Impasse (15 Mar. 1963)

Two drivers meet halfway along a country lane. Neither will reverse and an impasses ensues.

Writers:

Ray Galton, Alan Simpson

Stars:

Bernard Cribbins, Leslie Phillips, Harry Locke

Cast

Episode cast overview:
Bernard Cribbins	...	Mr. Spooner
Leslie Phillips	...	Mr. Ferris
Harry Locke	...	AA Man
Duncan Macrae	...	RAC Man
Georgina Cookson	...	Mrs. Ferris
Yootha Joyce	...	Mrs. Spooner
Campbell Singer	...	Police Constable

Storyline

Two drivers meet halfway along a country lane. Neither will reverse and an impasses ensues.

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Genres:

Comedy

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Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

15 March 1963 (UK)

Company Credits

Technical Specs

Runtime:

25 min

Color:

Black and White

Did You Know?

Connections

Remade as The Magnificent Seven Deadly Sins (1971)

User Reviews

You Back Up

A truly classic episode from 'Comedy Playhouse' written when all episodes of 'Playhouse' were written by comedy legends Galton & Simpson. 'Impasse' is for me is one of the forgotten gems of British sitcom.

Working class couple Mr and Mrs Spooner are driving in the country and so are middle class/upper class couple Mr and Mrs Ferris. They both cars meet facing each other on a country road. One of the two will have to back up, but none of them will. Their wives have much more intelligence to the men and each wife insists there husband backs up, each husband being too stubborn to oblige. Then a man working for the AA turns up. He wants to sort out this misunderstanding, but when he learns Ferris is RAC whereas Spooner is AA, he has to favour Spooner, so he tells Ferris to back up, but Ferris won't. Then a man from the RAC turns up, so a war between two men has turned into a war between four men. So a Police-man turns up. He just sees faults in each of the two cars and insists each, when home, report to the Police-Station. He tells Spooner to back up, which he does. Then Ferris asks the Police-man where some Duke's house is. He tells him it is about half a mile up the road, but the other way. Ferris is going to have to back up.

That great under-rated comedy actor Bernard Cribbins played Spooner, he of course voiced 'The Wombles' plus his other claim to fame is that he had the word 'Spoons' said very rudely to him by Basil Fawlty in the classic episode 'The Hotel Inspectors' Playing Spooner's wife was another great person of comedy, Yootha Joyce, who of course played Mildred Roper in 'Man about the House' and the spin-off 'George and Mildred' Another well liked comedy actor played Ferris, Leslie Phillips. A brilliant sitcom character actor played the Police-man, Campbell Singer, whose other credits include 'Dad's Army' 'On the Buses' 'Rising Damp' and 'Some Mothers do 'ave 'em' This was a wonderful comedy idea from Galton and Simpson. I had the lucky pleasure of seeing it last night on youtube of all places. It was clever because one class wasn't being supported, the working and middle class men were as stupid and stubborn as each other. This episode has been re-made twice. Firstly in the 1971 film 'The Magnificent Seven Deadly Sins' highlighting the deadly sin Pride. Then it was charmingly re-made as part of 'Paul Merton in Galton and Simpsons' You could also argue it inspired the Simon Nye sitcom 'The Last Salute' as that highlighted RAC and AA rivalry. A true classic sitcom episode.

Best Bit: Spooner demanding the AA man gives him the salute.