[pressgang] How to Make a Killing and Both Sides of the Paper

[Claire Douglas]

Hi Laura

I'm always happy to second a complaint about a lack of Colin. ;-)

Absolutely agree re Paul Reynolds. Such a fabulous comedy actor (and not 
bad at drama, given his early role in Let Him Have It).

Cheers

Claire

On 19/03/2022 4:25 am, Laura Nunn wrote:
> We watched these a week apart over the last couple of weeks.
>
> How to Make a Killing was never a favourite of mine as a teenager, but 
> I appreciated it more as an adult, I think. I remember it feeling 
> "preachy" at the time ("drugs are bad, kids") but actually, compared 
> with children's TV these days, it's not particularly sanctimonious, 
> and I really like the fact the focus is put on the people who 
> shouldn't be selling the solvents rather than those who are taking 
> them. Eldest girl felt this episode suffered from a lack of Colin, but 
> she still liked it.
>
> Both Sides of the Paper - this was a funny one for me. When I first 
> watched it, I was too young to have experienced the horror of public 
> exams. As an adult who still regularly has anxiety dreams about French 
> Literature A-level revision, Sarah's dream sequences seem all too 
> real. The plot is a bit odd - surely it's not the school children's 
> job to plan ahead and shut down during exam time - that should have 
> been scoped out by the adults when they set the JG up.
>
> Also, Lynda is doing a really weird combination of A-levels (Maths, 
> Physics, History, English), but that's by the by. She doesn't strike 
> me as someone who'd be particularly good at science, given her later 
> ineptitude with a mobile phone.
>
> Eldest girl really liked this episode - plenty of Colin to amuse her - 
> she loved that his exam kits kept getting more and more expensive.
>
> I noticed that over the last few episodes, Spike and Lynda's 
> relationship is changing from Spike propositioning Lynda and being 
> repeatedly rebuffed (would be considered harassment these days!) to a 
> more give-and-take friendship. It's handled nicely.
>
> Paul Reynolds continues to act everyone else off screen. I'm surprised 
> he never got a big break - there's star quality there beyond his years.
>
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