I think the one mediocre season people are referring to may well be the one when Adrian Lester took a break and Ashley Walters stepped in as Billy Bond for that season. I personally never took to him as a character but then in fairness to him, Mickey "Bricks" Stone was a tough act to follow both character and actor. Maybe they are referring to the first series without Danny and Stacie (Marc Warren and Jaime Murray) who were also very hard acts to follow. Again I never quite warmed to Emma and Sean Kennedy (Kelly Adams and Matt Di Angelo) although she was very VERY easy on the eyes. Not as easy as Jamie but easy nevertheless.
Despite all these changes I continued to watch because it was such a fantastic breath of fresh air with great stories, likable characters, brilliant writers and exceptional acting. The other reason to stay with it was of course the A & R Team of Ash and Albert played by Robert Glenister and Robert Vaughn respectively. Until this show I had always really disliked Vaughn. He was a smarmy git in Man From U.N.C.L.E. and a nasty cowardly git in The Magnificent Seven although he did redeem himself at the (pun intended) death. Who would have thought that he would pop up in Britain's most famous street?
Then there is Ash, my absolute favourite character throughout the series. He was just great to watch all the time and one got a sense that if push came to shove he would be the first to take a bullet for the others. Remember the blow fish scene in Eddie's bar? Also, I am a great lover of actor consistency in shows and the fact that the A & R Team were in the series from day one to day done was a biggie for me.
One has to give a nod to Rob Jarvis who played dear old gullible Eddie. Can't really call him the comic relief because the show was intertwined with humour anyway along with the action, drama, mystery and sometimes great suspense. Eddie was simply the backbone of the gangs social life from the start. He was their one constant, solid safe haven and perfect straight man for the tricks and itsy bitsy teenie weenie playful mini scams they played on him. They all loved him intensely though, which was clearly evident in a very subtle and touching dialogue from Ash in the final episode. If not for Eddie's bar I think they would have split up years ago so can I get a big Amen for Eddie?
A couple of things I did miss were the way all the action would freeze and members of the gang would freely walk around through a motionless scene and talk directly to you and me. Whether to show us something we may have missed, tell us what was going on or just simply for the pure hell of it THAT, was a great part of the show for me. Also the way every now and again one of them would just give a subtle smile and or facial expression directly at the camera when something was afoot so to speak. Oliver Hardy would do that and it made me smile EVERY time. These little directorial gems were halted in the early years of the series although those looks and smiles did thankfully return in the final. I loved that style of direction in "Alfie" (original with MC) and loved it more so in "Shirley Valentine" but not as much as I loved it when Mickey, Danny, Stacie, Albert or especially Ash did it. It felt like this look or smile was just for me and I believe some of the shows charm was lost when that stopped. Ah well, each director to his/her own I guess.
So the Con is Off or the Con is Gone. The great Hustle is done and.........so am I.
This was supposed to be a couple of sentences but as you can see, I got carried away.......or I should be.....carried away that is.
Okay, Bye.
P.S. Great theme tune as well.
P.P.S.......Just kidding.
Despite all these changes I continued to watch because it was such a fantastic breath of fresh air with great stories, likable characters, brilliant writers and exceptional acting. The other reason to stay with it was of course the A & R Team of Ash and Albert played by Robert Glenister and Robert Vaughn respectively. Until this show I had always really disliked Vaughn. He was a smarmy git in Man From U.N.C.L.E. and a nasty cowardly git in The Magnificent Seven although he did redeem himself at the (pun intended) death. Who would have thought that he would pop up in Britain's most famous street?
Then there is Ash, my absolute favourite character throughout the series. He was just great to watch all the time and one got a sense that if push came to shove he would be the first to take a bullet for the others. Remember the blow fish scene in Eddie's bar? Also, I am a great lover of actor consistency in shows and the fact that the A & R Team were in the series from day one to day done was a biggie for me.
One has to give a nod to Rob Jarvis who played dear old gullible Eddie. Can't really call him the comic relief because the show was intertwined with humour anyway along with the action, drama, mystery and sometimes great suspense. Eddie was simply the backbone of the gangs social life from the start. He was their one constant, solid safe haven and perfect straight man for the tricks and itsy bitsy teenie weenie playful mini scams they played on him. They all loved him intensely though, which was clearly evident in a very subtle and touching dialogue from Ash in the final episode. If not for Eddie's bar I think they would have split up years ago so can I get a big Amen for Eddie?
A couple of things I did miss were the way all the action would freeze and members of the gang would freely walk around through a motionless scene and talk directly to you and me. Whether to show us something we may have missed, tell us what was going on or just simply for the pure hell of it THAT, was a great part of the show for me. Also the way every now and again one of them would just give a subtle smile and or facial expression directly at the camera when something was afoot so to speak. Oliver Hardy would do that and it made me smile EVERY time. These little directorial gems were halted in the early years of the series although those looks and smiles did thankfully return in the final. I loved that style of direction in "Alfie" (original with MC) and loved it more so in "Shirley Valentine" but not as much as I loved it when Mickey, Danny, Stacie, Albert or especially Ash did it. It felt like this look or smile was just for me and I believe some of the shows charm was lost when that stopped. Ah well, each director to his/her own I guess.
So the Con is Off or the Con is Gone. The great Hustle is done and.........so am I.
This was supposed to be a couple of sentences but as you can see, I got carried away.......or I should be.....carried away that is.
Okay, Bye.
P.S. Great theme tune as well.
P.P.S.......Just kidding.