Enjoyable episode despite its weaker elements and it is set around a rather dodgy London hotel ran by its manager Norma Bates ( Psycho pun )that Arthur supplies with even dodgier 'produce '.
Terry is sent to mind the place for reasons not best explained however he encounters a pair of con men posing as vicars and a young girl down from Liverpool looking to be a model and sporting a dreadful scouse accent usually the one most non Liverpool born actors struggle with.
The scenes around the hotel are enjoyable and there are some lively punch ups involving Terry and also one involving the two characters the hotel manager is involved with.
It all moves along nicely and we have also some good scenes involving Pongo a scruffy villain who supplies Arthur with his produce.
The storylines involving the girl and the con men are neatly tidied up however the story involving Norma and the Jewellery dealers doesn't make much sense and is rather confusing and it's unclear what is going on with that one.
Despite some flaws this one is played mostly for laughs and the performances of all the actors are excellent with Dennis Waterman playing Terry at his heroic best.
2 Reviews
Didn't laugh once
ArtVandelayImporterExporter16 August 2023
I think this is supposed to be a light-hearted episode, with several story threads all crossing over.
Attractive middle-aged hotel manager is working a scam. Arthur Daley is peddling dodgy breakfast jams. Some teen tart from Liverpool is in town to get some modeling photos. And a couple of vicars are creeping around the hallways.
They shoehorn Terry McCann into the episode by giving him a job as the hotel security manager.
None of it connected. None of it was funny.
I supposed the one redeeming aspect was McCann throwing a few punches but it wasn't enough to save the episode.
In Series 1 the writers would have crafted an entire episode about the hotel scam. Or the starlet being taken advantage of by the dodgy photographer. And it would have been good and gritty. But by Series 4 the producers were determined to present a comedy series starring George Cole.
It usually worked. Not this time around.
Attractive middle-aged hotel manager is working a scam. Arthur Daley is peddling dodgy breakfast jams. Some teen tart from Liverpool is in town to get some modeling photos. And a couple of vicars are creeping around the hallways.
They shoehorn Terry McCann into the episode by giving him a job as the hotel security manager.
None of it connected. None of it was funny.
I supposed the one redeeming aspect was McCann throwing a few punches but it wasn't enough to save the episode.
In Series 1 the writers would have crafted an entire episode about the hotel scam. Or the starlet being taken advantage of by the dodgy photographer. And it would have been good and gritty. But by Series 4 the producers were determined to present a comedy series starring George Cole.
It usually worked. Not this time around.
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