Wednesday, February 15, 2017
Farewell Bear Facts Limerick
Farewell Bear Facts Limerick
I think this one is my favourite of the three bottle episodes, partly because its the purest of them. We only hear the four main characterss voices - theres not even an ATC line; it all takes place not just on the plane, but in the flightdeck; and its also, though people dont seem to notice this, all one long scene, taking place in real time. The idea was that this episode would be exactly what you would hear if you listened to twenty eight minutes of the flight deck voice recorder. Its also a rare episode where everybodys Want is the same - to stave off boredom - and so theres little or no conflict, bar some very mild teasing about Martins watch. Normally, Id say an episode cant work without conflict- both the other bottle episodes have plenty - but I think here, partly because of the secret-telling and partly because there are so many games and other threads going on simultaneously, it somehow works. The effect of which is that this episode seems to me to be the heart of the show - theyre not battling a crazy passenger or other antagonist, or even each other; theyre just getting on with their job, somewhere over Russia, passing the time, teasing each other, playing games, telling secrets, and very very slowly heating up a pie.
Speaking of which, heres a deleted scene:
CAROLYN: Admirals Pie.
ARTHUR: Ok. Is that the same as the Fishermans Pie?
CAROLYN: No, its not. The Admiral and the Fisherman favour entirely different pies.
ARTHUR: Right. Theyve both got fish in though, right?
CAROLYN: Yes.
ARTHUR: Thought so. Because I was thinking, its funny, when you think about it, that the Admirals pie has got fish in it. I can see why the Fishermans pie has. But youd think the Admiral would be sick of fish. I mean, he must have had to eat loads of fish when he was just a sailor. And now hes an Admiral he can have whatever he likes. Id have thought hed want something he couldnt have at sea. Like lamb pie. With turnip.
CAROLYN: Arthur. Dear heart. Could we have a little less philosophising about the pie, and a little more cooking of the pie?
Also, of course, this episode has Arthur learning the phonetic alphabet, which might have been the single most fun thing for me as an actor in the whole show. Especially Boo! / Bye-bye! / Boncore!
Available link for download
