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As Time Goes By |
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A Special Thank You to Diane P, UK, Special Giveaway # 01
The Winners are Sheila J, OH and Elizabeth W, NC The Winners are Ginny A, MA and Gary R, MN Special Giveaway # 03 The Winners are Wanda P, TN and Janet L, FL A Special Thank You to Diane P, UK, for buying these magazines The Winners are required to follow the
Giveway Winners Acknowledgement New
Thanks to Diane P, UK, for scanning and sharing this
A Special Thank You to Connie E, CA, USA, for scanning and sharing these pages
Selected Screen Captures from the DVD Special Features
09/30/05
As Time Goes By The Reunion Specials -
Available for Order at Amazon.co.uk Thanks to Anca, USA, for bringing this to my attention
As Time Goes By ... This special picks up some time after the original AS TIME GOES BY SPECIAL series left off. Two episodes reveal Jean Pargetter's (Dame Judi Dench) great anticipation for grandchildren, much to husband Lionel's (Geoffrey Palmer) dismay. With son-in-law Alistair and daughter Judy having problems, things don't look promising, especially when it's left to Lionel to convince Alistair to visit the doctor for tests. Sandy, Jean's former employee, and her husband, Harry, return from Canada. "Episode One"-- Jean is eager for grandchildren, but Lionel has reservations. Judith fears that Alistair may have a medical condition that's the cause of their childlessness. "Episode Two"-- It turns out that Lionel was the benefactor of Patrick's family and they all consider him their father. Still, Jean takes special delight in introducing Patrick to Penny as Lionel's son. Premiering: Wednesday, December 14 at 9:00 pm ET Check with your local PBS Station for exact dates and time Web Site: http://www.pbs.org
Thanks to Connie E, USA, for sending this
advertisement to us
Choices Direct Online Store Note: Acorn and PBS will probably be releasing the Region 1 and 2 DVD in the December / January timeframe which may include special features ... stay tuned for more info and links
Director: Sydney Lotterby Starring: Geoffrey Palmer,
Judi Dench, Frank Middlemass, Jenny Funnell, Philip Bretherton, It is a full house for the Hardcastles when Sandy and Harry return from Canada and move in. Jean is already imagining the pitter patter of tiny feet and, somewhat prematurely, arranges for cots to be delivered - much to the distress of Lionel. Meanwhile Sandy is convinced that Harry has a death wish when he applies to join the armed response unit in order to gain a promotion, and Alistair starts to behave rather peculiarly. Just when everything is starting to settle down the doorbell rings. Jean answers it and finds a young man who has travelled all the way from Africa to see his father, Lionel! Contains the two reunion specials from the comedy series. A Special Thank You to Diane P, UK, for bringing this to my attention
Play.com (UK) Online Store
As Time Goes By - The Specials (DVD) Note: Acorn and PBS will probably be releasing the Region 1 and 2 DVD in the December / January timeframe which may include special features ... stay tuned for more info and links
Director: Sydney Lotterby Starring: Geoffrey Palmer,
Judi Dench, Frank Middlemass, Jenny Funnell, Philip Bretherton, It is a full house for the Hardcastles when Sandy and Harry return from Canada and move in. Jean is already imagining the pitter patter of tiny feet and, somewhat prematurely, arranges for cots to be delivered - much to the distress of Lionel. Meanwhile Sandy is convinced that Harry has a death wish when he applies to join the armed response unit in order to gain a promotion, and Alistair starts to behave rather peculiarly. Just when everything is starting to settle down the doorbell rings. Jean answers it and finds a young man who has travelled all the way from Africa to see his father, Lionel! Contains the two reunion specials from the comedy series. A Special Thank You to Diane P, UK, for bringing this to my attention
As Time Goes By
Reunion Specials --
DLT's
sitcom reunion for Xmas
Contains Spoilers
Stars Dame Judi Dench and Geoffrey Palmer
to Revive NEW YORK, April 11 / PR Newswire PBS and DLT Entertainment announced today that two new specials based on the hit series AS TIME GOES BY, starring Dame Judi Dench and Geoffrey Palmer, will be broadcast this fall on PBS. The shows were produced in London last month by DLT Entertainment and its sister company, The Theatre of Comedy. The series, on which these specials are based, has been popular on Britain's BBC and PBS stations since it originated in 1992. "We were so pleased to be able to reunite Judi, Geoffrey and the rest of the cast to produce these specials and now the fans will be able to enjoy the shows on PBS," said Don Taffner, Jr., Vice President, DLT Entertainment. The new specials, written by Bob Larbey (A Fine Romance) and produced and directed by Syd Lotterby, pick up some time after the original series left off and reveal Jean Pargetter's (Dench) great anticipation for grandchildren much to husband Lionel's (Palmer) dismay. With son-in-law Alistair and daughter Judy having problems things don't look too promising especially when it's left to Lionel to convince Alistair to visit the doctor for some tests. But will Jean's dream of becoming a grandmother come true when Sandy and her husband Harry return from Canada? "The combination of great new storylines, the return of a stellar cast and more smart fun is bound to be a hit with the PBS audience," said John F. Wilson, Sr. Vice President, PBS Programming." The deal also gives PBS the North American home video/DVD rights to the two programs.
Web Site: http://www.pbs.org
Published in the Daily Mail, December 10, 2004 Two ATGB Specials to be taped in February 2005 ! !
Thanks to Diane P, UK, for scanning and sharing this article
Taping of the new ATGB Specials -- February 5th and
/ or February 15th, 2005 DLT Entertainment Announcement
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Jerri K's Account of the Feb 5th Taping As for the trip and the taping, I don't have a lot to add that hasn't been said. I did enjoy the taping a lot and it was interesting to see in person (and thrilling to sit on the couch as everyone mentioned). I have a lot of admiration for how professional everyone is and how they are able to jump right into a scene, especially on the re-takes. I know that in the bedroom scene where they had a couple of bloopers - there is no way that I could have immediately redone the scene without collapsing into laughter. It was enjoyable to see everyone up close - and I think we got to see several good examples of how they (Geoffrey and Judi especially) were able to convey so much through their looks and expressions. There was one point (which they taped twice) where Jean is exiting the kitchen and she gives Lionel one of those long hard looks that we all know and many times the audience would break into laughter just from the expression on Lionel's face. I also thought that several times before or after the taping of a scene, Geoffrey would give a look to the camera for the benefit of the audience which was always funny. One last thing I would point out, was that I really liked the clothes they all wore in these episodes and I think a few other people on the trip mentioned that as well. All of the cast members looked great and the outfits for everyone seemed to be exactly the right style. My memory on this is already fading and I don't have much to say on what the guys wore - they looked good but nothing stands out in particular in my memory - others may have corrections or additions. I know that Jean started with a really cool purplish-top (which incidentally I thought looked awesome in person but the color and texture of it looked a little different on the monitors). For the scenes on the next day, she had a sort of aquamarine jacket over a white (or cream?) shirt and pants, which I really liked. Judith had two outfits that were similar - both had long full skirts that had a low waist and belt. I think one was a rust color with a cream sweater and I can't remember the other one - but both looked really nice. Sandy also had great clothes - when they arrived from the airport, she had a great almost lime green 3/4 length coat and scarf and wore a purple wrap shirt and jeans. For the scenes on the last day ("Tuesday" I think), she had another great outfit - a darker green top with brown suede (I think) skirt and brown tall boots, which I think everyone liked. I also remember liking her coat when they were leaving - I think was blue and green. Anyway, that's all I can think of for now. Thanks to everyone who helped organize the trip and I hope to see you all again at another event!
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Meira's
Account of the Feb 5th Taping -- Part 2 -- Consider yourself warned. There are spoilers here. Ready Set Here we go... ******************************************************************* The following is as best as I can remember it. I'm sure I don't recall everything, and if I have something mixed-up, hopefully someone can let us know. This episode picks up a year from where we left off, specifically the day before Sandy and Harry return from Canada. The sets from left to right (from the audience's perspective) were the front door/hall & stairs, the living room, the kitchen, and a doctor's office waiting room. Behind them, out of our sight, were Jean and Lionel's bedroom, the pub, and Sandy's room (actually the scenes in Sandy's room may have all been pre-recorded). The episode begins with the delivery of two cots, which Lionel is certain must be a mistake. He calls for Jean, who assures him it's not. She also settles a rather inane argument between the delivery guys. A little later we see the cots set up in Sandy's room. Lionel is still flabbergasted at their presence, given the lack of babies to occupy them. Jean confirms that to her knowledge, neither Judy nor Sandy is pregnant. But it stands to reason... (if only in Jean's head) That night Lionel has a nightmare about babies. It starts out fairly normal, he's pushing a pram, but the baby turns into two babies and they keep multiplying. He wakes with a start and Jean wakes too. He makes up a story about the dream, but Jean doesn't buy it. She gets in calling him "grandad" before they go back to sleep. The nest day, Alistair and Judy are in the car with Harry and Sandy, having picked them up from the airport. It's obvious that something isn't right. They keep giving short answers to Judy and Alistair's questions, and they don't look very happy. When they arrive at the house there are hugs all around. Jean asks Sandy how she is. Sandy says "fine" but then bursts into tears and runs up the stairs to her room. She sits on the bed, crying, but pauses, puzzled, when she notices the cots. Jean runs up after Sandy and knocks on the door. Thinking it's Harry, she shouts "go away", but Jean doesn't, naturally. Sandy explains that everything was fine, but now Harry's decided to kill himself. In the living room, Harry is explaining that he hasn't decided to kill himself, per se, but he's going for a job in "armed response", which would be a promotion, and I imagine would put him in the line of fire more than being an ordinary policeman would. This is where Alistair's weird behavior starts to kick in. Putting himself in some sort of danger competition, he gets it into his head that a Russian author he's working with could be in the Russian mafia. Alistair also makes a phone call to get them all a lunch reservation at a fancy French restaurant, the very best table, of course. Alistair's odd behavior gets them all kicked out of the restaurant, when he is told that the table he requested was unavailable. He won't let it go and starts shouting. They end up making sandwiches back at the house, puzzling over Alistair's behavior. Jean asks Judy how she and Alistair are. Judy informs her mother that she's not pregnant, as she saw straight through her mother's question. Jean protests that there's nothing wrong in wanting grandchildren. Judy concedes there isn't. Jean says that Lionel wants them too. Judy questions that. Jean says that he'll come around. Sandy joins them in the kitchen. She apologizes for over reacting previously and, by the way, "why are there two cots in my room?" Judy gives her mother a look. That night we find Lionel and Jean in bed once more. Apparently it's a full house. Sandy and Harry are staying as they don't have a place of their own yet. Judy and Alistair are staying the night because "they just thought they would", according to Jean. Jean asks why he and Margaret didn't have children. He tells her that Margaret wasn't the maternal type, but had one or two kids come along, he wouldn't have said no. Jean points out that it would be too late to say no then. Jean hears someone moving around in the house and insists Lionel investigate. To her chagrin, he calls out, asking who's there. Judy answers and tells him to go back to sleep. Immediately, Jean gets out of bed, thinking something must be wrong. Lionel argues that if something were wrong, Judy would have come in to see her. Jean reluctantly agrees, then grabs her robe and leaves the room anyway. She finds Judy in the living room, in the dark. Everything isn't all right. She thinks Alistair is trying to prove his manhood because she hasn't gotten pregnant yet. She says she knows she's fine and thinks Alistair is the problem, but Alistair won't see a doctor to find out for sure. Jean volunteers Lionel to talk to Alistair. Judy is grateful. At breakfast, Jean is trying to convince Lionel to talk to Alistair, but he wants no part of it. It's too personal and he doesn't like sticking his nose into other's affairs. Jean argues that Alistair respects him and Judy loves him very much, or she wouldn't be asking. When Lionel continues to protest, Jean deliberately spills the tea he asks her to pour for him and she tosses a piece of toast in his direction. Alistair comes into the room and Jean hurries out of it, so they can talk. Lionel calls after her but then gives in. Happy and grateful, she runs back into the kitchen to give him a kiss. Alistair "awws", they're "still like two crazy kids in love". Lionel agrees with the "crazy". Eventually, Lionel gets Alistair to agree to talk to a guy who knows a guy, "for Judy's sake". While Lionel and Alistair are in the kitchen, Sandy and Harry come down the stairs. Jean stops them from going into the kitchen, telling them that she's just going for more croissants and such and they can go with her. She's not asking them so much as telling them. Harry asks, in a whisper, if Jean is going funny. Sandy shushes him. Alistair is on the phone with Dr. Plankk's office (Yes, "Plankk" with 2 Ks). But when asked for his name, he chickens out and says "Hardcastle". You can imagine where this fib leads and you're probably right. Anyway, Judy walks in as he hangs up, and she's quite happy and relieved when Alistair tells her that he's going to see the doctor. The appointment is for Tuesday, the same day as Harry's interview. Somewhere in there, after Jean gets back with the croissants, Lionel gives her an update. She proclaims, "one down, one to go". (the "one to go" being talking Harry out of going for this job) Harry and Sandy walk in on that. They tell Jean that they know it's very well intentioned, but it's their business, etc. Jean leaves the room in a sort of huff and Sandy goes after her. The day of the appointment/interview, Jean and the girls are all very glum and are just sitting around waiting for them to come back (Lionel has gone with Alistair to the doctor's). Lionel is the first to return, as Alistair wanted to stay until the lab results came back. Jean keeps making things worse, making the girls more anxious, but managing to blame it on Lionel after he tries to downplay the seriousness of the day. ("Now look what you've done!"). Lionel goes to the kitchen to make himself lunch, a jam sandwich to be precise. Jean accuses him of regressing, thinking a jam sandwich is rather juvenile. Lionel claims it's because he spent the morning with one. Before too long, Sandy comes into the room, and she has something she needs to tell them. She's pregnant. Jean grabs her in a hug, totally excited. Lionel shakes her hand, but Jean points out that shaking hands is ridiculous, and Lionel then gives her a hug. "A grandchild!" Jean enthuses. "Not strictly speaking," Lionel replies. Jean tells him not to be pedantic. Now Lionel is a bit upset with Harry, for going for a job that upsets Sandy so much, especially now that she's pregnant. Sandy explains that Harry doesn't know. She found out just before he told her about the job and it didn't seem fair to tell him like that. She's quite relieved that Jean and Lionel now know. I don't remember whether Alistair or Harry returns first. Alistair is on cloud nine as he's been pronounced A OK- they just need to relax. Harry returns with the news that he didn't get the job and they didn't say why. Jean becomes indignant that they didn't want Harry. Sandy explains that she's sorry, but she can't help being relieved. She takes Harry into the kitchen to tell him her news. Harry emerges from the kitchen dazed and happy. He tells Jean and Lionel, all excited, but notices that they don't seem very surprised. Jean assures him that Sandy didn't tell them, it was just woman's intuition. Sandy comes into the room, about to tell Harry that she'd already told Jean and Lionel, but Jean gives the cover story. They decide to all celebrate that night but for the moment, she just wants some time with Harry. Before they leave, Lionel pieces together that Harry turned down the job, not the other way around. Alistair whisks Judy home, so they can "relax". Jean and Lionel have the house to themselves. Until... There is a knock at the door. Jean goes to open it. There is a man standing there (the actor who plays "Danny" on Spooks/MI-5) and he asks if this is the Harscastle home. Jean says it is. The young man, Patrick, says he has been traveling a long time, but it is worth it because he's now found his father. Jean calls Lionel. And that's where we end.
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Deb R's Account of the Feb 5th Taping Here is another account of the trip, I probably haven’t got much too add to the other accounts as they were pretty comprehensive. The celebrations started at the meal on Friday night. I was really looking forward to meeting everyone and putting faces to names. The evening was a huge success. We all met up by about 6.30 and the time just flew by. Lots of ATGB talk as you can imagine. Tom Tancredi suggested that we each say a little bit about ourselves and what attracted us to ATGB. This was very interesting and really broke the ice. After we had eaten we moved around between tables and chatted to different people. Before we knew where we were it was 11pm and time to head back to our individual hotels. We met up again on the Saturday on the bus, together with most of the other people who hadn’t been able to make the meal the previous evening. The journey to Teddington took about 1 hour, due to traffic. Most people had a drink and something to eat at the Anglers pub before the taping. Just as we were about to leave who should come into the pub but Paul Chapman. He had arranged to meet some friends in the group, but had been held up by transport problems. He wasn’t in the taping that evening but had come to see them specially. Someone suggested that as he’d had transport problems getting here, then he might like to share our coach back to London after the taping, which he did. He is such a lovely man, very friendly and down to earth. To have him share our coach was a real treat. Meira has already given a good description of our treatment by the production team. We were all thrilled to be taken onto the set and have photo’s taken. I can’t quite believe that I will be able to say “I sat on that sofa” when the specials are shown. I haven’t been to a taping before and three and a half hours just whizzed by in a flash. It was fascinating to see how they piece everything together and how meticulous they are when it comes to re-doing a scene. It seems to me to be quite difficult to start again partway through a scene, but they rarely had to do it more than once. I particularly enjoyed it when they made a bloomer and because it didn’t happen very often I think they enjoyed them too. There was on point when Geoffrey tripped as he came into the room, Moira who was sat on the sofa with her back to him didn’t notice and continued acting away. She and Judi had a laugh together when she discovered what had happened. Another funny bit came when Jean and Lionel were in bed and Jean was meant to say something about Lionel being grumpy and she said he was drunk instead, they both had a good laugh about that. It amazes me how they can switch so quickly from finding something so funny, to the serious business of being in character again. Throughout the taping you could just sense the camaraderie between them and the enjoyment in what they were doing. At one point when they were setting up for a scene, the actor who plays Harry was sitting on the sofa waiting. The warm up man had the audience sing happy birthday to a member of the audience, and Harry joined in. It was all too soon when the warm up man said we were near the climax of the show. I just didn’t want it to end and I’m sure the rest of our group didn’t either. Geoffrey said a few words of thanks after it was over and it was time to make our way back to the bus. At least we had the pleasure of Paul Chapman’s company for the journey back. Splitting up from the rest of the group later I couldn’t help feel a sense of anti-climax. All the planning and anticipation was over. It really was a fabulous experience, both meeting the other members of the group and the taping itself. It was a once in a lifetime experience, or maybe twice in a lifetime, if you are lucky enough to have tickets to the second taping. I’d just like to say a big thank you to everyone who played a part in organising everything, which contributed hugely to it being such a wonderful experience.
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Connie E's, USA, account of the Feb 5th taping -- Spoilers I was glad to see that while I was flying back to the USA those that live in London or were staying over had sent accounts of our ATGB experience. I will only add what hasn't already been said. I found that Paul Chapman has a dry sense of humor. After the taping he was in the hallway gathering with us to get our return coach. Since I was not staying over for the next taping I jokingly asked him how much of a bribe he would take to reveal the plot details of the next episode. Since there were empty cots (cribs) featured in an early scene, he quickly quipped, "Oh, you mean the cot death episode?" We all got a good laugh at that as he was saying he really couldn't tell us. Before the taping the cast was introduced to us. The new actor for Harry was introduced first. Geoffrey was next to last and said a few words, and then Judi was last. She only said a few words, and the only ones I can remember was the last sentence when she said "We can't do it without you." Maybe someone else will recall the rest of it! I plead jet lag. At the end of the taping they all took a bow. We agreed that Judi was looking over our way during the bow. Before the taping I, also, got to sit on the sofa for the photo. I do hope we get to see the pictures. It was a surreal experience to be in the set I have observed for so long. The '"watercolor" I have peered at that is over the desk next to the fireplace just looked like a print. However, I think they sold the sets after the last shows, and this set is a replica. I remember staring at the rugs when I was in the set, and later Geoffrey tripped on one entering the living room, and they had to start again on his entrance. The bedroom set and the pub set were in back of the others so we didn't get to see the taping of these but saw them as they were being filmed on the monitors that hung in front of the audience section. We were told that this audience area is larger than the one they at the previous studio. When the guests of the green room joined the audience, members of our group spotted Geoffrey Palmer's wife and Jenny Funnell's husband among them in addition to our "dentist" friend, Paul Chapman. Paul Chapman is such a nice, funny, courteous man and said when we were chatting on the coach that Judi was so wonderful to work with. He said that basically the timing of these tapings was dictated by when could Judi fit it in with all of her other commitments. He said that David Michaels (Harry) was very upset that the people at his current job couldn't guarantee that he would be free for the taping dates. Before the taping they introduced D.L. Taffner and his wife , who had come in from the United States. You may recognize the name from the credits of ATGB. Who knew he was American? Paul Chapman later told us that Geoffrey Palmer's theory on how the decision was made to film more episodes was that Taffner had asked for it. The only time I saw the cast talking among themselves was during the times the director thought there might be a retake of a scene or a part of a scene. They would usually stay put in the set waiting for the decision and sometimes chatted. Unfortunately we couldn't hear what they were saying. At one point Moira Brooker sat in the darkened living room set while they were filming another scene. Eventually she was joined by others and the set was lit and they filmed. However, it did puzzle me when at one point when I was watching a scene in the kitchen that I noticed Judi in the dark sitting on the couch in the living room. She sat there for the entire scene and then got up and left when the scene in the adjoining set was finished. I later asked our friendly dentist about it. He didn't really know for sure but said that there were not chairs back of the sets and that probably she just wanted to sit down and chose a place where she would be out of the way. The crew we were told were new to the show because of filming it in a different studio. However, most of the other people were the same. The wardrobe, makeup and hair ladies were only in evidence briefly a few times. Towards the end of the episode Judi ruffles her hair with her hand. When they needed to retake the scene just prior to that, the hairdresser quietly came in and rearranged Judi's hair to be flatter at the top to match what it had looked like before. Judi also participated in helpful hints during taping. During the bedroom scene, Geoffrey got lost and started saying some lines that sounded very familiar to me. They stopped filming, and Judi said that those were lines from a previous scene (I knew they sounded familiar!). They then retook the scene. There was one other time when she was helpful in defining where they were in the script. I would have loved to have met the cast but that wasn't in their plans. I will be interested to see if the next group is more lucky. When the taping was over, they asked the Green Room guests to stay seated while the rest of us left. I learned they were having a little party for them. I also learned that they only pay for the studio (Studio One, in this case) for a certain length of time. This explains why we watched pre-recorded scenes that not only included location scenes but also included a few that had been shot on the sets. They played the scenes and audio recorded our laughter/reactions. This also may have dictated that a party with the Green Room guests and a meeting with the audience guests would have made the whole evening go on too long. Even though camera and microphone equipment prevented me from seeing everything that was being filmed, it was still a very interesting experience. I can't wait to see the episode on TV.
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Joan S's Account of the Feb 5th Taping - Contains Spoilers AS TIME GOES BY SPECIAL -- 5TH FEBRUARY 2004 The first taping of a new ATGB special took place at Teddington Studios in Middlesex which lies to the South West of London on the banks of the River Thames. Before the recording started our group were invited into the studio to have photos taken. We were split up into two parts and asked to sit in the living room. Quite a novelty to be part of the set! From our seats we could see 3 rooms, the Living Room, Kitchen and what looked like a dining room. However, the dining area was not used at all during this episode. From the corner of the studio, where we were seated, the front door and a small part of the landing/staircase were also visible. After being spoken to by the floor manager and compere/warm up man, we were introduced to the cast and then Geoffrey Palmer made a brief welcoming speech. As mentioned before, Harry is being played by a different actor for these specials. The following is a general outline of the plot and as such contains spoilers, so please don't read any further if you don't want to know the story. SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS Finally the recording was underway. The first thing we saw was some film where Lionel answers the door to two men who call at the house to deliver some cots. Lionel is clearly astounded and believes that there must be some mistake. However, Jean appears at the door and confirms that the cots are indeed for them, in preparation for their grandchildren when they come to stay! This paves the way for a catalogue of traumas around the theme of babies! I guess this is no surprise to many of us, as it seems the natural sequel to the series. Sandy and Harry arrive back at the Hardcastles, fresh from Canada. However, Sandy doesn't look very happy and runs to her room crying. It transpires she is upset because Harry has applied to go into the armed services (sic). She is worried that if he is accepted his life could be endangered in the future. Harry wants the job, not just for his own benefit, but to give Sandy a better quality of life. Judy and Alistair come to see Jean and Lionel too. However, Alistair is behaving a little strangely. Amongst other things, whilst in the pub with Lionel he keeps saying that two men at the bar are watching him and are a threat. Judy isn't completely happy either. She finally tells Jean that she has been trying to get pregnant but nothing is happening. Judy says that she has had a test and it seems everything is okay with her so she thinks the problem lies with Alistair. Of course, Alistair is in complete denial of this and refuses to see a specialist for any tests. Jean asks Lionel if he can have a man's talk with Alistair to persuade him to see someone about the problem. Alistair is very reluctant to do this but finally says he will see a specialist if Lionel comes with him. The day dawns when Harry is due to go for an interview board for the job that he wants and Alistair is going to the specialist. Judy, Sandy and Jean congregate in the living room with very glum faces and sit there restlessly waiting for the men to return. Lionel comes back first but without Alistair. Apparently Alistair didn't want Lionel to be there when the test results came back. Sandy then decides to tell Jean and Lionel the good news – she is pregnant! However, it seems she hasn't told Harry as she didn't want to put him off from applying for the new job. Harry then returns looking a bit downcast as he hasn't got the job. It transpires later though that he actually turned the job down in the end as Sandy was so opposed to it. Lionel realises this as Harry doesn't look very upset about not getting through the board. Naturally Sandy now tells Harry about her pregnancy and he is overjoyed. Alistair also returns and has some good news. He is absolutely A1! Apparently there should be no problem in him fathering a child, Judy and Alistair just need to relax and give it time. Jean tells them to go home and `relax'. At last Jean and Lionel are left alone together. Jean asks Lionel if he and his former wife ever wanted children. He said neither of them were particularly keen though he wouldn't really have minded having them. Jean then snuggles up to Lionel; they look rather romantic. Then there is a knock at the door. A coloured man is standing on the doorstep and asks if this is the Hardcastle residence. When Jean confirms this he says he is so pleased as at last he has found his father !!!!! Naturally there were a few mistakes during the recording. The warm-up man made Judi go into hysterics while she was waiting in bed with Geoffrey for a scene to begin filming. They were holding books in their hands and he said don't forget now it's page 149! Geoffrey also managed to say the same line twice in two different scenes. They had to film part of a kitchen scene a couple of times too, which encompassed Geoffrey eating some toast and Judi pushing a tea cup towards him and purposely spilling some tea. At one point Geoffrey said to everyone "would you like some toast"! Well, I hope I've managed to remember things fairly accurately. My memory may be a bit cloudy after a rather late night! I'm sure others will recall things that I've forgotten and rectify any errors. This really is a lovely episode. I'm sure you will all enjoy it immensely when it reaches our screens. Finally a big thank you to Meira for organising everything. It went very smoothly. Incidentally we even had an extra passenger on the return coach trip – Paul Chapman! Not surprisingly he signed one or two autographs! Joan http://www.geocities.com/televisioncity/satellite/9476/atgbindex.htm ATGB & AFR locations
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Meira's Account of the Evening -- February 5th -- No Spoilers The taping was great fun. Everything went off without a hitch. The coach worked out great- very nice and very reliable. It took an hour to get there. We had a little bit of daylight to walk around before we headed to the Anglers pub, which is very nice. Raphael, our London DLT liaison met us there. We were also joined by Paul Chapman (aka Uncle Stephen), who is friends with a couple people in our group. We gave him a lift back to London on the coach after the taping, where he sat in the audience among the group of friends and family of the cast and crew and people who work for DLT. Anyway, just before six we walked over to the studio. We went through a separate entry than those without production tickets, and one by one they gave us purple wrist bands to identify our group. Then they led us to this airplane hanger like waiting area with most everyone else with production tickets. The dress rehearsal ran a little long apparently, and it was almost 6:30 before they took our group to the set for a photograph. Actually, they split our group into two groups because the set is not that big. So I got to sit on the sofa in the "living room" and we all gathered around for the photo. It was really cool to actually be on the set. After they took our photo we sat in our reserved section and then the other groups followed. Everyone was seated by 7:35 or so and then there was a few minute clip to catch people up on series 9. Then the introductions were made and taping began a little before 8. A number of scenes had been pre-recorded, even ones that weren't location scenes. These were played on the monitors for us. They finished taping just before 10. All the main actors/characters were there, except for Harry, who has been recast. It was fabulous to see them all. Judi looked wonderful, as did Geoffery. Moira looked beautiful. Philip looked great, rather distinguished, and Jenny was gorgeous (her hair's fairly long now, as is Moira's). There was a new character played by David Oyelowo, who plays "Danny" on Spooks/MI-5, a drama that I love. It was such a cool surprise to see him 20 feet in front of me. It was over way too quickly after all that anticipation and all the time spent organizing things. I thought the episode was very funny - we all laughed quite a lot, and they're 45 minutes long these specials, so we get a to see more than usual. For those wondering about cameras, they were not confiscated. No photos were allowed though. Anyone caught trying to take a picture with a camera or a camera phone would be escorted out, their film confiscated or the frame(s) erased. I don't think this happened to anyone. I will put together a full report of plot details and such when I get back to the US, for those that want to be spoiled. It's just too much to try to reconstruct at an internet cafe. I'm off now to see Drallion at Royal Albert Hall. I've never seen either, so I'm looking forward to it (even if it's not nearly as cool as the taping.) A la prochaine fois, Meira
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Deb R's Account of the Feb 15th Taping Here is some information about the second taping. This bit of information doesn’t contain spoilers. I have done a separate synopsis of the story for those who want to wait to find out what happens. This was a different experience for me this time as I didn’t meet up with the group in London as I couldn’t afford to take as much time off work, as I had for the first taping. I applied for my ticket through the BBC and traveled from South Wales on the day by car. Approximately a three-hour trip each way, but well worth the journey. I arrived in Teddington by about 2.30. I had a drink in the Anglers Pub before exploring a little bit of Teddington. I enjoyed a walk along the river and the locks before returning to the pub for something to eat and to wait for the group to arrive. The bus turned up about 5pm. I had a brief chance to meet up with them, it was really good to see again the people I had met at the first taping, and also some new faces. I didn’t have much time to mingle with the group as I didn’t have a production ticket this time and needed to go and queue up to get in. The BBC issue more tickets than they have seats, to ensure that they have a full house and seats are allocated on a first come first served basis. I wanted to make sure I was near the front of the queue, I would have been devastated if I didn’t get in. I went to queue up at 5.20. David P., who also didn’t have a production ticket, joined me in the queue. Even at that time there were 25 people ahead of us. At about 5.30 the studio manager told us that as it was a cold evening they would let us in early. We had numbered stickers put on our tickets. This would determine our entry into the studio later. I was number 26. We were shown into the same studio that we were shown to last week. This time small circular tables had been set up around the room. We were able to help ourselves to wine, orange juice, nuts and crisps. (chips) Just after 6pm the rest of the group were shown in. Dave and I had the opportunity to have a brief chat to them. The studio manager gave us some information about what shows were filmed in this particular studio and a brief history of Teddington studios. About 6.30pm the group were taken in two groups to have their photos taken on set. Dave and I remained behind to wait our turn to go into the studio. We were taken in, in groups of about 50. The studio was set up very much as last week. To the far left was the Lounge, in the centre was the kitchen and over to the right was what looked to be a waiting room of some description. Dave and I had front seats in the middle section, which was very nice as we were very close when Geoffrey and Judi were introduced and said goodbye at the end. The introductions started just before 7.30. Again the main characters were introduced individually. Then Geoffrey said a few words. He said how quickly the time together had gone. No sooner than they decide to do the specials, their brief couple of weeks has come to an end. He teased Judi when introducing her by pretending to forget whom it was he was working with. He named a couple of other actresses such as Maggie Smith, and hesitated before eventually introducing her. I think he said something to the effect of she is as lovely as you imagine her to be. Judi only spoke briefly; she doesn’t seem as relaxed as Geoffrey when it come to speaking to the audience. She again thanked us telling us what an important part we play. As Geoffrey was walking off I noticed how slowly he was moving. Later as he was moving between sets at the back of the studio I noticed he was using an elbow crutch. He never used it at the front of the studio and I would think most people in our group wouldn’t have noticed as they were once again seated in a group in front of the lounge set. I made a special note of this and he definitely was in some discomfort, taking opportunities to sit down when he could. Judi looked apologetic when a couple of times she made a mistake and they had to re-do a scene, which meant Geoffrey had to move about. There were a number of slip ups; part of the first scenes shot in the studio were done about three times. We in the audience weren’t always aware of what was wrong. Only the more obvious mistakes we knew about. One of these happened when Jean comes into the living room and says Lionel is making curry instead of saying chilli. When they make such an obvious mistake they all have a good laugh about it. At one point Alistair has to re-do his scene three times as he can’t stop laughing quickly enough to get back into character. Most times the person who makes the mistake apologises, to the rest of the cast and the crew. Geoffrey likes to make little asides to the audience when there is a pause in the filming, at one point Sandy leaves the kitchen and as filming stops Geoffrey asks the audience, where did she go? The warm up man, Denny I think he was called kept us all entertained in between takes. He informed us that the shows will probably be aired around Christmas time so I’m afraid we have a bit of a wait. He introduced the other characters just after they appeared for their scenes. In this episode we see Penny and Steven and Rocky and Mrs bale. All were in the studio except Rocky. His scene was pre-recorded. All other characters were looking very well. Especially Janet Henfrey, I thought. After she had done her scene, Denny introduced her and she peeped around the lounge door to wave to us. She was smiling broadly and I thought her face lit up. We don’t actually get to see Mrs Bale smile that often. Denny also took time out to speak to the group and find out a little bit about who was in charge and what the group is about. The filming went very well and there weren’t too many re-takes. Again the evening passed very quickly and all too soon the last scenes were being shot. Filming was finished by about 9.45pm At the end Geoffrey and Judi stood almost right in front of me to say goodbye. They stood together and the rest of the cast stood just off centre listening to them. Again the camaraderie between them was almost palpable. Geoffrey spoke first, telling us that he and Judi had been having a little disagreement as to who should say goodbye. He saying that she should and she saying that he should, in the event they both did. Both were disappointed that it was once again over and probably for the last time this time. (We can live in hope) All cast smiled and waved before leaving and it was over. I had a brief few minutes to catch up with some people who have become quite special to me, before they had to get back on the bus. I feel privileged to have had the opportunity to meet with some of the people from this group and I will treasure the experience. After I had said my goodbyes, I made my way back to my car and the journey home.
Below is a synopsis of the second
special. Only read on if you want to know what
S P O I L E R S Before filming starts, we are shown a short video clip to bring us up to date with what has happened so far. It is mostly the same as the one shown last week but has some bits from last weeks episode added to it, for example finding out that Sandy is pregnant and the bit about Patrick being Lionel’s son. The first scene involves Sandy and Harry walking back to the house, they get into discussion about Harry being in plain clothes now and Sandy says she will miss his uniform, Harry says he will wear it around the house for Sandy’s benefit when they get their own place. On arriving at the house Sandy barely has the key in the door when Jean opens it from the other side and Sandy almost falls into the house. Jean is in an agitated state and ushers them straight through to the kitchen. She is obviously in a state of shock and informs them of Patrick’s arrival and announcement that he is Lionel’s son and that Lionel recognised him I think Harry makes a comment about Lionel “playing away” when he was married to Margaret. Both of them advise Jean that the only way she will find out is to go into the lounge where Patrick is talking to Lionel. Jean walks in to the lounge where Lionel and Patrick are catching up with news. Jean is still very agitated and Patrick doesn’t make things any better by saying he has a number of brothers and sisters. Lionel seems very relaxed and not at all put out. Jean asks some questions such as what did Margaret think. Lionel responds by saying that she wasn’t bothered and she just let him get on with it. Jean obviously can’t quite believe her ears, but as the conversation develops we discover that Lionel became a surrogate father to Patrick and his family after Patrick’s father died. (His father worked for Lionel.) Jean’s relief is obvious and she welcomes Patrick wholeheartedly. We move on to Jean & Lionel in the kitchen preparing a meal. I can’t quite remember how the conversation came onto the subject but Lionel informs Jean that he went skinny-dipping once. He explains that at a party some of the wives had too much to drink and went skinny-dipping in the pool. He then informs her that he fell in with them while still fully clothed. The conversation then gets on to Jean’s reaction to Patrick saying that Lionel was his father. Jean tries to pretend that she knew all along there was a reasonable explanation behind it. Lionel doesn’t really believe her and teases her saying she looked decidedly green around the gills until she found out the truth. I can’t quite remember the correct order of things, so the following may not be in the right sequence. We cut to a video of Alistair shopping. He is coming out of a saucy lingerie shop clutching two bags. An elderly couple walk by and look at him as if he is a dirty old man. Alistair arrives at Jean and Lionel’s with his shopping, which he leaves in the hall. Penny and Steven are visiting and all are sat in the lounge. Steven tells everyone that he has given up dentistry and he is ready for a new challenge. When asked what, he informs them that he has decided to become a celebrity. Everyone thinks that he has lost the plot especially Penny. Judy and Sandy are in the kitchen having a girlie chat. Judy is concerned about Alistair’s ideas regarding the baby making process, such as dressing up in saucy underwear. Sandy tells Judy about when they were in Canada and the dance of the seven veils. Judy asks Sandy did she do the dance and Sandy informs her no, that it was Harry. The subject gets on to the bags in the hall and Judy gets an idea. We cut to Steven and Penny leaving by car. Judy and Sandy are seeing them off. They give Steven Alistair’s bags and tell him that they are a present from Alistair. Steven gives them to Penny and she puts them on the back seat. Later as they are driving home she becomes curious and investigates what is in the bags. We see her retrieve them and she screams in disgust and throws them out of the car. Jean and Lionel are in bed. Jean starts to talk to Lionel about the possibility of Sandy and Harry staying with them. She is worried about them not being able to afford to live in London. Lionel does not think this is a good idea as they are a young couple with a baby on the way and need their own space. Jean suggests turning Judy’s room into a sitting room and building a new bathroom. Lionel says why don’t they just build a whole new extension to the house while they are at it. Jean says that Sandy will be earning money now she is back to take over the reins of the business from Judy. Lionel points out that that won't be for long unless she intends to take the baby to work with her. Jean starts talking about giving Sandy some bonuses to help out including a baby bonus. Lionel tells her she can’t give a baby a bonus. I can’t remember the next bit clearly but they end up talking about facial expressions when sleeping. Jean goes on to remind Lionel that the first night they slept together, Lionel had a very smug expression on his face in the morning. Lionel responds by saying he had every right to have a smug expression, after all he’d just climbed a mountain. Jean is not impressed with his choice of words and tells him to rephrase it, adding I’d be very careful if I were you. Lionel responds by saying he’d just spent the night with a beautiful woman. Jean is far more pleased with this. They settle down to go to sleep and Jean says I wasn’t beautiful. Lionel tells her she was. She says she wasn’t and Lionel tells her to stop fishing for compliments. They settle down and after a few moments Jean asks, “How beautiful was I.” They kiss and settle again. The next day Jean and Sandy are talking in the kitchen and Jean tells Sandy they can stay with them. Lionel walks in and Jean puts him on the spot by saying something like, Lionel thinks it’s a good idea if we turn Judy’s room into a sitting room. Lionel informs them that he’d just had an obscene phone call. He then amends it to an angry call from Penny. Jean asks what was it about. Lionel explains something about presents from Alistair. While they are talking Sandy sidles guiltily out of the room and when they turn round to speak to her she is gone. They catch up with her and Judy in the sitting room and Jean proceeds to tell them both off. Judy and Sandy find it funny and try to imagine Penny’s face. Jean can’t hold a straight face for too long and laughs as well. They talk a bit about fantasy clothing, nurses clothing comes into the conversation. Alistair comes in after groveling to Penny on the phone. He says he has made amends by getting them tickets to a movie premier. They all decide to adjourn to the pub, as they are leaving the room Jean asks Judy what she knows about fantasy nurses. Judy replies, quite a lot actually, my mother was one. At the pub Alistair and Lionel go to play darts. Jean broaches the subject of Sandy coming back to the agency. Sandy tells her that she wants to spend time with Harry and the baby when it arrives. Jean is disappointed. She tells Judy that she will be able to carry on, but Judy informs her that she doesn’t want to continue working either. Stevens name comes up as a joking replacement. Harry arrives and says he used his investigative powers to work out where they were. That and the note they left on the door. He tells them that as a policeman he doesn’t think that’s a very safe thing to do. Lionel asks did he take the note off the door and he sheepishly admits he didn’t. Lionel says he’ll go back and do it, Harry offers to accompany him, but Lionel says there’s no need unless there is a queue of burglars outside. Lionel is back at the house and there is a knock on the door. It is Mrs Bale; she informs Lionel that she has dropped Rocky off at line dancing classes. Lionel of course is incredulous. Jean arrives back wondering why Lionel didn’t come back to the pub. Lionel tells her he has a surprise. Jean greets Mrs Bale, the reserve as always is there and they shake hands. Later Harry is watching rugby on TV, Sandy joins him and they snuggle up together. Jean comes in from the kitchen and tells them that Lionel has sacked her as sous chef. He is making one of his legendary chilli’s. Lionel joins them and they are sitting chatting when the phone rings. Jean answers and we find out that it was Patrick on the phone informing them that Rocky has been admitted to the accident and emergency department at the hospital. Jean, Lionel, Sandy, Harry and Mrs Bale arrive at the hospital to find Rocky sat in a wheelchair in the waiting room. Soon afterwards Judy and Alistair arrive. There is a rather strict nurse who keeps telling them to be quiet. First Alistair tries to find out what is going on and ends up asking for information from a porter. Lionel doesn’t have any more success when he knocks on an office window that says information. A little while later a rather irate worker comes out of the office and points to a sign that says please ring, telling Lionel off in the process. It transpires that Rocky has damaged some ligaments when falling at line dancing. He is taken off to X-ray and Judy, Alistair, Harry and Sandy take Mrs Bale off to the canteen. Lionel and Jean remain in the waiting room. There is another shock in store as moments later who should be wheeled in on a trolley but Steven. He is clutching his ribs. He informs them that he injured himself while trying to vault the barrier at the premier. He wanted to get closer to Renee Zelwegger (I think) to further his cause in becoming a celebrity. He says his vaulting skills aren’t what they used to be. Jean asks what did Penny say. He tells her that she fainted. The next thing is Penny is wheeled in in a wheelchair; she is wearing a neck collar as she hurt her neck when she fainted. That was where it all ended. I have to say I personally found the ending a little strange. It seemed a bit contrived to fit in all the characters. But I have to say it was really good to be able to see them at the taping. Apologies if my memory isn’t as good as it could be. There are lots of details I will have left out, but I look forward to seeing it all again when it gets aired on TV.
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