A Comedy On This Day: Brush Strokes - Breakdown Of Society (24 March 1991)

 The pre-penultimate episode and you can tell that things are winding down. There's a rather glum mood as this week's story is about having to move out of home, the decorating business being sold and having to find new work after redundancy. It’s all well done but - especially as this episode is all studio - it doesn't play to the core Brush Strokes virtues, i.e. watching Jacko try his luck with assorted women in various interesting suburban locations.

 Mind you, Karl Howman is starting to look noticeably older by 1991 and like he really ought to be settling down by now, giving his misfortunes this episode an air of muted tragedy. When Eric and Jacko's sister tell him that they're moving to Reigate and that he can't come with them, the studio audience audibly go "Ahhh!" in sympathy.

A Comedy On This Day: Brush Strokes (1 March 1990)

 This series sometimes has a rather ambient feel to me, with loosely constructed storylines that rely more on Jacko's easy-going charm and how he fits into the world than much in the way of overtly funny occurrences.

 There are some very nicely judged, thoughtfully directed filmed inserts in this episode that wouldn't have the same effect on videotape. When Jacko chats up a policewoman on the beat (an action that has the potential to come over as unsympathetically inappropriate) we are shown the couple walking down the street in an overhead panning very wide shot with the dialogue dubbed in, placing the comedy as almost a natural consequence of the environment. Later, when the woman says goodnight to Jacko and returns to her police flats in the rain at night, real attention has been paid to lighting and framing, drawing attention to the playful movement of her twirling her umbrella in the doorway - an understated, little action that leaves the viewer with a sense of optimism.