Hacker, Humphrey and Bernard travel to the Middle East with what seems to be half of the civil service in tow.
This is another strong episode with great performances and dialogue.
The plot is very Hacker v The Civil Service and he wants to come down on bribery and corruption from a very high horse. There are a number of ironically funny situations that can be predicted but they entertain nonetheless.
One of the best scenes takes place on the trip and during the meeting with the oil sheik. Although the joke is quite repetitive, it does not fail to amuse me each time I hear a new variation on the alcohol punchline.
It feels quite plausible when we hear about the underhanded nature of the oil deal and I personally believe this is exactly how these type of situations work in reality.
What comes later is a standard Humphrey/Hacker chess-like battle where there can only be one winner. The final scene involving the journalist involves some spectacularly clever and bullish manoeuvring on the part of Hacker that reminds you what a defensive and self serving piece of work he can be when his reputation is on the line.
Paul Eddington, Nigel Hawthorne and Derek Fowlds are on great form as always.
It is an 8.5/10 for me but I round upwards.
This is another strong episode with great performances and dialogue.
The plot is very Hacker v The Civil Service and he wants to come down on bribery and corruption from a very high horse. There are a number of ironically funny situations that can be predicted but they entertain nonetheless.
One of the best scenes takes place on the trip and during the meeting with the oil sheik. Although the joke is quite repetitive, it does not fail to amuse me each time I hear a new variation on the alcohol punchline.
It feels quite plausible when we hear about the underhanded nature of the oil deal and I personally believe this is exactly how these type of situations work in reality.
What comes later is a standard Humphrey/Hacker chess-like battle where there can only be one winner. The final scene involving the journalist involves some spectacularly clever and bullish manoeuvring on the part of Hacker that reminds you what a defensive and self serving piece of work he can be when his reputation is on the line.
Paul Eddington, Nigel Hawthorne and Derek Fowlds are on great form as always.
It is an 8.5/10 for me but I round upwards.
