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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Mel O&#039;Drama" data-source="post: 87643" data-attributes="member: 23">The image of Ben Kingsley getting groovy with Pauline Collins in a Swinging Sixties nightclub as Arthur Lowe watches on has blown my mind.<img src="https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/coronationstreet/images/c/c8/The_switched_on_scene.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20111030005216" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" />In an inspired little nod to the parent series, the club was called... the Ravers Return.In an even bolder move, Pauline Collins's returned as Val Wilkins, a different character to Miss Wainwright whom she'd played in the previous two episodes - even though both characters looked, spoke, dressed and behaved identically. This wouldn't be unusual in itself -  as I've commented, Julie Goodyear has played a number of different characters. The difference with Collins is that it was written into the script.You see, at the end of Thunderfinger it was revealed that [SPOILER]both episodes had been a dream of Swindley's. So Miss Wainwright was a figment of his imagination. This makes Miss Wilkins the equivalent of Dallas's Wes Parmalee, who materialised in that show after Pam had dreamt about someone with a different name who ticked the same boxes. Except the coincidence was never acknowledged by the characters on Dallas. Whereas on Pardon The Expression, the shocked Swindley uttered Miss Wainwright's name after clapping eyes on Miss Wilkins. [/SPOILER]They didn't have to do it and could easily have sidestepped it. Viewers were arguably expected to be less observant back then and secondary characters took on a number of different roles. But the series faced it head on and got the audience involved on a whole new level. It was an unexpected little moment that proved very rewarding. Indeed, Pardon The Expression has been full of little moments that prove rewarding. Nothing earth shattering, but there's a real eye for detail that add a touch of quality.Ironically, Judith Furse returned to the series in the same episode, having appeared as another character in two previously. Yet this was completely ignored. It's almost as though the writers are reminding any viewer observant to remember her that these are the rules a TV show usually obeys. Which adds yet another layer to the one they just broke. The idea of different fads being wheeled onto the shop floor for a story of the week feels very much like what Are You Being Served? would do years later. I'm sure AYBS had a number of episodes where the fusty store attempted to get "with it", just as happened in Pardon The Expression. The more I've watched, the more I see little similarities with how both series made use of their setting. Speaking of BBC sitcoms of the Seventies - and since I've watched Happy Ever After recently - Mr Hunt being kept awake all night by his malfunctioning teasmade (albeit offscreen) foreshadowed a very similar series of events that would cause Terry and June to lose sleep in their series.</blockquote>

Verification: Who played Sue Ellen in Dallas?