New posts

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Mel O&#039;Drama" data-source="post: 345399" data-attributes="member: 23">Whom God Hath Joined… / Guest Of Honour / The Property Of A Lady continuedSarah’s dramatic return was the icing on the cake. I’m really not sure how to feel about her return (even though I sort of knew it was on the cards). It’s added a nice frisson of drama and gone some way towards further resuming the early episodes’ status quo with Sarah ending up downstairs. Considering how dramatic, significant and permanent her departure from Eaton Place seemed it clearly took a hide like an elephant’s for her to come back, and that’s right in character. But I was surprised with how warm the reception was, and how easily she’s got things back where she wants them. Of course, it’s difficult to be cruel to a heavily pregnant woman and it’s quite possible this figured into her thinking. I quite enjoy that I never quite know whether or not what she says can be trusted.This is also the case for Thomas - even more so since he’s less of a known quantity. John Alderton has a lot going on behind the eyes that shows something underneath Thomas’s humble, eager-to-please Welsh boy bit. There’s a sense that he’s acutely aware of how things work and he’s never been backwards in coming forwards if he can get himself noticed. It feels as though Thomas has an end game, one that goes back to his very first episode where he dropped by Eaton Place and ingratiated himself with one and all - except Hudson - having done the same with Elizabeth, Lawrence and Sarah over in Greenwich.Thomas’s foot in the two main households, his keen eye, natural curiosity and opportunism have made him as central to the plot as he has made himself to his various masters. He’s cultivated relationships carefully, presenting himself as exactly what he needs to be in each moment.It’s clear John Alderton is considered a more important actor than Brian Osborne, with poor old Pearce dispensed with in a line or two of dialogue about him going off to be a groom at stables, not comfortable with the motor cars the Bellamys have acquired. It was Thomas who pushed the idea of a car onto Elizabeth and Lawrence, which possibly prompted the Bellamys acquisition of their new Renault (which in turn has since been replaced by Thomas’s preferred status symbol of the Rolls Royce), which means that Thomas has had a hand in Pearce leaving. I wish a little more had been made of this to give Pearce a dramatic departure story, but perhaps Thomas is one of those characters who, like Sarah works best when his motives are a little oblique.One of the strongest little moments for him came with what is essentially his Judas moment in Whom God Hath Joined… After Elizabeth, Rose and Mrs Fellowes have departed Greenwich (poor Mrs Fellowes also done away with in a throwaway line of dialogue), Lawrence returns home drunk to find Thomas and confides in him, thanking him for his loyalty and asking Thomas to promise he won’t leave him, which Thomas duly does: only to almost immediately accept a position at Eaton Place. What’s most interesting is that Thomas leaving him wreaks far more emotional impact on Lawrence than his marriage ending. It’s plain he feels extremely betrayed and it’s easy to see why. It’s uncomfortable to watch and is perhaps very telling about the dark side of Thomas’s ambition.There’s also been some friction between Thomas and Hudson, primarily caused by a misunderstanding where Hudson believed Thomas to be the cause of Rose’s tears (in actual fact it was Elizabeth who was the cause, having verbally laid into Rose over her lack of experience with men in a moment of extreme post-marital bitterness). This almost led to him not being engaged at No. 165 at all, but the groundwork he’d carefully laid to ensure he was liked by such key players as Rose and Mrs Bridges ensured his ambition was realised.Thomas and Sarah, then, are two peas in a pod. It was probably inevitable they’d click with one another, but I was surprised just how quickly it happened. By the very episode after Sarah has returned and miscarried, she and Thomas are thick as thieves, romancing one another and scheming together.While the scheme in The Property Of A Lady showed them working together to turn the tables on someone blackmailing the Bellamys (with letters Marjorie had sent to Captain Hammond from Magic Casements), it’s interesting to see that it’s Sarah who is pricked by conscience and persuades Thomas not to screw over Marjorie and Richard (acting as a go-between for the blackmailer, Thomas had gone to each of them individually for the ransom sum, knowing neither would tell the other. He also doubled the needed cost in the process to line his own pockets four times over).There are some genuinely funny moments in The Property Of A Lady, mostly from Pauline Collins doing that posh imitation where she speaks out of the side of her mouth. Collins playing Sarah playing Lady Marjorie for a liaison with the blackmailer is a riot. There’s a moment where, in character, she turns away from the blackmailer towards Thomas and pulls a funny face before returning to her posh voice. It’s almost overkill, but it’s so funny I wouldn’t not have it there.Since I’m aware of the later spin-off, I suspect this episode could give a flavour of what was to come there as far as Thomas and Sarah’s wacky antics goes.Funny voices and faces aside, though, I found the episode extremely plodding. Something about the execution didn’t work for me and this felt like a filler episode. Perhaps it’s telling that the original writer, Peter Wildeblood insisted his name was removed after his script was heavily re-written by Alfred Shaughnessy. I feel doubtful the latter improved upon the intended version.There’s also the question of whether or not Magic Casements needs a sequel. As I liked the “unspoken” aspect of the original, with Richard concealing his knowledge from Marjorie but reaching her in his own way, I’m inclined to think not. This felt as though it diluted the story original story a little, by association with this far less watchable revisit. It seems even less necessary since Captain Hammond was said to have been killed in battle anyway.Presumably due to the time lapses, it’s interesting to see Whom God Hath Joined… with its Christmas backdrop actually aired in early November, with numerous episodes still to air throughout November and December. Of course, the seasons weren't going to match up with real life in 1972 since we jump months at a time between episodes. Still, it would probably be unthinkable today to have an episode airing near Christmas that wasn't festive in some way, so I'm curious to see what comes along when we hit that point in Series Two.</blockquote>

Verification: Who played Sue Ellen in Dallas?