Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Spells &amp; Karma" data-source="post: 306561" data-attributes="member: 23">With the Fletch/Godber partnership such a big part of the series to date it was intriguing to find that Richard Beckinsale didn't appear in the final two episodes of Series One. I'm assuming this was down to a scheduling conflict with Richard Beckinsale, either with Rising Damp or stage or film work. It's really impressive to see how in demand he was at this point and really makes me feel he might have become absolutely huge if he hadn't died so very young. What surprised me is that I didn't even noticed Godber's absence until someone pointed it out after we'd watched. This goes to show how well the ensemble works.Each of the last two episodes featured Fletch bonding with a fellow prisoner having difficulties, which made me wonder (retrospectively) if Godber had been intended to be part of the episodes. In particular, Bunny Warren's illiteracy and him asking Fletch to read out a letter feels like a thread that could have originally been written for Godber and Fletch. I'm less sure about McLaren and the business on the roof. Perhaps that was one episode in which Godber would have had a smaller role anyway. Who knows, perhaps he didn't appear by design. Both Warren and McLaren are played by familiar faces to me. Warren is Barker regular Sam Kelly, probably best known to me as Hans "'tler" Geering in 'Allo 'Allo. McLaren is played by Tony Osoba who I remember best as Chas in Dempsey & Makepeace. In that series his role was pretty much on the sidelines in what felt like a supporting role, so it's great to see him as McLaren whose loud and lairy ways give a role for him to get his teeth into. I was going to say he does a great Glaswegian accent, but on looking further into it he is actually from Glasgow, so I'll say instead that his London accent as Chas was impressive as I'd assumed that was his natural speaking voice. Another Barker regular, Patricia Brake has appeared as Fletch's daughter Ingrid (named after Ingrid Bergman with some references to her films that I'm sure would impress [USER=21]@Barbara Belle of the Ball[/USER]). It was nice to have some oestrogen for the Men Without Women episode with the inmates' various partners arriving to confront their men about the letter Fletch had drafted on their behalf. Interesting, too, that Biggins's Lukewarm is openly gay, right down to having a steady partner. By the standards of the time it's reasonably well done and avoids the usual Seventies sitcom trap of having a lot of humour at the expense of a flamboyantly camp character who is never explicitly acknowledged to be gay.</blockquote>

Verification: Who played Sue Ellen in Dallas?

Poison your name this Hallowe'en

There's plenty of time to choose your spooky October username

Click here for more details

Reply to thread