The death of a top Megla executive brings television executives of all sides to a crematorium, leading to a very funny scene which I'll come to later. George Baker returns as the BBC's Director-General, carrying a wreath with the initials 'BBC' on it. He cannot resist winding up Hughes over the success of 'Eastenders' ( it had only been launched the previous year ). Celia has a new man in her life, and Nesbitt does not like it. Hughes wants Nesbitt to pretend to quit Megla and join the BBC, taking with him a fake document concerning Megla's winter schedule. It is a strategy swiped from the famous case of 'The Man Who Never Was', in which a dead WW2 British airman carrying fake documents about the Allied invasion was allowed to fall into German hands.
Two-part sitcom stories are rare indeed. 'Love Thy Neighbour' and 'It Ain't Alf Hot Mum' both featured them. The interesting thing here is the depiction of the television ratings war as some kind of espionage operation, with defections and fake documents. Mention is made of ITV's attempt to poach the U. S. soap opera 'Dallas' away from the BBC. This is how the series should have started, not progressed to.
Funniest moment - the crematorium scene. The Chaplain ( Richard Wilson ) cannot control the coffin and it keeps sliding in and out of the furnace. Nesbitt climbs on it in a desperate attempt to stop it from falling onto the floor, and nearly winds up being burned to a crisp. It is a wonderful piece of black comedy, well performed by the cast.
Second funniest moment - the restaurant scene. Nesbitt is supposed to earn himself a dismissal by insulting Hughes and throwing a glass of red wine over his wife ( Fanny Carby ). The producer cannot bring himself to do this, so Hughes has to do it for him, culminating in a brawl that is straight out of a Western!
There is one good thing to come out of Nesbitt's plight. Celia takes pity on him and their affair is rekindled. At the end of the second episode, Nesbitt sells the information to the BBC and, wearing a false moustache and calling himself 'Boris' ( ha, ha ) gets his old job back at Megla. Shades of Reginald Perrin.
Two-part sitcom stories are rare indeed. 'Love Thy Neighbour' and 'It Ain't Alf Hot Mum' both featured them. The interesting thing here is the depiction of the television ratings war as some kind of espionage operation, with defections and fake documents. Mention is made of ITV's attempt to poach the U. S. soap opera 'Dallas' away from the BBC. This is how the series should have started, not progressed to.
Funniest moment - the crematorium scene. The Chaplain ( Richard Wilson ) cannot control the coffin and it keeps sliding in and out of the furnace. Nesbitt climbs on it in a desperate attempt to stop it from falling onto the floor, and nearly winds up being burned to a crisp. It is a wonderful piece of black comedy, well performed by the cast.
Second funniest moment - the restaurant scene. Nesbitt is supposed to earn himself a dismissal by insulting Hughes and throwing a glass of red wine over his wife ( Fanny Carby ). The producer cannot bring himself to do this, so Hughes has to do it for him, culminating in a brawl that is straight out of a Western!
There is one good thing to come out of Nesbitt's plight. Celia takes pity on him and their affair is rekindled. At the end of the second episode, Nesbitt sells the information to the BBC and, wearing a false moustache and calling himself 'Boris' ( ha, ha ) gets his old job back at Megla. Shades of Reginald Perrin.