Reply to thread

Message

<blockquote data-quote="Mel O&amp;#039;Drama" data-source="post: 304148" data-attributes="member: 23">The 1984 and 1987 Christmas Specials have been a nice way to revisit the series in different eras while still seeing all-new material.I&#039;m a little confused about why the specials were on separate discs rather than being included with the main series from the year of transmission, but so long as it&#039;s all present all&#039;s well. I was most relieved by the inclusion of the Courtroom Quiz&nbsp; in the 1984 special since after finishing the series proper I&#039;d wondered where that one had got to:[MEDIA=youtube]QOn3gF_OQag[/MEDIA]I wonder which quizzes they&#039;d include if doing it today. I&#039;m sure it would include The Chase, Pointless and that godawful Tipping Point.&nbsp; Mastermind would still be relevant, of course.What comes across in these specials is how each era had its own unique tone. The 1984 Christmas Special saw Elaine Paige on that familiar theatre rooftop set from the 1984 series. Her version of Windmills Of Your Mind is a slightly curious choice to perform since the dialogue overlaps, but it was quite well done with split screen and whatnot.1987&#039;s Christmas Night With The Two Ronnies is notable for being the last original full episode, coming almost two years after the end of Series Twelve. They pulled out all the stops with some truly impressive guest-stars: Elton John and Charlton Heston for goodness&#039;s sake. But more importantly it was still well written and memorable. Pinocchio II: Killer Doll is as strong a one-off story as they&#039;ve ever done. It now only satirises the Disney film but also harks back to The Ventriloquist&#039;s Dummy from the 1945 Ealing film Dead Of Night while also preempting 1988&#039;s Child&#039;s Play by some months. What a great way to end the series.Another notable aspect of the 1987 special was Ronnie Corbett&#039;s teeth. He seems to have got a new top set between the final 1986 episode and this. They look very different and also change the way he sounds, which I found rather distracting. I have Sorry! on DVD to watch at some point so I&#039;ll have to experience this shock all over again.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Mel O'Drama, post: 304148, member: 23"] The 1984 and 1987 Christmas Specials have been a nice way to revisit the series in different eras while still seeing all-new material. I'm a little confused about why the specials were on separate discs rather than being included with the main series from the year of transmission, but so long as it's all present all's well. I was most relieved by the inclusion of the Courtroom Quiz in the 1984 special since after finishing the series proper I'd wondered where that one had got to: [CENTER][MEDIA=youtube]QOn3gF_OQag[/MEDIA][/CENTER] I wonder which quizzes they'd include if doing it today. I'm sure it would include [I]The Chase, Pointless[/I] and that godawful [I]Tipping Point. Mastermind[/I] would still be relevant, of course. What comes across in these specials is how each era had its own unique tone. The 1984 Christmas Special saw Elaine Paige on that familiar theatre rooftop set from the 1984 series. Her version of [I]Windmills Of Your Mind[/I] is a slightly curious choice to perform since the dialogue overlaps, but it was quite well done with split screen and whatnot. 1987's [I]Christmas Night With The Two Ronnies[/I] is notable for being the last original full episode, coming almost two years after the end of Series Twelve. They pulled out all the stops with some truly impressive guest-stars: Elton John and Charlton Heston for goodness's sake. But more importantly it was still well written and memorable. [I]Pinocchio II: Killer Doll [/I]is as strong a one-off story as they've ever done. It now only satirises the Disney film but also harks back to [I]The Ventriloquist's Dummy [/I]from the 1945 Ealing film [I]Dead Of Night [/I]while also preempting 1988's [I]Child's Play [/I]by some months[I].[/I] What a great way to end the series. Another notable aspect of the 1987 special was Ronnie Corbett's teeth. He seems to have got a new top set between the final 1986 episode and this. They look very different and also change the way he sounds, which I found rather distracting. I have [I]Sorry![/I] on DVD to watch at some point so I'll have to experience this shock all over again. [/QUOTE]

Verification

Who played JR Ewing?