Miss Petting asks the pupils to write about how they spent their Saturdays. She gets all sorts of essays rather strong for her sensitive soul but most alarming is one by Terry Stringer. He writes about visiting his father in prison where he is serving a sentence for a bank robbery. His father is due to be released and a key witness to the crime was Mr Price; Terry makes clear that his Dad will be looking for revenge against him...
A good episode, the first to give much focus to Terry Stringer. As Price makes clear the crime committed by Mr Stringer was nothing like a bank robbery but an attempted handbag snatch with the elderly victim able to apprehend him and with various other witnesses but somehow Terry portrays it as a far more serious offence. It's uncertain here whether Terry is engaging in some Frankie Abbott-type fantasising to impress his friends and maintain a "hard man" image or whether he's been misled by his Dad, his Mum or someone else. It certainly does seem that Terry needs his Dad to attack Price because he's told his friends it's going to happen and doesn't want to lose face. Even his eccentric mum wants Mr Stringer to hit Mr Price to preserve the "family honour"!
It's good to see Stringer's parents and home life and a curious scene it indeed is. There are some similarities with episodes featuring Dennis Dunstable's parents - especially his feckless father - although there are a couple of key differences here. It's literally a welcome change of scene from the usual school-based settings. There's also some outside filming on a London street showing Mr Stringer's crime although there is the irony of his actual minor offence being overlaid by Terry's dramatic narration about a supposed bank-job. Whatever the truth of his crime Mr Price is very fearful of Mr Stringer turning up at the school to seek vengeance and the other staff try to shield him; by contrast it seems the pupils are eagerly awaiting Price suffering retribution.
"Please Sir!" had occasional brushes with social comment and this is one such example. There is a brief discussion among the staff about Stringer's background. Some see him plainly as a bad influence who deserves harsh treatment but others have a little more sympathy seeing the roots of his behaviour and attitude in his father being in and out of prison. This doesn't unbalance the comedy but it does provide the viewers with something to mull over.
There is an ancillary and seemingly unrelated plot about Potter installing an intercom for the Head so he can make contact with the teachers and Potter in their rooms. Typically the Head treats it like a toy and equally typically Potter has installed it badly and it needs repair. Mr Price is asked to help and sensibly calls out an electrician although as it turns out maybe that wasn't the best decision but not for the expected reasons.
The episode ends in shocking fashion for Mr Price and it seems Mr Stringer has exacted payback but appearances are not all they seem!
A good episode, the first to give much focus to Terry Stringer. As Price makes clear the crime committed by Mr Stringer was nothing like a bank robbery but an attempted handbag snatch with the elderly victim able to apprehend him and with various other witnesses but somehow Terry portrays it as a far more serious offence. It's uncertain here whether Terry is engaging in some Frankie Abbott-type fantasising to impress his friends and maintain a "hard man" image or whether he's been misled by his Dad, his Mum or someone else. It certainly does seem that Terry needs his Dad to attack Price because he's told his friends it's going to happen and doesn't want to lose face. Even his eccentric mum wants Mr Stringer to hit Mr Price to preserve the "family honour"!
It's good to see Stringer's parents and home life and a curious scene it indeed is. There are some similarities with episodes featuring Dennis Dunstable's parents - especially his feckless father - although there are a couple of key differences here. It's literally a welcome change of scene from the usual school-based settings. There's also some outside filming on a London street showing Mr Stringer's crime although there is the irony of his actual minor offence being overlaid by Terry's dramatic narration about a supposed bank-job. Whatever the truth of his crime Mr Price is very fearful of Mr Stringer turning up at the school to seek vengeance and the other staff try to shield him; by contrast it seems the pupils are eagerly awaiting Price suffering retribution.
"Please Sir!" had occasional brushes with social comment and this is one such example. There is a brief discussion among the staff about Stringer's background. Some see him plainly as a bad influence who deserves harsh treatment but others have a little more sympathy seeing the roots of his behaviour and attitude in his father being in and out of prison. This doesn't unbalance the comedy but it does provide the viewers with something to mull over.
There is an ancillary and seemingly unrelated plot about Potter installing an intercom for the Head so he can make contact with the teachers and Potter in their rooms. Typically the Head treats it like a toy and equally typically Potter has installed it badly and it needs repair. Mr Price is asked to help and sensibly calls out an electrician although as it turns out maybe that wasn't the best decision but not for the expected reasons.
The episode ends in shocking fashion for Mr Price and it seems Mr Stringer has exacted payback but appearances are not all they seem!