A good episode that highlights the characters a little more and gives us the opportunity to study one or two of them more closely, making them three dimensional rather than two dimensional.
I am thinking, particularly, of The White Lady and Fanny, both of whom seem, to me, to have been, more or less, simply hovering in the background up until now.
But here we are shown Fanny's gallantry, as he seeks to help The White Lady in her dilemma. He seems, at times, to be in love with her.
There is a sequence where several of the cast climb up on the table while discussing the goings on, which was presumably worked out in rehearsal between the actors and the director. It works nicely and is a memorable moment.
I have to keep pinching myself to remind myself that that is actually Freddie Jones, so immersed in his archetypal character is he. An excellent actor.
It is sad to keep realising that the actor playing Matt died shortly after the series. He is a competent and enthusiastic young actor, who was clearly still learning his craft, but worked well with this team.
"Fish-hooks" is a very unique swear word, but it kept the airing of the show before the watershed. Even though there was no watershed back then. Bodkin could have come out with far worse, I guess.
Watching this, one felt sorry for the White Lady, particularly at the resolution of the episode. And also one had grown to like Fanny more, as a character, due to his gallantry.
At this stage of the show, the characters are all now well defined and working better than ever together.
Such a shame that this series never quite caught fire with the public. The paucity of merchandise tells it's own story.
Yes, an under-rated series that never fully got it's deserved time in the limelight.
But, nonetheless, it is remembered to this day, so that is a small victory of sorts.
But a re-imagining, as with all these things now, would doubtless fail to replicate the charm of this, the original show.
