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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Spells &amp; Karma" data-source="post: 365388" data-attributes="member: 23">Episodes 53 - 63 3 May - 7 June 1983Not only has Michelle persuaded Petra and Barry to knock down a wall in favour of an arch, Marie asks if they’re going to artex it. Meanwhile, the Collinses are getting excited over the Austin Maestro and Alan is trading in his Mk IV Cortina for an XR3. It’s most definitely 1983. The Collinses downsizing the SD1 for the Maestro has been quite the saga, and I’ve loved every minute. Paul initially had to be persuaded to downsize in the first place, but Annabelle was determined and we accompanied them to a BL dealership where Annabelle immediately chose the Maestro. The arc has felt at times like an informercial and made me wonder if there was some sort of sponsorship going on. We’ve seen them looking over a brochure from the comfort of their living room, marvelling at the economy and features. “And it’s British!”, Paul reminded Annabelle (and us). Even Alan Partridge commented that he liked the Maestro, though he was less interested upon learning that the Collinses would be receiving a basic model without the electronic dashboard and voice commands. “Who wants a bossy lady giving them orders?”, quipped Annabelle, pre-empting my feelings on Siri by several decades. The line took on a different irony when Marie later observed that Annabelle thought she was Mrs Thatcher. Marie’s been terrific in every scene so far. There’s certainly no love lost between her and Barry, and she was very quick to pay a visit to Sheila to try and “fix” the Barry/Petra situation by telling Sheila about Marie’s childhood abortion, knowing that the Grants were Catholics. It was disguised as concern, but it’s one of the more deliberately brutal things I’ve seen on this series, and it was wonderful to see Sheila bristle defensively and meet Marie’s aspersions with directness. In a later rant to Bobby over the Barry/Petra affair, Sheila referred to Marie as “Mighty Mouth… the voice of the nation”. The more the Barry/Petra situation plays out, the more blurred Petra’s morals appear. There’s a lot of victimhood in there, but looking back on it she was asking Barry to put his arms round her back on the morning of Gavin’s death, while Gavin was still lying in her bed, and she’s continued to send signals like crazy since then. It’s an extremely twisted, messed up situation, and the more I see of Petra, Marie and Michelle the more I feel there’s a whole lot to unpack. I do still find myself wondering just what Alan and Sam are doing there. They’re fine when interacting with other characters, but whenever we’re alone with them in the bungalow it feels wrong. As I leave this run of episodes, Brookie is doing what I believe is its first location shoot outside of Liverpool. And technically outside of the UK since we’ve ventured to the Isle Of Man. There’s a great deal of soapy contrivance with Barry and Petra not only going at the same time as Alan and Sam but being on the same ferry and boarding at the same hotel. Consequently they spend the entire time trying to hide from them… until they can’t any more. So far, so meh. It does look gloriously grey and foreboding, though. Again, perhaps a 1983 thing. Meanwhile, Lucy’s attended her CND rally with Margi Clark who laughed off any idea of Lucy being a fraud for being uncertain about her motive for supporting the cause. And poor Roger has been knocked down by a minibus after yet another row with Heather. I do love how hapless Roger is: burgled twice; Christmas shopping stolen from his car; the laughing stock of the Close; and now this. And Heather is fuming about the timing clashing with her exams and being stuck with Roger’s parents.</blockquote>

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