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Troublesome Twelve Inch:
Written by: Simon Nye
Directed by: Martin Dennis
Original airdate: September 29, 1992
Synopsis:
As George and Anthea try out a free sample of body armor to go to the bank, Tony shows up and shows Gary some records he got at the charity shop, citing their value in a record catalog he has. At home, Gary checks through Tony’s catalog and finds a green record that Dorothy has that is worth a lot of money. He confirms its value with Tony and he hides it just as Dorothy gets home. While Gary leaves the room, Dorothy retrieves the record and asks Tony about it, who confirms it is rare.
At work, Nev talks with Tony about a girl he married in Vegas. When asking about Deborah, Tony reveals he got her to go out on a date with him. Nev suggests using Pink Floyd to get her so depressed that she won’t mind sleeping with him, but Tony opts for the perfume he got at the charity shop instead. Gary shows up with Dorothy’s record and gives it to Tony to sell it to a collector he knows.
On their date, Tony gives Deborah the rather large bottle of perfume, and she reveals she thinks she is ready for a serious relationship, just not necessarily with him. Gary and Dorothy show up and Dorothy suggests they leave the two of them alone. Gary makes a joke about giving Tony some change earlier, and Les asks Tony if he managed to get the Johnny machine working because someone has been buying all of the Ribbed Exciters. Dorothy tells Gary that she found out her green record is worth a lot of money and really wants to hear it again. She tells him it means a lot to her since it was given to her from an ex boyfriend that died tragically. Gary stumbles his way through excuses, promising to get her the record tomorrow.
Tony and Nev talk about how the date went with Deb describing his first date with his second wife and how they drifted apart after three weeks. Gary shows up to ask for the record back but Tony says he’s already sold it. Gary reveals he was lying about the record because he got in the habit of it with Dorothy. Tony instead sells Gary the normal edition of the record, which Gary takes home and decides to spray paint green to try and fool Dorothy. He’s interrupted by Tony and Deborah coming home to watch TV, which he has conveniently moved into his bedroom for “better reception.” While Gary heads out for a date, Tony and Deborah talk and she reveals the rash she got from the perfume.
Gary and Deborah return home and she asks him to put in her record, to which he does, trying to get by her without her seeing the unpainted side of the record. As he dances with her, she keeps trying to see the record, until she asks him to turn it over to the other side because she likes it better. He finally gives in and goes and turns it over to the painted side, kicking out the player’s plug. He feigns ignorance why the machine isn’t working and she calls him out on his ruse and punches and kicks him.
As Tony and Deborah watch TV, they end up making out, and Deborah is actually having a good time and confesses to liking Tony. As they continue their make out session, he makes a comment about being glad that she got over her sexual block, which shocks her that he and Gary were discussing her sexual proclivities or lack thereof and storms off.
Gary and Tony commiserate together, with Tony stating he thinks Deborah is the one, when the doorbell rings, Deborah having returned to try and make things right with him. As they enter the kitchen, they hear Tony on the phone, flirting and asking Pat if he could come over. When he sees Deborah, he quickly asks her if she’d like to talk to his mum.
Chat on the sofa:
The Slits were a punk/post-punk band based in London, formed there in 1976 by members of the groups the Flowers of Romance and the Castrators.
The Seekers were an Australian folk-influenced pop group originally formed in Melbourne in 1962. They were the first Australian pop music group to achieve major chart and sales success in the United Kingdom and the United States. They were especially popular during the 1960s, with their best-known configuration of Judith Durham on vocals, piano, and tambourine; Athol Guyon double bass and vocals; Keith Potger on twelve-string guitar, banjo, and vocals; and Bruce Woodley on guitar, mandolin, banjo, and vocals. The group had Top 10 hits in the 1960s with "I'll Never Find Another You", "A World of Our Own", "Morningtown Ride", "Someday, One Day", "Georgy Girl" and "The Carnival Is Over".
"I Am Australian" (or "We Are Australian") is a popular Australian song written in 1987 by Bruce Woodley of the Seekers and Dobe Newton of the Bushwackers. Its lyrics are filled with many historic and cultural references, such as to the "digger", Albert Namatjira and Ned Kelly, among others. Its popularity has made it one of a number of Australian patriotic songs considered as alternatives to the current national anthem, "Advance Australia Fair".
"Hanky Panky" is a song by American singer Madonna from her soundtrack album I'm Breathless. It was released on June 12, 1990, by Sire Records as the album's second and final single. Written and produced by Madonna and Patrick Leonard, the song was developed from a line in the parent film, Dick Tracy, talking about a woman who enjoys being spanked by her partner.
The Isle of Wight Festival is a British music festival which takes place annually in Newport on the Isle of Wight, England. It was originally a counterculture event held from 1968 to 1970.Going Nowhere:
Written by: Simon Nye
Directed by: Martin Dennis
Original airdate: October 6, 1992
Synopsis:
Tony returns home with something he found in the back of Nev’s borrowed van, a street sign that says Brest and another that says heavy plant crossing. Tony wants to fix the van up so Deborah will be impressed, having gotten an earful from her earlier when he was opening up her mail. Gary relates the story of how he met Dorothy, drunk at a party, and left in a mini cab, in which he was sucking her earlobes and got her earring stuck in his tongue. Following that they went up to her place but started to go at it before they even got into the place. They compare their various techniques at picking up girls at parties before Dorothy enters and says that the method Tony described about pretending to be ill and getting someone to sleep with them out of sympathy, was what Gary used on her when they first met.
Together, the three of them head out to pick Debrah up at the mall, with Dorothy being irritated the whole way. Gary goes to pick something up and heads to the elevator, knocking via a sign that says out of order. Deborah happens to show up at that moment and together they get in the elevator but as the doors close, they notice the elevator not moving. Gary pushes the floor button a few times and it shudders and whines, but doesn’t move. The door button also does not work as they realize they’re trapped, Gary sporting a sheepish satisfied grin.
In the van, Tony goes on and on about his van, irritating Dorothy. She apologizes for her demeanor and admits she’s worried about her and Gary’s relationship. Tony doesn’t quite follow her though and she changes the topic.
In the elevator, Deborah is trying to open the emergency phone but it’s glued shut. As Gary tries the button again, she shouts for help to no avail. He calls her out on her moodiness, but doesn’t want to discuss it. He quietly calls for help while she screams loudly, shocking him. He asks if it’s PMT but she says she is stressed because her manager is coming for dinner and she’s tired of meeting men who are stupid or ugly or in Gary’s case, both. She did manage to get the phone box open, but the phone is broken. He offers her some of the brandy he bought for Dorothy but she declines. She feels that she might get fired but he reassures her. She does mention that a nice man was supposed to come to the dinner as well but Gary writes him off and tries hitting on her anyway. She reminds him of Dorothy and after insulting him, he agrees that Dorothy is indeed a lovely woman. He tries using reverse psychology on her but it doesn’t work. He then shows her what he got Dorothy for their anniversary, telling her the story of how he saw a brooch she might like but eventually decided to get her a small portable billiards table.
Tony tries hooking up an electric blanket in the back of the van but it sparks, shocking him. Dorothy returns to the van after having tried calling home to see if they were there. They decide to start to head home but the van won’t start. As Tony starts to check the engine out, Dorothy says she’s considering breaking it off with Gary. He tells her to not rush into anything, pointing out Gary’s good points and how much Gary loves her. She considers and decides that they should go get a fire extinguisher as Tony’s van pours smoke. When they return, they call for an elevator and the door opens up on Gary and Deborah. The four of them chat about various topics riding in the van as it gets towed back home, having broken down completely.
Chat on the sofa:
Tony reference's The Beatle She Loves You-
People Behaving Irritatingly:
Written by: Simon NyeDirected by: Martin Dennis
Original airdate: October 13, 1992
Synopsis:
Due to an airline strike, Tony’s lazy brother John and his girlfriend Mandy are staying with them, causing them, along with Dorothy and Deborah, great stress. They all lash out at each other while John and Mandy run up phone bills, ruin the water pipes, and have sex like Mormons.
Gary leaves the place angrily after experiencing more of John and Mandy’s behavior but Mandy soon offers Tony four free tickets to her father’s villa in Spain, which Tony agrees to readily.
At work, Gary’s bad mood causes him and Anthea to get into a fight about the spelling of the word “professional” and she quits.
Tony goes to see Deborah and does a dance he thinks evokes Spain but doesn’t really. He reveals about the Spain trip and she refuses to go, concerned about him trying to hit on her. Tony suggests they take Gary and Dorothy along as well.
Gary is talking with Dorothy trying to figure out how to kick John and Mandy out. When Dorothy reveals John scratched one of his Barry White records, he loses and screams at them both, reading them the riot act.
As the two of them go to pack, Tony comes home and lets them know about the Spain trip, to which Gary realizes he has to apologize and treat John and Mandy nicely or they won’t get the trip.
Gary spends the next few days being extra nice to them, delivering them food, tea, and towels as well as anything else they might need.
Tony talks with Deborah and shows her the twister game he brought for them to play on the vacation. Deborah is annoyed but loves the pictures he shows her of the Spanish villa.
Gary comes home to see that John, who offered to try and fix Gary’s pipes for him actually isn’t a plumber and ends up spraying water all over the floor. Gary jumps into help and eventually manages to turn the water off.
Back at work, George tells Gary that he called Anthea and tried to convince her to come back but wasn’t sure she would. Gary can’t seem to manage to find anything in the office but Anthea arrives and tells him exactly where the thing he is looking for is. He asks her to take a letter to the writer of the dictionary, stating they misspelled the word “professional.”
At home Gary continues to force himself to be nice, and the rest of the crew join in, happy to be getting a free vacation. Mandy and John take things further by insulting Deborah about her restaurant, Dorothy about her job, and Tony about his restaurant recommendations and his uncomfortable bed. Tony gets mad but Gary calms him down, telling him the beds are probably soft in Spain. As Mandy and John go to leave, she then reveals that her father actually gave the free vacation to someone else and so they can’t go.
While Gary, Dorothy, Tony, and Deborah play twister in their living room, they ignore the sounds of John and Mandy yelling from the bathroom, where they’ve been locked in, unable to leave.
Chat on the sofa:
Pete Lee Wilson was John and recently he was a supporting cast member in an Amy Winehouse biopic. He was in an episode of Doctor Who: The End of Time Part One and was in Blade 2 as a blood bank doctor and a reaper.
Eldorado is a British soap opera created by Tony Holland. It ran for only one year, from 6 July 1992 to 9 July 1993. Set in the fictional town of Los Barcos on the Costa Eldorado in Spain and following the lives of British and European expatriates, the BBC hoped it would be as successful as EastEnders and replicate some of the sunshine and glamour of imported Australian soaps such as Home and Away and Neighbours.
Kriss Akabusi is a British broadcaster and former sprint and hurdling track and field athlete.
Vidal Sassoon was a British hairstylist and businessman. He was noted for repopularising a simple, close-cut geometric hairstyle called the five-point cut, worn by fashion designers.
KODA:
Series cancelledAfter Thames lost their television franchise, ITV decided that a peak viewing figure of seven million was insufficient and withdrew support. Incensed, Vertue approached the BBC who agreed to broadcast the show.
In 1994, the BBC aired the first of a further four series. The shift to a new station and a later time slot meant, as the BBC claimed, the show could indulge in "more colourful language and behaviour". The show became highly successful on BBC1, drawing a cult following.
What's Up Next?
Series 3A episodes Lovers, Bed, and Casualties.Further Resources:
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