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<blockquote data-quote="Mel O&amp;#039;Drama" data-source="post: 383537" data-attributes="member: 23">Given my contempt for Blakey at this point in the series, you can imagine my joy at watching the first episode of Don&#039;t Drink The Water, contained in isolation as a bonus feature here. The Brits in Spain premise feels familiar from other projects - most of which would come after this one: Duty Free and Eldorado spring to mind. Perhaps the most notable (possible) influence would be Carry On Abroad. Most of the scenarios here - half finished accommodation, bad plumbing, language barriers, threatening law enforcement, staff who don&#039;t seem to get it - had all featured in that film over a year-and-a-half before DDTW. But then the similarities could also be due to the era where affordable package holidays were seeing an increase in Brits travelling abroad (and presumably returning with some nightmarish stories). It&#039;s interesting to see this first episode isn&#039;t an &quot;origin&quot; story where we seen Blakey and his sister in England deciding to retire abroad. We begin in Spain, and there we&#039;ll stay (though the layout of their apartment looks rather familiar having just finished On The Buses. Presumably this was filmed on the same set as the Butlers&#039; kitchen/diner).&nbsp; But it&#039;s the characters rather than the setting and situations that sell a series, and this is one for hardcore Blakey fans. Helping not, is that I can find Pat Coombs hit and miss. She&#039;s appeared in a lot of things I&#039;ve watched and enjoyed, so there&#039;s a fondness there (or at least, some more goodwill), but let&#039;s just say I prefer her in small doses. On the plus side, there&#039;s Derek Griffiths, who hits my nostalgia button since I grew up watching him on Play School and Play Away.The bottom line is that I&#039;m glad I&#039;ve seen this but won&#039;t be seeking the series out anytime soon. Half an hour is fine, but let&#039;s just say I&#039;ve had my fill of Blakey.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Mel O'Drama, post: 383537, member: 23"] Given my contempt for Blakey at this point in the series, you can imagine my joy at watching the first episode of[B][SIZE=5] [I]Don't Drink The Water[/I], [/SIZE][/B]contained in isolation as a bonus feature here. The Brits in Spain premise feels familiar from other projects - most of which would come after this one: [I]Duty Free [/I]and[I] Eldorado [/I]spring to mind. Perhaps the most notable (possible) influence would be [I]Carry On Abroad. [/I]Most of the scenarios here - half finished accommodation, bad plumbing, language barriers, threatening law enforcement, staff who don't seem to get it - had all featured in that film over a year-and-a-half before [I]DDTW[/I]. But then the similarities could also be due to the era where affordable package holidays were seeing an increase in Brits travelling abroad (and presumably returning with some nightmarish stories). It's interesting to see this first episode isn't an "origin" story where we seen Blakey and his sister in England deciding to retire abroad. We begin in Spain, and there we'll stay (though the layout of their apartment looks rather familiar having just finished[I] On The Buses. [/I]Presumably this was filmed on the same set as the Butlers' kitchen/diner). But it's the characters rather than the setting and situations that sell a series, and this is one for hardcore Blakey fans. Helping not, is that I can find Pat Coombs hit and miss. She's appeared in a lot of things I've watched and enjoyed, so there's a fondness there (or at least, some more goodwill), but let's just say I prefer her in small doses. On the plus side, there's Derek Griffiths, who hits my nostalgia button since I grew up watching him on [I]Play School [/I]and[I] Play Away.[/I] The bottom line is that I'm glad I've seen this but won't be seeking the series out anytime soon. Half an hour is fine, but let's just say I've had my fill of Blakey. [/QUOTE]

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