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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Mel O&#039;Drama" data-source="post: 362692" data-attributes="member: 23">5 - 11 November 1981 3531 - 3533The QE2 has sailed, with Meg bound for pastures new and some loose ends tied up.Despite Xrds being a serial, I found it surprising that there were three full episodes between the fire and Meg’s departure. For whatever reason (most likely because the two are so frequently mentioned together in the space of a sentence), I had it in my head that Meg’s final episode would  be the one following the fire. But nope. What agony it must have been for 1981 viewers waiting a full week to find out Meg’s fate.The exit itself was everything I’d hoped it would be. Dramatic. Touching. And something of a spectacle. Somewhere near the front of my mind I knew that Jill was going to get a mysterious End Of Part One phone call and say “Oh my God. It’s you!!” Is this because I’ve seen it before? Perhaps. It could even have been recreated in Nolly (I’ve already forgotten, but I’ll be getting a refresher very soon). Or is it because it followed soap convention perfectly and really, this is the only logical way to get Jill to Southampton. Anyway, her arrival at the dock - complete with frantic Herrmannesque strings - was terrific. Incidentally, knowing how the actors had to wear their own clothes for budget purposes I couldn’t help wondering if the gorgeous Alfa Romeo Giulietta Jill drove up to the QE2 was actually Jane Rossington’s own. The Alfa almost seems too quirky a choice for conservative Jill (I see her more as a VW Jetta or BMW 3 Series kind of girl), but the three box saloon design makes it just conventional enough to convince as Jill’s wheels of choice. That lovely, lengthy cabin scene between Meg and Jill was wonderful. Dramatically speaking, it had the lot. The “back from the dead” of a character believed to be dead was wonderfully done. The entire arc of Meg’s death, resurrection and effective ascension to a world beyond ours could easily be viewed as a biblical allegory, so it’s appropriate that there was something positively ethereal about Nolly here in this scene. I swear I could see her glowing.The explanation of Meg’s escape from death and exit from the motel was hugely enjoyable and I particularly appreciated the lengthy flashback (reminiscent of the Who Shot JR? reveal of a year earlier) which incorporated fragments of other teased exits from the series, from the downbeat “death by tranquilliser overdose” to Meg simply walking out with one last look back. To my mind it’s inconceivable that Meg would have left had she known about the motel burning down, so having her in the dark about the situation was the only acceptable way to go. What’s more, it gave Jill her own moment of quiet sacrifice as she chose not to give her mother peace of mind by not burdening her with the truth. It’s wholly appropriate, too, that Sandy should be present, with his framed photo prominent both in Meg’s cabin and the flashback. Meg mentioned Sandy’s death as one of several possible moments where she may have decided she wanted to leave, and that photo - along with one of Jill - was what had stopped Meg from taking another tranquilliser. The grief from Roger Tonge’s recent death no doubt compounded the sadness of Noele’s departure for all concerned and makes her sacking all the more cruel. The highly publicised circumstances bring a melancholic truth to the scene which feels at best a little voyeuristic and at worst extremely abusive on the parts of the writers and producers. There’s a sad truth, too, to Meg’s final line:Everything about Meg suddenly seems so small in this final moment, from the fact that she’s pushed far away from us with Jill in the foreground (there’s a sense of the “leading lady” baton being passed here), to the way even her voice becomes small and quivery and breaks with that final word. It’s incredibly moving. The episode’s final moments are where we find the spectacle, with the infamous “waving from the deck of the QE2 scene” as the band plays A Life On The Ocean Waves and Sailing (the first number sounds so upbeat and celebratory it could be interpreted as a fingers up to Nolly from Charles Denton and Jack Barton). Incidentally, I noticed in all scenes where Nolly herself could be seen, the ship appeared to still be tethered in some way. Is the legend of her having to stay on board and cross the channel a bit of a myth, I wonder? It certainly makes good copy so I’m happy to continue wondering. There’s a strange feeling to have begun the Xrds journey anticipating this scene and now to have passed it. There’s a sense of satisfaction and closure from such a sendoff, and I suppose I won’t experience the full fallout from her departure since I have only a further 21 ATV episodes left to watch, and Nolly has been absent for far longer than that on previous breaks.The blow is further softened by some welcome returnees as Xrds moves into a new cycle of storylines. Mac has rematerialised to support Benny. Sharon, too, is back and won me over when she gave Kath a stern pep talk, reminding her that they were there to get stuck in to helping (the implication being that Kath moping about with a face like a slapped arse was making it all about her. Given the way that she gives Arthur a hard time, it was rather satisfying to see Kath on the receiving end of such a criticism). Meanwhile, David and Barbara have patched things up. It’s all hands on deck over at the motel. No doubt drastic refurbishments of all kinds lie ahead. I’ll be interested to see if I can get a taste of the new order with the handful of post-Nolly episodes remaining.</blockquote>

Verification: Who played JR Ewing?