Episode 286
23rd July 1985
This week I’m testing my willpower by aiming to restrict myself to four episodes over at least as many evenings. The aim is to give each episode the best chance to impact and resonate, but we’ll see.
I’m pretty sure the titles usually credit the main cast first, alphabetically by character surname, then follows the rest of the cast. #286 is possibly notable for featuring only two series regulars (only one of whom is an original): Heather and Harold. The nurses, John Clarke, Tom Curzon and his dad and finally dull old Ralph are tagged on after them. I haven’t been keeping score, but is this a record?
In the Close, the “summer evening” feel continues, primarily embodied by Heather. She bats off Pat’s tedious banter as he stops to help her unload the Scirocco (to his suggestion that Tom is his rival for her affection, she matter of factly replies with a cursory smile that Tom is winning hands down); then she spends time with Tom in the garden and later serves up a meal and wine to Tom and Jim to round off their game of bowls.
It’s quite a different story inside where it’s all about tension. Even number 7’s introductory shot of a kettle boiling and a coffee being prepared felt somehow threatening.
As with the previous episode, the speed with which things escalated felt surprisingly quick. Pretty much the only scenes in which the nurses have featured in the last couple of episodes have been those in which they encounter John Clarke. We ended the previous episode with the big blowup, and we began this one with John’s return to “apologise”.
Sandra was alone and it only occurred to me after the episode that this wasn’t coincidence. John’s been stalking them and no doubt knows their whereabouts pretty well. Knowing where this is heading, you’d think this would have been foremost on my mind, but no… I’d have been as taken off-guard as Sandra appeared to be.
By the time the mid-episode break arrived, all three nurses had duly arrived and John had produced his gun. Admittedly I’ve been watching the series at over twice the pace it was originally intended to be seen, but this really does feel quick. I can’t help feeling that this story could have been fleshed out a little by spacing out the encounters with John and seeing more of the build up to the siege.
Dramatic as things became once the gun was produced (especially by the standards of the day where armed maniacs weren’t two a penny), I actually found the first half of the episode far more interesting. There are a few reasons for this: firstly, there’s the feeling that
something is about to happen, without there being any explicit in-canon certainty of this. The air of tension and the undercurrent of something dark and unknown are arguably more layered and even dramatically interesting than when things kick up a gear, the threat is known and everyone switches into battle mode. John lurking with intent is also a far more relatable threat to most viewers (certainly to this viewer). Very few of us have had anything to do with guns, but many will have had unwelcome house guests or felt in some way threatened by someone whose unpredictable behaviour and temperament is outside those of social norms. All of which lends credence to the situation.
As much time as we’ve spent with them, it feels to me we barely know the nurses. In most ways this isn’t especially helpful, since seeing them in this situation carries far less emotional weight than if it took place in any other household (barring number ten, whose current occupants make visits there soul destroying). Putting it harshly, the nurses feel at times like little more than hollow cyphers. On the other hand this has actually opened up a little room for dramatic shifts because, knowing them only a little, their responses aren’t going to be predictable.
In this episode alone, I found my sympathies shifting regularly based on where we were. After the last episode’s histrionics, Sandra redeemed herself at the beginning by greeting John warmly and appearing to be willing to let bygones be bygones. There was even a vulnerability to her as it became apparent John wasn’t going to leave. By the last third of the episode she was revelling in the drama… goading and emasculating John with a grin on her face. It occurred to me that the difference between the start point and the finish point was the presence of Pat and Kate. Sandra is the kind of drama queen who needs both an audience and people to back her up in order to perform. Once they were both there, she became emboldened to push back.
It could be implied that Sandra with her background of domestic violence is in some way triggered by the situation. At one point she is laughing and crying at the same time, but somehow this just comes across as more drama queenery (it reminded me of annoying screaming Jackie from
Jaws 2’s reaction of “relief” upon seeing the shark destroyed, which didn’t help).
Of course, the scenario requires a Sandra, really. So far Kate and Pat have been fairly compliant - almost passively so. They are using their brains and attempting psychology and reason to diffuse the situation. And every time things look like moving towards any kind of understanding, Sandra can’t stand the lack of drama and drives hard to stir it up again. Most of us probably know a Sandra or two, though I avoid them like the plague in real life. Even when John was tying her up, he had barely touched her when she screamed out that she was in pain (not unlike overpaid footballers who roll round on the ground for the cameras if another player gets within three feet of them).
What comes next is quite possibly as much Sandra’s doing as John’s. But you just know she’ll get the guilts and it will
still be all about her.
Of the three, Kate is the one who has my sympathy. She’s smart, calm and radiating empathy and - unlike the other two - seems to be thinking of others beside just herself in her responses. Already I’m feeling disappointed by what lies just ahead.
John’s arc does feel as though it came out of nowhere and while things can happen this way, I do find myself wishing there’d been more pipe laying ahead of this. Just as we saw George draw the map for Tommy McArdle, I’d have appreciated a scene or two of John visiting his mother at the hospital some weeks before. The scene could have ostensibly been about Kate or Sandra being under stress or whatever, with John very much in the background, but it would have set up this story and character so much more solidly.
All the same, there’s no denying that Robert Pugh is a terrific performer and has fleshed out the character as well as can be in such a short space of time. I marvel at the way he can appear meek and passive at times while at others he’s intense and terrifying. And, as the first half of this episode shows, the journey from one to the other is delivered perfectly.
Something that struck me about this episode was how well John played the game when it came to getting back into the house. When Sandra ran back in from the front door to switch of the kettle, I expected her to then find he’d made his way into the living room. Having him still waiting politely at the doorstep felt like a wonderful piece of misdirection.
Any good thriller needs its observers: the rational ones who put the pieces together by being apart from those in the thick of things. In this episode, Heather was briefly bemused by the 2CV6 still being on the drive when Pat had mentioned plans to go out. Her concerns were quickly allayed by Tom’s observation that they might not take the car if they were drinking. We know that Pat had specifically mentioned taking the car to Heather, but she’s not one of nature’s snoops so I read it that the idea of very human fickleness was enough for her (not that she'd be
that interested if it weren't, given she still mostly operates on early
Brookie's ethos of detachment from neighbours and their business). Harry is another matter. After first hearing raised voices and then being alarmed by Pat’s fast agreement to their rent hike, he’s watching the outside of the house like a hawk.
If I’m remembering correctly, this episode wasn’t included on
The Siege VHS (with all three releases of the time each containing three episodes) and that’s a shame because #286 feels like an essential part of this picture.