The final episode of Season 1.
Much to the disgust of his colleagues, Ralph wins a cheque from his boss, Peter Warr ( Nigel Pegrum ) for being Salesman Of The Month. Pain in the rear he may be, but Ralph knows how to sell things. To celebrate, he invites his work-mates to a dinner at Ali's ( Barbar Bhatti ) Indian restaurant. But nobody turns up, and he is left with a huge bill to pay. Brian is at home playing chess against himself. He explains that he tries to split himself into two people to make the game more interesting. He has been out of work for two weeks. Ralph promises to get him a job in his company, and goes to see Peter, but the vacancy has been filled...
Like the earlier six shows, this is good stuff. Ralph is only a 'lone wolf' because the pack refuses to run with him. Brian's friendship is therefore important as it is the only one he has. When the job turns out to be taken, Ralph ingeniously devises a way to get Brian work - by landing a huge order for packaging with a Bangladeshi firm. Peter is so impressed he hires Brian on the spot. But Brian has applied for the post as Archivist at the British Museum which, rather improbably, gets without being summoned for an interview. He rejects the offer, and the episode ends with him and Ralph speeding off to an uncertain future in the latter's Ford Capri.
Terence Conoley appears as 'Colin' with David Simeon as 'Johnny Baxter'. Babar Bhatti was the 'Punka Wallah' in 'It Ain't Half Hot Mum'.
Funniest moment - Ralph threatens to resign unless Peter hires Brian. When it becomes apparent his boss would not be displeased to see him go, he hurriedly changes his mind.
So ended Season 1. It started with good ratings ( possibly on the strength of Briers' name in 'The Good Life' ), but by the end these had tailed off considerably. 'Richard Briers' new show', wrote a 'Sun' reader' 'is a big disappointment to those who saw him in 'The Good Life''. Why anyone tuned in expecting a retread of that self-sufficiency show is anyone's guess. Even Bill Cotton, head of Light Entertainment at the B.B.C., was quoted as asking Michael Gambon: "Any chance of it being funny this week?". Funny it was, but not on your usual B.B.C. sitcom level. Perhaps it would have looked more at home on B.B.C.-2. Nevertheless, a second season appeared the following year. The first came out on D.V.D. in 2007. Foolishly, Metrodome neglected to combine it with Season 2 which, bearing in mind that it was a fairly obscure show, virtually guaranteed sales would not be sufficiently strong enough to guarantee any further releases.
Much to the disgust of his colleagues, Ralph wins a cheque from his boss, Peter Warr ( Nigel Pegrum ) for being Salesman Of The Month. Pain in the rear he may be, but Ralph knows how to sell things. To celebrate, he invites his work-mates to a dinner at Ali's ( Barbar Bhatti ) Indian restaurant. But nobody turns up, and he is left with a huge bill to pay. Brian is at home playing chess against himself. He explains that he tries to split himself into two people to make the game more interesting. He has been out of work for two weeks. Ralph promises to get him a job in his company, and goes to see Peter, but the vacancy has been filled...
Like the earlier six shows, this is good stuff. Ralph is only a 'lone wolf' because the pack refuses to run with him. Brian's friendship is therefore important as it is the only one he has. When the job turns out to be taken, Ralph ingeniously devises a way to get Brian work - by landing a huge order for packaging with a Bangladeshi firm. Peter is so impressed he hires Brian on the spot. But Brian has applied for the post as Archivist at the British Museum which, rather improbably, gets without being summoned for an interview. He rejects the offer, and the episode ends with him and Ralph speeding off to an uncertain future in the latter's Ford Capri.
Terence Conoley appears as 'Colin' with David Simeon as 'Johnny Baxter'. Babar Bhatti was the 'Punka Wallah' in 'It Ain't Half Hot Mum'.
Funniest moment - Ralph threatens to resign unless Peter hires Brian. When it becomes apparent his boss would not be displeased to see him go, he hurriedly changes his mind.
So ended Season 1. It started with good ratings ( possibly on the strength of Briers' name in 'The Good Life' ), but by the end these had tailed off considerably. 'Richard Briers' new show', wrote a 'Sun' reader' 'is a big disappointment to those who saw him in 'The Good Life''. Why anyone tuned in expecting a retread of that self-sufficiency show is anyone's guess. Even Bill Cotton, head of Light Entertainment at the B.B.C., was quoted as asking Michael Gambon: "Any chance of it being funny this week?". Funny it was, but not on your usual B.B.C. sitcom level. Perhaps it would have looked more at home on B.B.C.-2. Nevertheless, a second season appeared the following year. The first came out on D.V.D. in 2007. Foolishly, Metrodome neglected to combine it with Season 2 which, bearing in mind that it was a fairly obscure show, virtually guaranteed sales would not be sufficiently strong enough to guarantee any further releases.