UK GOLD repeats

joppyuk1

joppyuk1

Dedicated Member
I was checking my Sky TV planner for the week ahead, and see that the repeats on UK Gold are about to complete the series, though for some reason they list the last two episodes the wrong way round! However, on Friday they are starting again - from the pilot episode 'Of Funerals and Fish' - so I'll be able to catch this one, as it is so long since I have seen it.
I must admit, watching the 30th series over the last few days, I do find a falling off in quality, and miss the input of Clegg and Truly, relegated as they are to small vignettes.
 
Hey any series that has run for over 30 years with a ever changing cast will never keep the quality of the early days.
 
Age and illness having reduced severely Clegg and Truly's involvement and with effectively two series to deliver do they continue with the Howard/Pearl/Marina love triangle[ which I personally think had run its course long ago ] or introduce fresh blood . They chose the latter with Russ Abbott as Hobbo unfortunately the character is a bit of a one trick pony and at times he seems to simply regurgitate his stage act .

With Alvin and particularly Entwistle really shadows of former glories in terms of the lead trios from the past , it was always going to be difficult to keep up the standard of previous series . There are some redeeming episodes within those two series but I do concur with the thought that they are weaker ,culminating in the damp squib which is the last ever episode and was such a really undeserving way to conclude an iconic British comedy giant series.
 
captain clutterbuck said:
There are some redeeming episodes within those two series but I do concur with the thought that they are weaker ,culminating in the damp squib which is the last ever episode and was such a really undeserving way to conclude an iconic British comedy giant series.
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While I used to strongly agree, I'm not so sure anymore that the last episode is really that bad. It does say goodbye in a subtle, understated kind of way. And given that Clarke has said it was how he wanted to end the series and that many of the actors viewed it as probably the end of the series, I'm not sure that an official "goodbye" episode would have been any better. There are several classic UK comedy's that got goodbye episodes eventually and very few of those lived up to anything, IMHO. For example, I really love Blackadder, Allo Allo, and Red Dwarf, but nobody remembers the goodbye episodes for those.
 
Sarkus said:
There are several classic UK comedy's that got goodbye episodes eventually and very few of those lived up to anything, IMHO. For example, I really love Blackadder, Allo Allo, and Red Dwarf, but nobody remembers the goodbye episodes for those.
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I think you'll find that most watchers can remember the last episode of Blackadder goes forth, a marvellous way to end the series and an evocative reminder of the era in which it was set. Unfortunately I agree that very few series actually have satisfactory endings, perhaps because, at the time, there's always the possibility of them coming back? It would have been very hard for Alan Clarke to tie up all the strands he'd built up over the years. Morton/Herbert could find love, Hobbo could find his mother, and so forth.
 
With Dwarf in most of the latter series they always leave some sort of cliffhanger in the final episode of that series and as announced this week they are to record another two series . I am probably wrong in my opinion but I think the last episode epitomises the fact that plot ideas were getting thin . When Glenda announces the wedding's off Pearl announces that they have all dressed up for a day out and we are all going to have one [sorry don't remember the precise words] the whole scene smacks of indecision and a general lack of ideas of how to finish the series off.

To me its almost like a Spike Milligan sketch [for those who remember the Q series] which normally end mid plot with the cast saying " What are we going to do now!" . Unless of course its a stroke of genius and a dig at the BBC and Roy Clarke is saying basically you might be cancelling my show but stuff you we are going to have a great day out . Totally agree re Blackadder Goes Forth must rank up there as the most poignant ending to any series ever.
 
If Blackadder had actually ended with the last episode of the fourth series, I would agree. But it didn't, did it? We got that "Millenium Special" in 1999. Allo Allo got a special 15 years later. And while Red Dwarf came back with new series after it, when "Back to Earth" aired that was meant to be the final goodbye after years of failure trying to get a movie made. That's my point - specially written final goodbyes rarely pan out.
 
Hi Sarkus,

Its a moot point strictly by definition a series surely must consist of a number of shows/episodes however I do agree that they revamped the shows you mention with one off specials and so if you consider the actual show itself first to last incidence then you would include the Specials . Dwarf is strange in composition because the BBC produced version ended only for the show to be picked up by Dave[albeit partially owned by the BBC Worldwide] . I thought Back to Earth was produced to test the waters and appetite for further episodes not only of the public but also the Actors . Clearly the results of their efforts was favourable because they are making at least another two series .
 
captain clutterbuck said:
Hi Sarkus,

Its a moot point strictly by definition a series surely must consist of a number of shows/episodes however I do agree that they revamped the shows you mention with one off specials and so if you consider the actual show itself first to last incidence then you would include the Specials . Dwarf is strange in composition because the BBC produced version ended only for the show to be picked up by Dave[albeit partially owned by the BBC Worldwide] . I thought Back to Earth was produced to test the waters and appetite for further episodes not only of the public but also the Actors . Clearly the results of their efforts was favourable because they are making at least another two series .
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Regarding Red Dwarf, after Series 8 they decided to do a theatrical movie but spent years trying to get that lined up with no success. Then Dave, because of the good ratings rerunning the show was getting them, decided to offer Red Dwarf a package. When announced, it was supposed to be a two part "goodbye," a documentary episode, and a undefined "special." That was how it was presented at the time on the official Red Dwarf website, which I had been following for some time. In the end they instead put all the resources into "Back to Earth" as a goodbye episode. IMHO, that turned out quite badly. Luckily it still did well enough that Dave commissioned a new series and that apparently did well enough that they are doing two more.

I will grant that specials filmed later are a bit of a different thing then a final episode that airs in the context of the series, but few shows end up getting one of those anyway due to the uncertain nature of year to year TV. When Series 31 of LOTSW was filmed, the show's future was not certain. So when people say that they wished the BBC had allowed a proper final episode, they are asking for something that would have been filmed separately and shown sometime later. And my point is that those rarely ever are worth it. Perhaps Clarke and Bell would have bucked that trend, but we'll never know. And given Clarke's statements about how he wrote "How Not to Cry at Weddings" with the idea that it might very well be the end, I'm ok with that being the end.
 
Hello Sarkus,

I think we concur about specials they don't work ,the momentum the series build up ,growing in popularity, is lost by the time they air .The real fans watch with trepidation because they don't wish their precious show they remember with great affection to be ruined by an inferior product most of these specials unfortunately turn out to be . My final word on Dwarf as an avid fan [despite having the dvd's still watch the repeats even late at night] I'm am glad they are still making it and hope springs eternal that the quality of the episodes is as good as previous series.
 
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