Fletcher goes to the pub with £1.00. The cost of a pint of beer in 1974 was just 20p and a packet of crisps only 5p. So £1.00 would have gone a long way.
Two years later, Brian Wilde, Philip Jackson, and John Rutland would all appear in Going to Gordon's Wedding (1976), an episode of Last of the Summer Wine (1973), directed by Sydney Lotterby.
In 1974, when this episode was filmed, half day closing was a reality for most UK retail businesses (imposed by a 1912 act of Parliament and not formally repealed until 1994). Although the law did not state which day the day the shop was supposed to close half a day early, the vast majority chose to shut at Wednesday lunchtime. Ironically shops that sold medicine, such as the TCP that Fletcher goes out to buy in this episode, were those on a list exempted from this law.
The ratings for this episode and The Hustler (1974) are unavailable.
The remaining four episodes from this first series averaged at 6th place in the charts with an audience of 6.66 million under the JICTAR ratings system.
The remaining four episodes from this first series averaged at 6th place in the charts with an audience of 6.66 million under the JICTAR ratings system.