Big apologies for not being able to do this for a while as I’ve been busy with a bit of personal business over the last few weeks. Anyway here we go with my review and thoughts on Episode 12 ‘Sunset Mansions or Whatever Happened to Janey-Baib?’
Please Note this contains Spoilers.
We begin this episode with Charlie watching an old film and with some fondness. Budgie arrives to do an errand for Charlie, that is deliver so Blue Movies to some 'clients' of his at Sunset Mansions. While delivering the films Budgie see's the police have the address on ‘obbo’ and tries to find a diversion by asking one of the CID coppers 'the time'. He then stumbles into an unlocked flat.
He meet's Denzil Davies (John Thaw) a rather sarcastic playwright from South Wales and Janey-Baib (Brenda Bruce) a faded actress whose 1950's glory days are long, long gone and coincidentally may have been in the film Charlie was watching. Denzil views Budgie and Janey with scorn, however Janey takes a shine to him and gives him 'sanctuary' (and more) while the police arrest the vice-ring in the other flat.
The next day Budgie comes around from a 'relationship' he's had with Janey from the night before. True to form Budgie's trying to find a way he can disappear after his one night stand but for some reason both he and Janey are attracted to each other despite Janey being old enough to be his mother, and that she actually is Denzil's mother. Janey's acting career has totally nosedived and she's not done anything notable for at least a decade, however she looks back with fondness of playing Queen Elizabeth I in a stage show Lawrence Oliver was meant to be in with her and Budgie takes a genuine interest in her acting days.
There's a stroke of luck, Janey's agent calls her with the offer of work and it's a reprise of her Elizabeth R days! Janey see's Budgie as a 'good luck charm' and invites him to dinner in a fancy restaurant and turns him out in some fancy Saville Row suits. It seems all is going well for both Budgie and Janey however this being the world of Budgie things are never simple.
At the restaurant Charlie and Mrs Endell are celebrating their anniversary. Charlie instantly recognises Janey-Baib when she arrives he is in awe of her presence. However he's taken aback when Budgie joins her. Also Hazel's showed up on an errand for Budgie when she also spots the pair – drawing natural conclusions. She leaves in a huff with Budgie chasing after her. An incensed Charlie reads Budgie the riot act, he thinks Budgie is 'poncing' off Janey and doesn't want her hurt as he seems to hold a candle for her and knows all about her faded acting career.
Despite this Budgie does seem to genuinely care for Janey and accompanies her to the shoot. What this shoot turns out to be is a TV commercial for a brand of dog food 'Swuff' which is 'fit for a queen'! Perhaps you can see where they got the inspiration for/and is all very similar to the 'Rex Beans' advert that featured in The Who movie Tommy too. Sadly the shoot goes badly for Janey who feels humiliated when the dogs mob her for the food and perhaps reinforces her failure as an actress to her.
Upset and depressed they return to Sunset Mansion's to the sarcastic whit and scorn of Denzil. Janey wants to be left alone for a while where Budgie has a go at Denzil for constantly teasing and tormenting Janey. Denzil however reveals to Budgie that Janey's is his estranged mother and she's not really been there for him over the years. Denzil's teasing is more to do with a love/hate relationship he has with Janey and he does this in the vain hope it might push her out of her lethargy and maybe perhaps face up to the fact she's not made it in the acting world.
Janey's taken an overdose and Budgie is obviously concerned for her. Denzil less so 'she does it all the time is his response' however this time it looks a lot more serious and Budgie tries to call a ambulance. He's almost talked out of it by Denzil who also shows his vulnerabilities and doesn't want 'the publicity'. It looks like they've got to Janey in time and when she's picked up by the Ambulance who's there but a fond and concerned Charlie who shows his reverence for Janey and a disconsolate Budgie who perhaps ponders what might have been if he could have got it together with Janey who when the crowd and fuss clears moves on.
Again another fairly good and interesting adventure into Budgie and the characters he comes too.
By accident Budgie comes across Janey-Baib. He's makes a connection with her, he's genuinely interested in her acting past, her plight and I think (momentarily at least) he also has genuine feelings for her perhaps seeing her not only as a 'mother figure' but someone with an interesting past and maybe a cut above from Hazel, Jean and anyone else he's been romantically linked too in the past. Janey in turn is also impressed and taken by the interest Budgie has in her and if anything it gives her a lift and a bit of energy to revive her failed acting career which has gone completely awry for many years since her 1950's heyday.
John Thaw appears as Janey's estranged son Denzil, almost completely unrecognisable with his beard and Welsh accent. Denzil feels nothing but scorn and pity for Janey, almost kicking her when she's down and almost always reinforcing her wallowing in self pity mire that she seems to be in. However Denzil himself is almost a younger mirror image/coin flip of Janey perhaps not that much better than her himself in so far as his playwright career isn't that successful either, he's pretty much sponging off her and doesn't really seem to have any drive of ambition to make something of himself either.
It was good and interesting to see John in a role other than what we know him best for like Regan, Morse etc. he is quite natural as the camp Welshman too. Not too sure whether I like Denzil or not but as said he's just as much a victim (perhaps of self-circumstance) as Janey, Budgie, Hazel or even Endell's associates as anyone else we've seen in Budgie so far.
Budgie revives something in Janey and gives her some pride and happiness to get back into the acting game and the offer of work - albeit a TV commercial, makes her feel good about herself in ways she's not felt for many years. Budgie too is very smitten with Janey and if things went well it could have possibly been the beginning of something that may have seen Budgie settled down and sorted rather than the ducking and diving and casual relationships he's had up to now.
Then again Budgie being Budgie he may well have become very easily and quickly bored of Janey and moved on to the next notch for him along the way!
Sadly when things go wrong for Janey on the commercial shoot her depression raises it's ugly head and it seems nobody not even Budgie could really pull Janey out of that and like say Connie in the earlier episode ‘In Deep’ perhaps her only future is to regale tales of her acting hey day as she did with Budgie as an old lady like Connie in dive bars in the future and non to distant future which perhaps drives her to make the suicide attempt in this episode, probably quite a brave thing for television to depict back then too.
Charlie also shows a sensitive side in this episode and perhaps shows some of his childhood/youth crushes he may have had. He also shows a vulnerability too perhaps a balance to the tough Glaswegian hard-man/gangster side he's had up to now. I suppose it's the usual film/pop star fantasy that Charlie has for Janey when in reality she's nothing like that but in seeing Budgie getting into her world... with the possible consequences he think's and knows Budgie might bring Janey his natural urges kick in when he warns Budgie off Janey and/or feels he's sponging ('poncing') off her too.
For Budgie I think for once he did genuinely care for and wanted to be with Janey and not for reasons of what he can make from her – unlike his relationship with Hazel or his long-shot usually failed scams etc. Sadly for Budgie Janey's problems come to the surface to make this relationship doomed to fail but for a time both Budgie and Janey were genuinely happy with each other and gave each other a little something, whether it was for Janey to get back into things so to speak or Budgie to make something of himself they certainly had a spark between.
I'd rate this one maybe slightly above
7.5/10. It had a slightly different edge and insight into Budgie and Endell from what we've has before and a little something more than the usual ducking and diving scams and/or dysfunctional relationships we've have up to now.
Hopefully I'll get my review of the last few recent episodes up very shortly too again Budgie has on the whole been a very enjoyable watch over the summer too.