The second episode of David Renwick and Andrew Marshall's '80's sitcom about the events leading up to World War 3.
The first concluded with the Shah of Iran's ( Bruce Montague ) boat exploding. As the world looks on in horror, the Deacon ( John Barron ) tells President Cyclops ( Barry Morse ) that all is not as it seems. The Shah is in fact still alive, and on a cross-channel ferry bound for England. From there, he will be transferred back to his own country. But the unexpected election to power of a left-wing party - led by 'Kevin Pork' ( Peter Jones ) - throws a spanner in the works. Anxious not to offend the ruling Iranian government, the new P.M. refuses the Shah entry to the U.K., and has him attacked by the S.A.S. ( in an obvious parody of the 1979 London Iranian Embassy siege ). Against all the odds, he survives.
For Cyclops, another even greater crisis is about to surface - America's latest tactical thermo-nuclear missile - the Quark Bomb, formerly known as the 'Johnny Cyclops Bomb' - has gone missing...
Another dark, hilarious episode. Newcomers might well be puzzled as to why there is a Labour Prime Minister at No.10 when in real life Mrs.Thatcher was in residence. When the show was written, the Ironing Lady's poll ratings were the lowest in recorded history, and the general feeling was that she would not survive the next election. As we now know, of course, General Galtieri came galloping to her rescue. Pork seems to have been based on former Home Secretary Roy Jenkins, who left Labour to found ( along with David Owen, Shirley Williams, and Bill Rodgers ) the Social Democratic Party ( 'S.D.P. for short. Or 'Society for Displaced Politicians' as one wag nicknamed it ). He is a loon who believes himself to be Superman ( whereas Thatcher thought she was God Almighty! ). His 'Chancellor Of The Exchequer' ( Richard Davies of 'Please Sir!' ) is like Labour firebrand Clive Jenkins. Geoffrey Palmer plays the 'Foreign Secretary'. Both are horrified when the P.M. makes his 'confession'. "What next?", the Chancellor asks, rhetorically, "Sorry, I can't come to P.M.Q's today. Brainiac's escaped from the Phantom Zone?".
Things To Look Out For - an appearance by a youthful looking Rik Mayall as Presidential aide 'Biff'. Oh, and there's a topless newsreader ( Kirstie Pooley )!
Funniest moment - the news coverage of the Shah's apparent demise is interrupted by a commercial for a new woman's girdle ( which features the late Carmen Silvera of 'Allo, Allo' ).
Second funniest moment - Pork brings into No.10 a whippet dressed in a Superman cape, which he calls 'Krypto'! Then he throws it out of an upstairs window!
The first concluded with the Shah of Iran's ( Bruce Montague ) boat exploding. As the world looks on in horror, the Deacon ( John Barron ) tells President Cyclops ( Barry Morse ) that all is not as it seems. The Shah is in fact still alive, and on a cross-channel ferry bound for England. From there, he will be transferred back to his own country. But the unexpected election to power of a left-wing party - led by 'Kevin Pork' ( Peter Jones ) - throws a spanner in the works. Anxious not to offend the ruling Iranian government, the new P.M. refuses the Shah entry to the U.K., and has him attacked by the S.A.S. ( in an obvious parody of the 1979 London Iranian Embassy siege ). Against all the odds, he survives.
For Cyclops, another even greater crisis is about to surface - America's latest tactical thermo-nuclear missile - the Quark Bomb, formerly known as the 'Johnny Cyclops Bomb' - has gone missing...
Another dark, hilarious episode. Newcomers might well be puzzled as to why there is a Labour Prime Minister at No.10 when in real life Mrs.Thatcher was in residence. When the show was written, the Ironing Lady's poll ratings were the lowest in recorded history, and the general feeling was that she would not survive the next election. As we now know, of course, General Galtieri came galloping to her rescue. Pork seems to have been based on former Home Secretary Roy Jenkins, who left Labour to found ( along with David Owen, Shirley Williams, and Bill Rodgers ) the Social Democratic Party ( 'S.D.P. for short. Or 'Society for Displaced Politicians' as one wag nicknamed it ). He is a loon who believes himself to be Superman ( whereas Thatcher thought she was God Almighty! ). His 'Chancellor Of The Exchequer' ( Richard Davies of 'Please Sir!' ) is like Labour firebrand Clive Jenkins. Geoffrey Palmer plays the 'Foreign Secretary'. Both are horrified when the P.M. makes his 'confession'. "What next?", the Chancellor asks, rhetorically, "Sorry, I can't come to P.M.Q's today. Brainiac's escaped from the Phantom Zone?".
Things To Look Out For - an appearance by a youthful looking Rik Mayall as Presidential aide 'Biff'. Oh, and there's a topless newsreader ( Kirstie Pooley )!
Funniest moment - the news coverage of the Shah's apparent demise is interrupted by a commercial for a new woman's girdle ( which features the late Carmen Silvera of 'Allo, Allo' ).
Second funniest moment - Pork brings into No.10 a whippet dressed in a Superman cape, which he calls 'Krypto'! Then he throws it out of an upstairs window!