Reply to thread

Message

<blockquote data-quote="Mel O&amp;#039;Drama" data-source="post: 121855" data-attributes="member: 23">Foggy&#039;s return has been, on every level, like the return of an old friend. A few episodes in and it&#039;s like he&#039;s never been away. I had my doubts at first about whether his return would work, since Brian Wilde seemed visibly older and thinner than when he&#039;d left. But the spirit and energy is still there and he&#039;s as game as ever. My viewing is now halfway through Series Fourteen from 1992. In terms of airdate timeline I&#039;m halfway through, but when it comes to episode count I&#039;m quite a way from the halfway point. &nbsp;I&#039;m appreciating the changes that have happened over the last five years&#039; worth of episodes. The show now feels like a true ensemble with a fairly large main cast of established characters - both regular and recurring. It&#039;s now fairly standard that the main three won&#039;t appear in practically every scene, so we&#039;ve got to know characters like Nora and Ivy in a different way and not just how they interact with Clegg, Compo and their third companion. The scenes in Edie&#039;s house are the best example of this. We see her in the kitchen, laying down newspaper for Wesley then calling him in with her fake posh &quot;outdoors&quot; accent &quot;Wairslair. Would you step insaird fuh a few mairments plea-uhs?&quot; I&#039;ve actually met people who do this - consciously or otherwise - when interacting with someone they view as a social superior, or when answering the phone and it&#039;s a really nice touch from Roy Clarke and Thora Hird. Invariably she&#039;ll give up and slip back into her thick Yorkshire accent, which makes it all the more funny. Edie&#039;s coffee mornings are perhaps the most telling. Where the premise of the series has always been about the men who&#039;ve never grown up, there&#039;s now a counterbalance in which practically all the women in the cast - Edie, Nora, Ivy, Pearl and congregate to act as a kind of Greek chorus. This set up even comes with its own set of running gags: the women&#039;s interest in hearing about Howard and Marina from Pearl; Edie&#039;s horror when Glenda shows a passing interest in any matter relating to sex; and the eclair gag, which began with Nora taking the cake Ivy had her eye on and has evolved to give some variations where Pearl or even Glenda will swipe the coveted cake. There are also scenes in which the women are driven round in Edie&#039;s old Triumph Herald which are always good value for money (Edie&#039;s terrible driving is funny by itself. Throw in all these wonderful character actresses and it&#039;s pure joy). As I commented in earlier episodes, Roy Clarke writes strong women really well and the series certainly has the best when it comes to the people playing them.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Mel O'Drama, post: 121855, member: 23"] Foggy's return has been, on every level, like the return of an old friend. A few episodes in and it's like he's never been away. I had my doubts at first about whether his return would work, since Brian Wilde seemed visibly older and thinner than when he'd left. But the spirit and energy is still there and he's as game as ever. My viewing is now halfway through Series Fourteen from 1992. In terms of airdate timeline I'm halfway through, but when it comes to episode count I'm quite a way from the halfway point. I'm appreciating the changes that have happened over the last five years' worth of episodes. The show now feels like a true ensemble with a fairly large main cast of established characters - both regular and recurring. It's now fairly standard that the main three won't appear in practically every scene, so we've got to know characters like Nora and Ivy in a different way and not just how they interact with Clegg, Compo and their third companion. The scenes in Edie's house are the best example of this. We see her in the kitchen, laying down newspaper for Wesley then calling him in with her fake posh "outdoors" accent "Wairslair. Would you step insaird fuh a few mairments plea-uhs?" I've actually met people who do this - consciously or otherwise - when interacting with someone they view as a social superior, or when answering the phone and it's a really nice touch from Roy Clarke and Thora Hird. Invariably she'll give up and slip back into her thick Yorkshire accent, which makes it all the more funny. Edie's coffee mornings are perhaps the most telling. Where the premise of the series has always been about the men who've never grown up, there's now a counterbalance in which practically all the women in the cast - Edie, Nora, Ivy, Pearl and congregate to act as a kind of Greek chorus. This set up even comes with its own set of running gags: the women's interest in hearing about Howard and Marina from Pearl; Edie's horror when Glenda shows a passing interest in any matter relating to sex; and the eclair gag, which began with Nora taking the cake Ivy had her eye on and has evolved to give some variations where Pearl or even Glenda will swipe the coveted cake. There are also scenes in which the women are driven round in Edie's old Triumph Herald which are always good value for money (Edie's terrible driving is funny by itself. Throw in all these wonderful character actresses and it's pure joy). As I commented in earlier episodes, Roy Clarke writes strong women really well and the series certainly has the best when it comes to the people playing them. [/QUOTE]

Verification

What month follows July?