Spatz S1E7 (1990) - FULL EPISODE

The Wild Brunch. It's TJ's job to persuade a gang of hooligans to act with a little civility while in the restaurant, but it seems that talking things through isn't really how they like to settle disagreements. Meanwhile, Karen declares that under no circumstances should any customer receive more than the regulation amount of pickle in their burger. This episode was originally broadcast on Wednesday, 4th April, 1990. I like this one, but it's slightly odd. Some of the guest stars aren't entirely believable in their 'teenage hoodlum' roles, while some of the regulars drift so far out of character at points that one wonders whether this was written with a different show in mind before being shoehorned into the Spatz universe. In particular, it grates to see TJ lose his temper the way he does, and it's positively wrong on every level for him to throw a punch. I'm not sure about the extent of Vince's back story, either, and it comes across as a little ambiguous as to whether he means to cause the trouble he does; but in the end it's all tied up nicely and just about makes sense. All that said, even if I'm broadly critical of the overall episode, there are still moments that are extremely funny. Certain one-liners to describe the gang - "These guys don't split hairs, it's just heads" and "They don't eat with knives and forks... or hands," for instance - gave me a good laugh, as did Debby reeling off her increasingly distressing mishaps early on. Stanley's becoming ever more endearing, what with his enjoying the nicknames and not even realising he's being insulted, while Vas Blackwood demonstrates some brilliant physical comedy with his injured finger. Meanwhile, whoever wrote the almost satirical salt and napkins joke at the end obviously really had a bee in their bonnet about something. Nice Dickens reference, too. Most unexpected among the guest stars is Damian Williams, who presented Are You Smarter Than a 10-Year-Old? for a bit and didn't really come across as the macho gang type in that in all honesty. Also amongst the bunch of oldest-looking teenagers around are Neville and Gavin Watson, who I gather are brothers, partly because they went on to both appear in the same episode of The Comic Strip Presents..., and partly because of this: http://www.dazeddigital.com/photography/article/8929/1/gavin-watsons-neville Fancy that. This is what Gavin's up to: http://www.gavinwatsonarchive.com/ And this appears to be our Neville: https://www.discogs.com/artist/69143-Neville-Watson There are a few ads at the beginning (mostly because I was quite taken by that oh-so-futuristic Atari ST one, though many of the rest seem mis-scheduled), and check out some great Children's ITV continuity either side of Spatz featuring Jeanne Downs and Scally with special guests Julia Sawalha and Lee Ross, a.k.a. Linda and Kenny from Press Gang. This gives me the perfect opportunity to break out my favourite Ab Fab fact, which is that Jennifer Saunders is closer in age to Julia (10 years) than she is to Joanna Lumley (12 years). Here, though, have an especially close look at Lee and listen to Scally as Julia says the phrase "Fast and easy" in the introduction. Many thanks to Joe for lending me this tape. (To the best of my knowledge, the contents of this video have never been available commercially anywhere in the world. Please also note that I don't monetise any of my uploads. Nevertheless, if you are a copyright holder and have an objection, please don't hesitate to contact me.)