A number of episodes of 'Happy Ever After' and 'Terry & June' featured the characters dabbling in amateur dramatics. This one was the first to feature the concept. Terry is looking forward to a night in front of the television when June shuts the set off and announces that the lounge is to be used for rehearsals by the local drama group, who are planning to put on a play called 'Last Of The Czars'. June is to portray 'Empress Alexandra' of Russia. Terry poo-poohs the whole thing, until he claps eyes on one of the cast members - 'Sally Thompson', played by the gorgeous Madeline Smith.
If all this sounds familiar, then it should. It bears a strong resemblance to the Steptoe & Son episode 'A Star Is Born'. There's even a director ( here played by Christopher Sandford ) who thinks his play has a political subtext, and his pretentiousness infuriates Terry. In the Steptoe episode, the director ( Trevor Bannister ) had similar aspirations for his play. Before anyone accuses Chapman and Merriman of plagiarism, it should be pointed that 'A Star Is Born' was not an original idea to start with. Check out my IMDB review and you will see what I mean.
Terry joins the cast of the play, but isn't in it for long. He falls off the stage! Robert Dorning, a sitcom veteran, plays 'Graham Foster', another cast member.
Funniest moment - after giving Sally a lift to her home, Terry drives off and has a daydream in which he imagines he is a hero who breaks into a castle and saves Sally from some terrible men. The entire sequence is straight out of 'Billy Liar' ( which would have still been running about this time ).
If all this sounds familiar, then it should. It bears a strong resemblance to the Steptoe & Son episode 'A Star Is Born'. There's even a director ( here played by Christopher Sandford ) who thinks his play has a political subtext, and his pretentiousness infuriates Terry. In the Steptoe episode, the director ( Trevor Bannister ) had similar aspirations for his play. Before anyone accuses Chapman and Merriman of plagiarism, it should be pointed that 'A Star Is Born' was not an original idea to start with. Check out my IMDB review and you will see what I mean.
Terry joins the cast of the play, but isn't in it for long. He falls off the stage! Robert Dorning, a sitcom veteran, plays 'Graham Foster', another cast member.
Funniest moment - after giving Sally a lift to her home, Terry drives off and has a daydream in which he imagines he is a hero who breaks into a castle and saves Sally from some terrible men. The entire sequence is straight out of 'Billy Liar' ( which would have still been running about this time ).