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<blockquote data-quote="Mel O&amp;#039;Drama" data-source="post: 427908" data-attributes="member: 23">I&#039;m now halfway through Series Four, AKA the year when both wives were pregnant. I&#039;m sure I&#039;d read that this shift was necessitated by the actresses&#039; real life pregnancies, but darned if I can find where I saw that. I find this kind of continuity interesting in what is really episodic television, and I suppose this turn takes this series into territory previously explored by its tonal compatriot On The Buses. Except OTB dealt with Olive&#039;s pregnancy in the film version, evidently the opposite of what is done here since the big screen version of Love Thy Neighbour was released between Series Three (which ended with the pregnancy announcement) and Series Four (which continued the pregnancy arc). I&#039;m guessing the LTN film is not part of the series&#039; canon and therefore avoids mentioning the pregnancies at all. But I won&#039;t know for a while as I&#039;m saving the film for after the series ends. One disappointing change for Series Four is the replacement of Cyril the publican with Nobby Garside. Ken Parry as Cyril had a quiet brilliance to him. He didn&#039;t steal scenes, but he delivered his lines perfectly, and one could feel Cyril&#039;s weariness at having to deal with this lot every day. Paul Luty as Nobby is far more OTT and in-your-face. The actor is an ex-wrestler, and it shows in the performance, with lots of loud gruffness and puffing out his chest while trying to look intimidating. It&#039;s not terrible, but he feels very one-note and a definite step down from Cyril. It helps not that Nobby seems intended to play a larger part in the series, with him moving in next door to Eddie and Joan. While I&#039;m discussing supporting players, I realise I haven&#039;t yet mentioned Arthur and Jacko who are colleagues of Eddie and Bill, and good friends of Eddie&#039;s. They&#039;ve kind of crept in for me. Both have been around since the second episode, and I initially found them tolerable, but they&#039;ve come to be essential parts of the series&#039; fabric, and I would miss them if they weren&#039;t around. Both faces are familiar, but especially Tommy Godfrey, who has been in practically everything (perhaps Mind Your Language is the most notable for this thread). Series Four is the last written by the team of Vince Powell and Harry Driver before Driver&#039;s death in 1973. Series Five and Six are written by Powell alone after which an array of different writers came in for the last two series. I&#039;m curious to see if and how this affects the tone of the series.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Mel O'Drama, post: 427908, member: 23"] I'm now halfway through Series Four, AKA the year when both wives were pregnant. I'm sure I'd read that this shift was necessitated by the actresses' real life pregnancies, but darned if I can find where I saw that. I find this kind of continuity interesting in what is really episodic television, and I suppose this turn takes this series into territory previously explored by its tonal compatriot [I]On The Buses.[/I] Except [I]OTB[/I] dealt with Olive's pregnancy in the film version, evidently the opposite of what is done here since the big screen version of [I]Love Thy Neighbour [/I]was released between Series Three (which ended with the pregnancy announcement) and Series Four (which continued the pregnancy arc). I'm guessing the [I]LTN[/I] film is not part of the series' canon and therefore avoids mentioning the pregnancies at all. But I won't know for a while as I'm saving the film for after the series ends. One disappointing change for Series Four is the replacement of Cyril the publican with Nobby Garside. Ken Parry as Cyril had a quiet brilliance to him. He didn't steal scenes, but he delivered his lines perfectly, and one could feel Cyril's weariness at having to deal with this lot every day. Paul Luty as Nobby is far more OTT and in-your-face. The actor is an ex-wrestler, and it shows in the performance, with lots of loud gruffness and puffing out his chest while trying to look intimidating. It's not terrible, but he feels very one-note and a definite step down from Cyril. It helps not that Nobby seems intended to play a larger part in the series, with him moving in next door to Eddie and Joan. While I'm discussing supporting players, I realise I haven't yet mentioned Arthur and Jacko who are colleagues of Eddie and Bill, and good friends of Eddie's. They've kind of crept in for me. Both have been around since the second episode, and I initially found them tolerable, but they've come to be essential parts of the series' fabric, and I would miss them if they weren't around. Both faces are familiar, but especially Tommy Godfrey, who has been in practically everything (perhaps[I] Mind Your Language [/I]is the most notable for this thread). Series Four is the last written by the team of Vince Powell and Harry Driver before Driver's death in 1973. Series Five and Six are written by Powell alone after which an array of different writers came in for the last two series. I'm curious to see if and how this affects the tone of the series. [/QUOTE]

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Who played JR Ewing?