Beer of the week: (not a paid advertisement)
Intruders:
Written by: Simon Nye
Directed by: Martin Dennis
Original airdate: February 18, 1992
Synopsis:
Dermott is utterly depressed after being dumped by his girlfriend for sleeping with her friend. His roommate, Gary, tries to sympathize with him, but he has his own problems. He’s ready to move on from his own girlfriend of two years, Dorothy, and upon hearing that she has a new "friend" named Graham, immediately regrets the decision and decides to try and continue the relationship. Things are further complicated when an attractive young woman, Deborah, moves in upstairs, and both young men show signs of interest.
Chat on the sofa:
Martin Clunes plays Gary. He’s more popularly known these days for the long running series Doc Martin, following trials and tribulations of a socially awkward doctor. He also played the lead in Reggie (a mid level corporate drone going through a mid life crisis, 12 episodes), and William and Mary (the lives of William, an undertaker, and Mary, a midwife, cross. They become romantically involved, but what happens for the rest of the series is far less predictable. 18 episodes). He was also the voice of Kipper the Dog in a series of British animated shorts for children.
Harry Enfield plays Dermott. His work is primarily comedy and skit shows, like Harry Enfield and Chums, Harry and Paul, and Harry Enfield’s Television Programme. He has recently been in the series The Windsors, a parody show about the royal family, playing Charles. He was also in a musical based on Prince Andrew in which he plays Tony Blair.
Dorothy is played by Caroline Quentin. She starred in the sitcom Life of Riley (the dysfunctional lives of a newly married couple and the children each of them bring from a previous relationship). She was in the dramedy Life Begins (a late-30s English couple's summer holiday turns upside down when the husband announces his desire to move out, leaving his wife in newfound roles as provider and single parent. She finds herself both stronger and weaker than she imagined). Other series works include Johnathan Creek and Kiss Me Kate. Most recently, she was a lead in the Lazarus Project (a man wakes up to find himself reliving the same events over and over again. Confused, he is introduced to the Lazarus Project, a top-secret organization that uses its ability to rewind time to save the world from extinction).
Deborah was played by Leslie Ash. Her last series was Tricked, in 2020 (as World War One begins, a baby girl is born. After a tragic event that left her father shaken, he makes a decision that will change everything - to raise Georgina as George, ensuring her safety but marking the start of her life of crime), and Broke in that same year (crime drama). She did provide some voices for an episode of Big Finish’s Doctor Who audio plays (An Earthly Child). She’s mostly been doing short films lately.
The Bet:
Written by: Simon Nye
Directed by: Martin Dennis
Original airdate: February 25, 1992
Synopsis:
Gary, having made plans to attend an opera with Dorothy, gets pushed into a chess game with Dermott. The prize? His opera tickets. Dermott spends the week working later so he can try and learn how to play chess from his coworker George. Meanwhile, Dermott runs into the new neighbor, Deborah, at the furniture store he works in and asks her to go to the opera with him, anticipating an easy win. She tells him she has a boyfriend, albeit one out of the country, but he plays it off as just a “friend” activity to do together and she accepts. Later that week, Gary and Dermott play their chess match, with Gary quickly winning, his hard work of practicing paying off, and he heads to the opera with Dorothy. Dermott says that his wallet was stolen and he and Deborah plan for a night together. However, Gary returns home with Dorothy because the tickets turned out to be fake, and he got into a fight with the usher over them. When Dorothy feels bad that he lost out on the money, Dermott pushes Gary to reveal the tickets were free, and Gary pushes Dermott to reveal he was only using the opera tickets to get Deborah into bed. She leaves, upset that he would try that with her.
Chat on the Sofa:
Alarms and Setbacks:
Written by: Simon Nye
Directed by: Martin Dennis
Original airdate: March 3, 1992
Synopsis:
Gary, depressed over his girlfriend Dorothy not talking to him and seeing another man, drowns his sorrow in the pub with Dermot. The two guys both set their sights on their new neighbor Deborah.
At work, Gary is trying to pick out the perfect burglar alarm to impress Deborah, with his coworker George urging him to try and get back with Dorothy.
Back at home, Gary holds a tenants meeting consisting of him, Dorothy and Dermot. Dermot tries to put the moves on her but she shuts him down right away before Gary reveals the burglar alarm system he picked out. Dermot goes to the hospital that Dorothy works at in an attempt to get her to tell back together with Gary which she is against, talking about the many men she meets at the hospital, including Graham. He fibs about Gary calling out sexual things about Dorothy in his sleep which makes her consider contacting him.
Dermot helps Gary install the alarm system and tells Gary that he saw Dorothy and she seemed to miss him. He leaves to answer a phone call from Dorothy and tries to hand it over to Gary but it is not within reach, so he kicks the ladder aside, pushing Gary down further enough to talk on the phone. Gary and Dorothy agree to meet.
Gary tries to impress Deborah with the alarm system but is having issues getting it set up correctly, the ringing going on for three hours. Pulling the wire out causes a blackout in the house and then a surge causes Gary to get shocked and fall. He recovers and the three of them head inside to get candles and phone the electrician. Dermot tries small talk with Deborah about her boyfriend but she’s a bit cold towards him. As Dermot goes to get more candles, Gary tries to talk with Deborah about her boyfriend too. As he talks with her, complimenting her and trying to woo her, Dorothy walks in to hear him talk bad about their relationship and calls him out on it and dumps a fern in his lap and a potful of dirt on his head. Dermot returns and tries to rizz Deborah up, blowing out the candle and grabbing her hand but she kicks him in the groin.
Chat on the Sofa:
Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton
They met on the set of Cleopatra in 1962 and their affair, while both were married, became a global scandal. Their first marriage took place in 1964, and they divorced in 1974. They remarried in 1975 but divorced again less than a year later.
Music
Dermot plays Jim Reeves (briefly) on the jukebox
