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Post by Dirty Epic on Jun 29, 2020 16:48:03 GMT
Thanks LE, I'll have a watch tomorrow when it's on TPTV and maybe post/review it definitely looking forward to the introduction of Georgina Hale as Budge's Mrs.
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Lord Emsworth
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Post by Lord Emsworth on Jun 30, 2020 7:53:36 GMT
Thanks LE, I'll have a watch tomorrow when it's on TPTV and maybe post/review it definitely looking forward to the introduction of Georgina Hale as Budge's Mrs. I look forward to your reaction DE
I hope I haven't built up Georgina Hale too much
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Post by Dirty Epic on Jun 30, 2020 10:12:48 GMT
Thanks LE, I'll have a watch tomorrow when it's on TPTV and maybe post/review it definitely looking forward to the introduction of Georgina Hale as Budge's Mrs. I look forward to your reaction DE
I hope I haven't built up Georgina Hale too much
Will try and give it a butchers tonight!
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Post by Dirty Epic on Jul 2, 2020 10:39:49 GMT
I had a good watch of Episode 3 ‘Brains’ and again quite enjoyed what I saw. Please Note this contains Spoilers. Scratching around Budgie’s unsuccessfully selling dodgy children’s toys from a suitcase up west with his associate Jackie Fordyce (Jackie Fordyce). He has a chance encounter with Charlie where in moments Endell successfully sells toys to a tourist couple and Endell shows Budgie he has to ‘use his brains’ if he wants to get anything out the scams he’s trying to pull off… whilst reinforcing he owes him for the ‘Salford Stripper’ and all that! Jackie has touched upon a scam involving (not mentioned in the episode as) Green Shield stamps a dodgy printer in Watford has got hold of. Budge is interested and it means he’ll be back in Watford ‘playing at home’ with his estranged Mrs Jean (Georgina Hale). Jean has a love/hate relationship with Budgie and initially turns up her nose at him being back on the scene and is sort of in another relationship with Barry (Peter Birrel), a supervisor at the supermarket she works at. Budgie sort of worms his way back in with a reluctant Jean and gets things going with Jackie to get the stamp scam ongoing after acquiring them from dodgy printer Mr Grace (Arthur Pentelow) for a tenner. With the stamps Budgie and Jackie set about punting them out, first approaching Endell, but Charlie doesn’t want a bar of them… which will be revealed to Budgie later on and Budge and Jackie have trouble finding a ‘punter’ to take them off their hands. Budgie gets a brainwave to use the stamps himself and again for a tenner he acquires Jackies share and sets about trying to acquire goods with them from the catalogue shop under the alias of ‘Mr Johnson’. What Budgie doesn’t know is the stamps are also embossed with the location and retailer who issued the stamps and the stamps he has got from Mr Grace doesn’t have this. Budgie tries to acquire a food mixer – presumably for Jean, with his stamps and this attracts the attention of security man/auditor Mr Drummond (Bernard Kay) who instantly smells a rat with this. After calling Budgie into his office he explains the ‘uniqueness’ of his stamps and would like him to explain how he got hold of them… Budgie bolts not wanting police attention only to find out Jean has finally changed the lock on her flat again Budgie’s high and dry with another scam which fails to come off. What I enjoyed about this was for all of Endell’s fearsome reputation and the hold he has over Budgie he is trying to some degree take him under a wing and educate him that if he’s to make a success of his scams and criminal endeavour’s he needs to use his head, think his plans out and have the nous to stay one step ahead. For instance the card game Endell plays with Budgie where he knows the sequence of card is a class piece of acting and shows Budgie is probably not listening to Endell nor has the intelligence to put Endell’s advice into action, probably I’ll get the answer to this as and when the series progresses. Georgina Hale was brilliant as Jean, with all her world weariness of Budgie laid out on show. I suppose there’s many real life examples of Jean – both men and women, who stay with unreliable, unfaithful and useless partners. It’s a weird and wonderful love/hate relationship between Jean and Budgie but the ties do bind and for some reason Jean can’t completely rid herself of Budgie and make the leap with the boring and dependable Barry she’s taken with in Budgie’s absence. Hell she even cooks him a breakfast... although not quite McVicar style! It will be interesting to see how this develops over the coming episodes and also how that fits in with Budgie’s affair with Hazel and his other life in Fulham and with Endell too. Good to see the introduction of a sidekick character for Budgie with Jackie Fordyce too, I wonder if he’ll feature in a few more episodes and Bernard Kay from The Sweeney’s Trap/The Pro’s Where The Heat Cool’s Off featured in this one too so on the whole I’d give it good 7.5 out of 10… maybe nearly 8. Definitely feels like a missing link between Minder and Prospects, despite it being made before either and I’ll be sticking with it in the coming weeks too!
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Post by Del Boy on Jul 2, 2020 14:02:29 GMT
Fantastic review Dirty, Can't add much to it at all. All that's to say is this was a really enjoyable episode and you get the picture that Budgie is none too bright but he's trying. You get the sense that he's a bit of a dreamer and certainly a drifter which means a normal 9 to 5 isn't par for him. He mentions he's just trying to get some capital together to get things going. I get the feeling he wants to build something and go legit but as with dreamers the get rich quick schemes are a lot of work for little to no return. Georgina was fantastic as Jean. Budgie has got to be mad to want to stray from a honest good looking girl like that.
Something a bit strange in that the theme tune is definitely familiar. Thing is I've never seen the series before, perhaps it reminds me of something else.
Adam Faith speaks with Wogan about the Budgie musical in 1988
And a short of Budgie's recording at LWT
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Post by Arthur Pringle on Jul 2, 2020 14:57:07 GMT
The theme is similar to 'Regan' & they both have the same title, 'The Loner'. I presume the Milton Hunter Orchestra theme was a piece of library music like Regan rather than written for the show, the second series had a different theme 'Nobody's Fool' written by Ray Davies.
Adam Faith's real life mirrored Budgie's, from what I've read his money management wasn't what it could be & he went bankrupt owing £32 million after his tv station the Money Channel went belly up.
If I was to criticise Budgie it's a bit too wordy & could be pacier, but the same can be said for most videotaped shows of the period.
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Post by Del Boy on Jul 2, 2020 21:14:53 GMT
The two tracks definitely have the same feel , thanks Arthur. It kind of reminds me of the Crossroads theme.
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Post by Dirty Epic on Jul 3, 2020 9:45:59 GMT
If I was to criticise Budgie it's a bit too wordy & could be pacier, but the same can be said for most videotaped shows of the period.
I agree Art that's the only real flaw I can see with it, it's pacing does feel a bit slow at times if you compare it to say Minder etc. that said there was some interesting use of camera work and rapid cuts to Georgina Hale's, Jean's rant scenes midway through in 'Brains' so not a complete studio autocue set up.
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Lord Emsworth
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Post by Lord Emsworth on Jul 3, 2020 15:25:38 GMT
Episode 4 - Grandee HotelHotel manager played by Anthony Valentine
Spoiler free musings on Episode 4 - Grandee Hotel Another fascinating and enjoyable episode The titular Grandee Hotel is a shabby hotel off the North Circ. The frustrated manager is played by Anthony Valentine who I well recall play the gentleman thief Raffles later in the 1970s in a programme of the same name. As usual, the entire cast is top notch and this episode is very much an ensemble piece. There are a number of different narratives and, arguably, the one involving Budgie is the least interesting. There's a particularly tragic subplot featuring Peter Sallis (of Last of the Summer Wine fame). Despite this, the episode is another winner. We also get to meet Charlie Endell’s wife who, not unpredictably, is completely dominated by Charlie - and this dynamic is the source of some great comedic moments. Overall, it’s a dark episode, the darkest yet, which is saying something given that this series is hardly a barrel of laughs at the best of times. It’s another episode I could happily rewatch and will certainly be doing that at some stage. This is the last of the black and white episodes, the industrial dispute presumably settled after this one was in the can and from here on in it’s glorious technicolour. It’s hard to imagine the content getting any more cheery though. I'm loving Budgie.
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Del Boy
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Post by Del Boy on Jul 3, 2020 15:38:10 GMT
I just skimmed the above and will make comment after seeing episode 4 . Budgie is a must watch for me now the only thing I tune into live. So glad you guys gave us the heads up for this series.
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