Thursday, 20 June 2019

A Comedy On This Day: The Gaffer - There Goes The Bride (21 June 1983)


 Bill Maynard sounds worryingly out of breath in this episode, panting heavily in the middle of sentences - unless its an actor's device for conveying Graham White's dense dialogue!

 There's a fair amount of filmed inserts this week, something that I don't really associate with The Gaffer beyond the factory yard. A pub stag night starts off in the studio, but then oddly turns into a filmed montage sequence of an idyllic night's debauch for the regulars, downing yards of ale and leaching after barmaids, to a smoky saxophone soundtrack. The effect is peculiar, especially as there is no continuity of design between the two pub sets and a different barmaid on film.

 This is followed by the Gaffer driving through the Yorkshire countryside at the end of a freezing winter with melting snow on the ground, and a shot of the gaffer petting a border collie outside a farmhouse - a unique moment when we see him as a likeable character. None of these inserts are remotely funny, but the extra dimension of real-world conditions enhances the programme.

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