the excellent ‘Hallo Vera’ line, which I’ve often thought gave a subtle mention to the series ‘Coronation Street’ in view of the fact that both Yvonne and Ron come from areas of the north of England which are quite close to where the series is set.
After a fairly messy explanation of who Michael is, Gary’s exit sees him rushing straight back to the portal. On the far side, Reg is not really helping as he tries to engage Phoebe in conversation about what might have become of Gary and Michael, and her fears aren’t eased any more as a ‘body’ is removed from the bombed-out shop. A moment later, Gary appears, and gives us this week’s eagle-eyed viewer moment, as ‘Michael’ is quite clearly a rather floppy doll. As Gary tries to calm Phoebe down, she naturally thinks about moving away from the East End, although her suggestion of Cornwall is a good deal further than Gary had in mind. Straight into excuses mode, and Gary falls back on his ‘War Work’ reasons for staying, making a sly reference to his 90s life by mentioning the ‘agent’ who recently returned from Switzerland.
Managing to find his way back to the shop (presumably through a certain amount of debris on the 40s side of the portal), Gary arrives just in time to let Yvonne in. Yvonne’s revelation that she has been to see one of the people Gary mentioned in his explanation of Michael’s presence, leads him straight into one of his now-famous babbling excuses, as he desperately fishes for a more believable story. On this occasion, Yvonne seems completely taken in, although not in the way Gary might have been hoping that she would be, and she concludes that Gary is very much in need of becoming a parent to satisfy some deep-rooted internal need. Gary seems mostly to ignore this, relieved to see that he’s deflected Yvonne’s suspicions away from anything more serious.
Having dealt with Yvonne, Gary returns to the 40s, and heads to the West End with Phoebe for a pivotal moment in the series, as they visit the flat they’re planning to buy. Despite the obvious upper class ambience of the area in general, shown not least of all by its expensive nature, the condition of some of the furniture in the flat gives Gary cause for concern, however, it also leads us cleverly into the excellent ‘Laura Ashley’ line. Just as Gary seems to relax more, especially given the fact that they are well clear of any areas of London that were bombed, an air raid warning sounds, and Gary seizes upon the opportunity to meet some of the neighbours by taking cover in the building’s private shelter. This is made difficult, however, by an officious doorman, who takes it upon himself to deny them entry on the grounds that they are not yet residents. This brings us to the introduction of one of my favourite recurring characters of the series, Noël Coward, played by the excellent David Benson, who appears briefly at the end of the scene to save the day.
I’d give this episode a 90% rating. Despite the 18 month gap, the story follows on nicely here, and gives us some good laughs whilst picking up the story without being too confusing.
