Although Harry Kershaw's script has it's amusing features, there's an odd sense of not-quite-a-sitcom about this (WWII, G.I.s in the village) programme at points. It seems particularly acute in scenes in the pub, where the dialogue doesn't have much in the way of jokes per se. The effect is like watching Rovers Return scenes in Coronation Street with added audience laughter.
The best parts come from this week's guest stars, Barbara Mitchell as local aristocrat Lady Gertrude and Patrick Troughton as her grizzled retainer, Lubbock. As we see a lot of this pair on their own - and several sets have been constructed for Lady Gertrude's cobwebbed stately home - it's as though they're the lead in someone else's show. Sadly, any spin-off would have been impossible as Barbara Mitchell died of cancer within a few months of broadcast, at only 48. Lady Gertrude's skewed interest in the soldiers (as a source of booze) and willingness to flatter them to get by is skillfully and distinctively performed - a fitting tribute to an actress who always added something empathetic and truthful to several sitcoms, especially The Larkins and For The Love Of Ada.
Lady Gertrude is dressed throughout in a coat and heavy boots, even during the banquet that she holds for the G.I.s. Such privations and discomforts of wartime living are the most pleasing details in this episode, especially Lubbock's menu for the meagre feast; consomme (Bovril), poissons variese (sardines and tinned Alaska salmon), mediallions de boef corne (bully beef fritters), Boston baked beans gratin and pommes de terre Lubbock (chips), sago pudding.
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