Written
by Anthony Couch, a writer with only a handful of previous comedy credits to
his name. There's not much in the way of actual jokes in this episode,
but lots of scenes of the G.I.s making observations to each other about their
perfumed laundry.
This week, the pub is losing American custom to the W.V.S. canteen, where the
ladies are laundering the G.I.s' clothes in exchange for nylons, candies, etc.
There's a canteen set that I wouldn't have minded seeing more of and a few new
characters only seen in this episode. Watching this series - which seems to
have one new single-use set and two or three guest performers every episode -
reminds me of being a child and buying one new set of Town Lego with my pocket
money each weekend, a fireman or policeman, say. You eventually build up a
whole town's population week by week. Unlike with the toys, though, you never
get to see them all together.
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.
