Potter finally gets his fellow members from an Old Comrades group to let him carry the banner for a parade commemorating El Alamein. He seems to have bored them into submission rather than being a popular choice. He is excited by the event but a visit by his former commanding officer Bell strikes him with worry as he fears his less than distinguished war record will now be exposed.
A very Potter-centred episode with a little interplay with the other staff and the pupils barely featured at all. It's a far from great outing but it has some very unusual and interesting elements. There is a night-time recreation of the fateful battle scene.- quite a bold piece of filming and Potter, his comrades and Bell are shown with their modern appearance rather than trying to portray as they would have been back then. While this may have been done to save costs it probably makes the scene seem more distinctive - these are literally "old soldiers" and the unconvincing attempts to make characters look thirty years younger are avoided. Later the old soldiers, the teachers and the pupils are filmed on the streets as the parade makes its way including some scenes approaching the Royal Albert Hall. "Please Sir!" rarely used location filming so this was very welcome to see.
Among the guest cast is the welcome sight of veteran actor Joe Gladwin, then starring in "Nearest and Dearest" but later in "Last of the Summer Wine". Tim Barrett as Bell was another actor with many comedy appearances although his part here is quite "straight", perhaps to make Potter's predicament more intense.
Questions of cowardice and Potter's war-record are raised. The abrasive teacher and former army man Mr Dix had questioned Potter's record earlier in the series and we could see how this could wound him. Another former army man and fellow teacher Ffitchett-Brown helped Potter on that and this occasion. Unfortunately this was Ffitchett-Brown's last episode with the character moving to work in Malawi. He gave good comedy value - never fully exploited in the show - but also showed himself to be a genuinely likeable individual who really tried to help people. Richard Warwick did a very good job in this role and it's unfortunate he and his character did not stay longer. Mr Hurst and Miss Petting who arrived in the last broadcast episode did not appear here - perhaps there didn't seem room for them in the script given all its wartime and Potter-focus.
Altogether a sign that this last series was very much focused on the staff, often with a particular focus on Potter after the departure of Hedges (John Alderton). Far from vintage "Please Sir!" but one of its most distinctive outings all the same.
A very Potter-centred episode with a little interplay with the other staff and the pupils barely featured at all. It's a far from great outing but it has some very unusual and interesting elements. There is a night-time recreation of the fateful battle scene.- quite a bold piece of filming and Potter, his comrades and Bell are shown with their modern appearance rather than trying to portray as they would have been back then. While this may have been done to save costs it probably makes the scene seem more distinctive - these are literally "old soldiers" and the unconvincing attempts to make characters look thirty years younger are avoided. Later the old soldiers, the teachers and the pupils are filmed on the streets as the parade makes its way including some scenes approaching the Royal Albert Hall. "Please Sir!" rarely used location filming so this was very welcome to see.
Among the guest cast is the welcome sight of veteran actor Joe Gladwin, then starring in "Nearest and Dearest" but later in "Last of the Summer Wine". Tim Barrett as Bell was another actor with many comedy appearances although his part here is quite "straight", perhaps to make Potter's predicament more intense.
Questions of cowardice and Potter's war-record are raised. The abrasive teacher and former army man Mr Dix had questioned Potter's record earlier in the series and we could see how this could wound him. Another former army man and fellow teacher Ffitchett-Brown helped Potter on that and this occasion. Unfortunately this was Ffitchett-Brown's last episode with the character moving to work in Malawi. He gave good comedy value - never fully exploited in the show - but also showed himself to be a genuinely likeable individual who really tried to help people. Richard Warwick did a very good job in this role and it's unfortunate he and his character did not stay longer. Mr Hurst and Miss Petting who arrived in the last broadcast episode did not appear here - perhaps there didn't seem room for them in the script given all its wartime and Potter-focus.
Altogether a sign that this last series was very much focused on the staff, often with a particular focus on Potter after the departure of Hedges (John Alderton). Far from vintage "Please Sir!" but one of its most distinctive outings all the same.