Quote: a plate @ 14th August 2024, 9:34 PMAh, let us know what it was like. I'd be interested to know how much is taken from the original script and how much is original dialogue.. the audience will want to hear the 'greatest hits', but I'd imagine there needs to be at least some new material.
Well, as I think we all knew, it was an amalgamation of three episodes, Communication Problems, The Hotel Inspectors and The Germans (with a bit of Basil the Rat thrown in). But intermingled with each other to a certain extent rather than separate. Minus a few scenes and a bit of dialogue that might not be acceptable to West End audiences today. And no Sybil in hospital scene. There was no new dialogue so we knew what was coming up next at every stage but I think the audience would have been disappointed if there had been changes. The classic lines such as "Don't mention the war" and "He's from Barcelona" all attracted a cheer. Apart from a very slight deviation form the TV script in the final 30 seconds (not really involving any dialogue), nothing new but, nevertheless, a fun afternoon.
From the distance of the balcony (where I was, albeit in the front row so an unobstructed view), one could almost mistake Basil, Sybil and Polly for the originals and Paul Nicholas played the Major well. The first half was an hour long but the second half seemed particularly short at about half an hour though I suppose that would be about right for three episodes. The set was well designed. No need for any scene changes. Mrs Richards' bedroom was permanently in location on an upper deck above the stage and used briefly for the "may I ask what you were hoping to see from a Torquay hotel bedroom window" scene while all the other action took place at, or around, the desk, the lobby and the dining room, which were all set up in situ on the stage throughout the show and used as and when needed. The kitchen and the lounge, although mentioned, did not figure.
