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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Mel O&#039;Drama" data-source="post: 341118" data-attributes="member: 23">With the last two episodes of Series Four, The Upper Hand was pleasingly back on form.Firstly, the episode with Laura's new lover falling for Charlie's Auntie Pat who is staying with them was a favourite of mine. Even before this scenario arose, there were some delightfully catty exchanges between Laura and Auntie Pat (with Laura doling out more than her fair share of putdowns). It's great for Honor Blackman to have a decent amount of screen time, and I'm also very happy to see Lynda Baron's character given a storyline where she's at the centre of things. Other than an old episode of Give Us A Clue last week, I think this is the first role I've watched Lynda in since her death in March, so it feels meaningful on that level. The lothario in question was played by Neil Stacy who I only really know from Duty Free in which I really liked him, so that's a plus as well.After previously looking unsuccessfully to find the Who's The Boss? character analogous to Auntie Pat, I've just discovered it was Mrs Rossini. I do vaguely remember the character, but can't remember if she was Tony's aunt or just a friendly former neighbour. Perhaps [USER=27]@Daniel Avery[/USER] can shed light on it for me.One the episode's more low-key strengths was its almost entirely adult cast. Sam and Tom are fine, but they'd been used too heavily in previous episodes prior to this to the detriment of those episodes in particular and the series in general so I was fine with the more supporting role they played here.The year rounded out with Tunnel Of Love, based on the WTB Season Eight premiere Seer Of Love. Up to this point, this seems to be as close as the two series have been in terms of episode transmission dates, with Tunnel Of Love coming around seventeen months after the American version aired. I really like the choice to make this episode the season closer, signalling a shift in the relationship and a new direction for the series ahead. Here, the watch Caroline gives Charlie is to commemorate their fourth anniversary rather than their seventh. This means that three years have passed since the end of Series Two, which commemorated their first anniversary. There's a sliding scale going on with time, which can be rationalised given the increasing series lengths: the first two series totalled 25 episodes, while the third and fourth have 32 between them.Other than the episode's revelations, the big news is Katherine Helmond's guest appearance as Madame Alexandra who plays a key role in pushing Caroline and Charlie's relationship forwards. It feels very special that she's here, and I can't help reading into it that not only Caroline and Charlie's romance, but the entire series is being given an official Who's The Boss? seal of approval.She did wonders with this small-but-key role and made it a dynamic and memorable one. I was especially impressed with her lack of vanity. When one of her character's first lines was about being phlegmy due to a head cold, you just know she's a sport.Naturally, this has got my mind spinning with questions.I find myself wondering if Katherine had watched the show and perhaps even requested to appear. Did she have any say in which episode she appeared or which character she played? Whatever the case, it must have been a little bizarre for her to be - for all intents and purposes - re-shooting an episode but playing a different role while interacting with characters who are analogous to those with whom she'd spent the vast majority of her screen time for almost the entire previous decade.Most especially, I found myself wondering how she viewed Honor Blackman's portrayal of Laura: this series' version of her own beloved character, and if the two had any chats about it or compared notes. It's a shame that the two never appeared on-screen together, but that's the way the script has it. Presumably, Mona never interacted with Angela and Tony's Madame Alexandra either, and I suspect this made things easier for Katherine since I imagine this would be a character she didn't know well, if at all (depending on whether or not she's one of those actresses who only reads her own scenes).Still, I'd dearly love to know more about how this casting came to be and what conversations were held to make it happen. And I'd especially love to know what was said in the dressing rooms or at the wrap party (this being the last of the year's episodes and all).I'm also curious to know if Katherine travelled to the UK especially for this part or if she was here anyway. I know this wasn't her first time in a British sitcom, since I fondly remember her 1986 episode of Girls On Top playing Ruby Wax's character's mother, where Katherine had great screen chemistry with the wonderful Joan Greenwood. A quick search reveals that in the same month as The Upper Hand's Tunnel Of Love episode, Katherine  filmed a typically wacky spot on Ruby's mostly-scripted "chat show" Don't Miss Wax where Michael Winner (of all people) was witness to Ruby killing Katherine and trying to cover it up by conducting the interview with her body. Ruby's old Girls On Top flatmate Jennifer Saunders also appeared in Katherine's DMW episode, albeit shot at a completely different time.Completing Tunnel Of Love's appeal were Lynda Baron's Auntie Pat and a brief scene from that wonderful character actress Brenda Cowling as a nun. She's one of those actresses who seems to have made a career out of playing Matron-type supporting roles in sitcoms (she even played a Matron in a Carry On... film. A bold move considering Hattie Jacques helped immortalise Kenneth Williams's famous nasal "Oh, Maaaaatron!" lines, since uttered by a million and one bad impressionists). While I didn't immediately associate Brenda with one character, IMDb has reminded me that one of her ongoing roles was that of Mrs Blanche Lipton in Croft & Perry's You Rang M'Lord? (a sitcom well overdue a rewatch since I haven't watched since its original airing).</blockquote>

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