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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Mel O&#039;Drama" data-source="post: 440545" data-attributes="member: 23">5.08 + 1987 Christmas Special: Treasure Hunt Deborah, Kim and Lil may be gone, but another of the women in Jim’s life has made a welcome return not once but twice. I have to say I bloody love Philippa Vale’s cool head and equally cool delivery of dialogue. The fun she brings to the series ripples out to all the main characters, and her resourcefulness is endlessly watchable. Both these factors are used to good effect in S.P.A.R.T.A.’s lengthy opening scene in which she is held at knifepoint by a bulky man but manages to turn the tables using her wits (and a Bible). This gives perhaps the most risqué moment in the series to date - and certainly one of the funniest - when we cut away to a chambermaid approaching the door of the hotel room. She hears Philippa and the bulky man grunting loudly and the creaking of bed springs, then she smiles approvingly and moves on. Cutting back to the room we find Philippa putting the finishing touches to the improvised restraints and gag with which she bounds him. Another thread in this episode sees poor Charlie coming of worst while trying to impress Peggy, who seem to be heading towards their own romance after Peggy’s husband was killed off (off-screen) at the start of this series (or was it the Christmas special?). First they catch Jim and Philippa having an intimate discussion and Charlie begins to tease, but Jim and Philippa turn the tables with some faux pearl-clutching at Charlie and Peggy brazenly flaunting their liaison in public. In the last act, Jim and Philippa “borrow” Charlie’s newly-acquired boat for a getaway so that when Charlie later returns to it, he finds it riddled with bullet holes. Philippa’s cat and mouse game with Jim reaches new depths in S.P.A.R.T.A. when it’s clear there’s a deep respect between them. After solving the case, she unexpectedly turns herself in (as she’d promised), and he, slightly less unexpectedly, lets her slip away. Technically Philippa returns two episodes later, though with the return being in the Christmas special the real-time gap in episode transmission was ten-and-a-half months. As always, she’s entertaining, getting herself - and Jim - into scrapes, while also proving herself capable and clever, donning a series of fun disguises and narrowly escaping with exactly what she wants. In terms of function, Philippa is this series’ antiheroine. She’s the Selena Kyle to Jim’s Bruce Wayne. The Felicia Hardy to his Peter Parker. It could even be argued that she’s the deuteragonist, even though this only applies to episodes in which she appears, since she doesn’t really get a mention outside of these. Within these episodes, though, she’s compelling and watchable. In different times and under different producers, she might even have spun off to her own series, but I like that what we have is condensed and delivered judiciously. This episode takes things to the next level by having Jim and Philippa consummate their relationship. While organic enough, there’s a dark complexity to it all. Ever in control, we learn the next morning that Philippa set up the situation of them being trapped in a wine cellar for the night and could have freed them at any moment. There’s the added tension of her offering Jim a drink of wine. She says she’d forgotten he didn’t drink, but even if this is true, her motive in getting him drunk was to loosen his inhibitions enough to sleep with her. Instead she takes a gambit on telling the truth about this situation… and it works. Jim is cheating on Susan but this comes immediately in the wake of Susan’s affair so emotions are high and for Jim this could be a case of sauce for the gander. Susan’s affair is possibly the soapiest thing in this series yet, but I love the approach it takes. Mostly we see it through Jim’s eyes as he uncovers the truth, and through various techniques of sound and image (including fleeting flashbacks to Susan) we are shown very subjectively how this personal situation impairs Jim’s concentration and efficacy in his professional life. Even their arguments are mostly shown from a distance. Each year’s closing episode has done a great job of raising the stakes to the point that watching it feels like an important moment. Series Five has done this by juxtaposing Susan’s affair with Jim potentially getting poisoned. Tied to a chair, sweating and waiting for the effects to kick in immediately after being held at gunpoint. Rules of drama say that he won’t die - not once we learn there is no known antidote - but then the series was cancelled at this point - a decision later reversed - so without the benefit of hindsight anything could have happened. I must say I’m glad the series wasn’t cancelled at this point. Not only because I’m thoroughly enjoying it, but also because I wouldn’t have liked the image of Jim broken and crying in Susan’s arms to be the last we saw of him. The Christmas special - reworked theme and all - showed there’s life in the old dog yet, so I’m optimistic that Series Six could be a good one, even with the supporting cast continuing to peter out by the episode.</blockquote>

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