Coronation Street Round Up
Events threaten to tear a family apart in the Street this week. Gail is still unconscious in intensive care and Audrey is stunned when the police inform her that they suspect it wasn’t an accident. David struggles to contain his panic when the doctor informs them that she’s regained consciousness and is ready for questioning. It becomes clear she has no recollection of the fall and much to David’s relief, the last thing she can remember is having an argument with Jason. Jason’s called into the station and tells the police his side of the story. Audrey starts to consider other possibilities and resolves to confront David and find out exactly what’s going on. Audrey bites the bullet and asks David to tell her the truth - did he push Gail down the stairs?
Carla is bemused when Tony goes cold on her after he overhears her chatting to Liam on the phone. However, later that day he invites Liam and Maria and Michelle and Steve round to the flat for dinner as a surprise for her. The evening is a success and as they all exchange stories about how romantic their partners are, Tony shocks everyone when he asks Carla to marry him. Carla assumes it’s a drunken gesture and the atmosphere is awkward as everyone waits for her to accept. Will they make it down the aisle?
Elsewhere, Paul warns Leanne that he’s not going to let her sell the restaurant from under him. Michelle is uneasy when Ryan asks if he can go away with Nick over Easter. Fiz is back from holiday and goes to see Chesney at the foster house and promises to sort everything out.
Open All Hours
While David Jason has gone on to make a great name for himself in the UK acting industry, Ronnie Barker is the man whom he saw as his mentor, his hero and the man who made him what he is today. Sadly Ronnie Barker died a few years ago but his shows still go on and Open All Hours is a classic amongst classics.
Set in 20th century England, Ronnie Barker plays old misery Arkwright who runs one of the many corner shops which were common place in the UK. David Jason plays Granville, who is Arkwright’s nephew and side kick in the store – running around delivering and doing the tasks which old Arkwright does not want to do himself!
The chemistry between Barker and Jason is a joy to watch, with each one playing off the other to bring about some of the funniest clips ever to grace UK television. Tonight’s episode sees Granville desperate for female attention and reduced to advertising in the local paper for “company”. Not expecting any real interest he is amazed to see the impact his advert has, and is inundated with offers!
Ever eager to see that his young relative is not led down the wrong path – i.e. not distracted from his work – Arkwright sets about sabotaging Granville’s efforts to find himself a girlfriend, with hilarious acting from both of the leading men. When you consider that 99% of the show is filmed in the “corner shop”, it is amazing how Baker – who wrote the show – was able to keep the attention of the audience for so long.
Open All Hours is one in a long line of hit shows involving Ronnie Barker and David Jason, with Porridge one of the other shows in which they both appeared together. David Jason was shaken by the death of his mentor and while not a man prone to public comments, he spoke of his friend in the highest regard after his death.
Rambo III
Is there a person in the world who has not seen one of the Rambo movies? These are the movies which put Sly Stallone on the map, ensuring that he was to enjoy a long and lucrative life in the acting world – and who better to cast as the one man trail blazer, the human destroyer that is Rambo?
Rambo III sees our hero take on the might of the Soviets in Afghanistan, looking for his ex-commander who has been taken captive under threat of death. As you might expect there are gun battles, fights and a whole host of adventures in probably ne of the most action packed movies of all time. Love him of hate him, Stallone is excellent in his role as the reluctant hero and even now he seems to be as strong and as fit as ever before.
Those who watched the first of the Rambo movies will feel that they have seen the character develop along side Sly Stallone, as well as the Rocky films with which he is also so well associated. He is not pushy, he is not aggressive in real life but Stallone has a character and a presence which ensures that he is always centre stage, something which shines through in his movies.
While originally released in 1988 Rambo III is still very much in demand even to this day, with the series being shown in a number of places around the world in any one year. What is expected to be the final instalment as just released this year with a Rambo movie, amazingly still starring Slyvester Stallone as the lead hero – then again it was written, directed and produced by Sylvester Stallone.
The 2008 release has a budget in the region of $50 million and is expected to create a return with will be many times the amount invested. Surely the Rambo movie has to be the last in the series?
