Post by rhort on May 17, 2013 2:30:49 GMT -5
The episode opens to what is a typical scene in the Sparrow’s front room, with much of the clutter associated with Yvonne’s ‘employment’ littering the living space. As Ron watches two televisions at the same time, he argues with Gary about the correct pronunciation of the name ‘Sydney Potter’, which appears to be something each of them takes very seriously, to such a degree than when Yvonne enters, she is completely ignored by both of them.
Whereas Yvonne’s general ambience suggest that she is the one who takes things seriously in the ‘business’, we are quickly introduced to the fact that Gary is taking most of the responsibility for organising the finer details of the inner workings of their ‘company’, dealing as he does with the accounts, making sure that proper records are kept on all their business transactions; a seemingly minor detail, passed over quickly here, that will have extreme ramifications much later in the series. Leading on from this, Gary goes onto the offensive, indicating to Yvonne that he feels he may be being short changed by Yvonne in terms of how much he gets out of their toil. For the first time (but certainly not the last!) we see Yvonne manipulate Gary by using the ‘Mum turning in her grave’ line of reasoning to get Gary to back down, and once her husband is back ‘in his place’, Yvonne proceeds to belittle him further to reinforce the issue of just who is in charge.
Moving on to the pub, and Gary reveals to Yvonne that he is thinking about getting a ‘real’ job, secure in the knowledge that his 2 GCEs in maths and art, as well as a short time at Basingstoke Polytechnic, will stand him in good stead in the real world. Yvonne is typically dismissive, not really taking him seriously, and the arrival of their friend Reg (played excellently by the outstanding Roger Lloyd-Pack), who for some reason not gone into at this point, insists on calling Gary ‘Dave’, breaks the flow of their debate, as it gives Yvonne something else to focus on. Intent on selling Yvonne a quantity of briefcases, which are not plastic, but ‘Olde English Vinyl’, there is at first some concern as to whether the police are looking for them for any reason. Reg insists that they are not, however he maintains a guard on the one he is carrying as they “never know when they’re gonna start looking for them” and the scene is then brought to a climax with the excellent “9, 8, Done!” line.
Gary’s efforts to sort out Ron’s tea don’t quite go according to plan, and leave Ron moaning about the cheeseburger he’s ended up with instead of the ‘Emperor Burger’ he asked for. As Gary points out the fact that he didn’t have enough money for the ‘Emperor Burger’, we are lead into a general financial debate culminating in a comment about the profits of a nationalised industry, which gives a very telling insight into the economic issues of the day, which despite having been so long ago, are still surprisingly relevant today.
As Yvonne goes to great lengths to make some effort to sell on the briefcases, she accidentally comes into contact with the person they were stolen from, and makes an unfortunate discovery about her purchase, finding that these particular units were rejected by quality control because they have been supplied locked, with the relevant combination paperwork stored inside them, a mistake that we will later learn is not uncommon for Yvonne and her ‘He Who Dares, Wins’ attitude, which others might suggest should be ‘Look Before You Leap’ instead. I particularly enjoy both the “French have a word for someone like me” line and Gary’s response to it, which serves to point out a frequent issue Yvonne has of only thinking about things up to a point.
As the conversation progresses, Yvonne and Gary descend into an argument, which for a moment centres around the provision of basics following the death of Gary’s mother 17 years previously. From the tone taken, it’s clear that Yvonne has used this method of attack to bring Gary into line many times before, and it seems that on this particular occasion, Gary has had enough, and he tells Yvonne in no uncertain terms that he doesn’t need anything from her. A comedic moment is then brought on to diffuse an otherwise tense situation, when Gary storms out, returning a few seconds later to ask for some money, which Yvonne in fact hands over without question, giving us something of an insight into the relationship between the two of them.
It’s obvious that this was far from being their first argument, but upon her awaking the following morning, Yvonne is greeted by the news that Gary has left, bound for Hong Kong in order to prove himself, and apparently taking little with him other than some sandwiches made by Ron. This seems to leave Yvonne in a halfway house between annoyance and concern for her husband, as she seems to contemplate whether he might be able to survive in the world at large on his own.
A number of days later, and we find Ron trying to work out why his game of computer draughts is going so badly, and the reason for this is pointed out by Yvonne, when she informs him that he’s using a chess computer. As Yvonne continues to attempt to relay the finer points of the difference between chess and draughts to Ron, Gary returns, looking a little the worse for wear after his ordeal. After a moment or two, he shows that he is really glad to be back, and begins to recount the tail of his trip, in which he claims that he ‘only’ reached the south of France, but then got homesick.
As the scene ends, I particularly enjoy the ‘missed by the Luftwaffe’ line (despite the inaccuracy of Yvonne pointing at a 50s/60s tower block to emphasise this point), and the revelation that Gary actually left his passport behind in his bedroom when going on his journey, forcing him to admit that he only got as far as Stoke Newington; for those not familiar with London, Stoke Newington is about seven miles from Peckham, pretty much one road straight north, is probably about a 1h20m minute bus ride away in traffic (or about an hour more than that on foot) so quite a good deal short of the 800-odd miles he initially claimed to the south of France.
As the two reconcile, we are giving one of the biggest laughs of the episode, as Yvonne muses as to what they should do to entertain themselves, and they consider that one course of action might cause them to come back into contact with the briefcases, which Yvonne eventually threw into the river, just as Gary suggested she should earlier.
I’d give this episode an 85% rating. It’s a great start, laying the groundwork for the characters, and jumping right into some of the more typical action we would expect to see as the series develops.
Whereas Yvonne’s general ambience suggest that she is the one who takes things seriously in the ‘business’, we are quickly introduced to the fact that Gary is taking most of the responsibility for organising the finer details of the inner workings of their ‘company’, dealing as he does with the accounts, making sure that proper records are kept on all their business transactions; a seemingly minor detail, passed over quickly here, that will have extreme ramifications much later in the series. Leading on from this, Gary goes onto the offensive, indicating to Yvonne that he feels he may be being short changed by Yvonne in terms of how much he gets out of their toil. For the first time (but certainly not the last!) we see Yvonne manipulate Gary by using the ‘Mum turning in her grave’ line of reasoning to get Gary to back down, and once her husband is back ‘in his place’, Yvonne proceeds to belittle him further to reinforce the issue of just who is in charge.
Moving on to the pub, and Gary reveals to Yvonne that he is thinking about getting a ‘real’ job, secure in the knowledge that his 2 GCEs in maths and art, as well as a short time at Basingstoke Polytechnic, will stand him in good stead in the real world. Yvonne is typically dismissive, not really taking him seriously, and the arrival of their friend Reg (played excellently by the outstanding Roger Lloyd-Pack), who for some reason not gone into at this point, insists on calling Gary ‘Dave’, breaks the flow of their debate, as it gives Yvonne something else to focus on. Intent on selling Yvonne a quantity of briefcases, which are not plastic, but ‘Olde English Vinyl’, there is at first some concern as to whether the police are looking for them for any reason. Reg insists that they are not, however he maintains a guard on the one he is carrying as they “never know when they’re gonna start looking for them” and the scene is then brought to a climax with the excellent “9, 8, Done!” line.
Gary’s efforts to sort out Ron’s tea don’t quite go according to plan, and leave Ron moaning about the cheeseburger he’s ended up with instead of the ‘Emperor Burger’ he asked for. As Gary points out the fact that he didn’t have enough money for the ‘Emperor Burger’, we are lead into a general financial debate culminating in a comment about the profits of a nationalised industry, which gives a very telling insight into the economic issues of the day, which despite having been so long ago, are still surprisingly relevant today.
As Yvonne goes to great lengths to make some effort to sell on the briefcases, she accidentally comes into contact with the person they were stolen from, and makes an unfortunate discovery about her purchase, finding that these particular units were rejected by quality control because they have been supplied locked, with the relevant combination paperwork stored inside them, a mistake that we will later learn is not uncommon for Yvonne and her ‘He Who Dares, Wins’ attitude, which others might suggest should be ‘Look Before You Leap’ instead. I particularly enjoy both the “French have a word for someone like me” line and Gary’s response to it, which serves to point out a frequent issue Yvonne has of only thinking about things up to a point.
As the conversation progresses, Yvonne and Gary descend into an argument, which for a moment centres around the provision of basics following the death of Gary’s mother 17 years previously. From the tone taken, it’s clear that Yvonne has used this method of attack to bring Gary into line many times before, and it seems that on this particular occasion, Gary has had enough, and he tells Yvonne in no uncertain terms that he doesn’t need anything from her. A comedic moment is then brought on to diffuse an otherwise tense situation, when Gary storms out, returning a few seconds later to ask for some money, which Yvonne in fact hands over without question, giving us something of an insight into the relationship between the two of them.
It’s obvious that this was far from being their first argument, but upon her awaking the following morning, Yvonne is greeted by the news that Gary has left, bound for Hong Kong in order to prove himself, and apparently taking little with him other than some sandwiches made by Ron. This seems to leave Yvonne in a halfway house between annoyance and concern for her husband, as she seems to contemplate whether he might be able to survive in the world at large on his own.
A number of days later, and we find Ron trying to work out why his game of computer draughts is going so badly, and the reason for this is pointed out by Yvonne, when she informs him that he’s using a chess computer. As Yvonne continues to attempt to relay the finer points of the difference between chess and draughts to Ron, Gary returns, looking a little the worse for wear after his ordeal. After a moment or two, he shows that he is really glad to be back, and begins to recount the tail of his trip, in which he claims that he ‘only’ reached the south of France, but then got homesick.
As the scene ends, I particularly enjoy the ‘missed by the Luftwaffe’ line (despite the inaccuracy of Yvonne pointing at a 50s/60s tower block to emphasise this point), and the revelation that Gary actually left his passport behind in his bedroom when going on his journey, forcing him to admit that he only got as far as Stoke Newington; for those not familiar with London, Stoke Newington is about seven miles from Peckham, pretty much one road straight north, is probably about a 1h20m minute bus ride away in traffic (or about an hour more than that on foot) so quite a good deal short of the 800-odd miles he initially claimed to the south of France.
As the two reconcile, we are giving one of the biggest laughs of the episode, as Yvonne muses as to what they should do to entertain themselves, and they consider that one course of action might cause them to come back into contact with the briefcases, which Yvonne eventually threw into the river, just as Gary suggested she should earlier.
I’d give this episode an 85% rating. It’s a great start, laying the groundwork for the characters, and jumping right into some of the more typical action we would expect to see as the series develops.
