Howards’ Way

[Mel O'Drama]

Claude has returned, sporting a ponytail and an even more exaggerated French accent than before (the actor playing him was actually Scottish).

I seem to remember newspapers of the time christening him "Clod" because of the improbable accent.

another quite Acorn Antiques moment

There’s an unintentionally funny scene when Jan is driving with Claude, only to hear on the radio that Lynne has gone off to sail solo (the local press seem to have an unusual interest in the goings on of the sailing set), so she does a handbrake turn on a bridge, that wouldn’t look out of place on an episode of Starsky & Hutch.

These observations are making me so happy.

having the divorce hearing in Tennessee because he states that they’re both conservative and racist there, so they definitely won’t award his black wife the slice of his empire that she’s after

I really enjoy Charles's steely cold pragmatism here. It's very matter of fact - effectively just another business decision - and speaks volumes about him as a character.

in the first five episodes, we’ve had Lynne nearly drowning and ending up with amnesia, Jack nearly drowning after being thrown overboard by an explosion on his boat and now Lynne, lost at sea somewhere off the coast of Newfoundland.

They certainly mined the watery locale for all it was worth, and I think it's an aspect that sets this series apart.

in this episode we see Ken kissing Jan’s bare toes!

Take that, The Colbys!

 

[Carrie Fairchild]

I seem to remember newspapers of the time christening him "Clod" because of the improbable accent.

It probably didn’t help that none of the English characters seemed to know what way to pronounce his name either, as I’ve heard it being pronounced Clod, Clode or Cloud, depending on who was speaking.

Take that, The Colbys!

Their romantic scenes actually put me in mind of the Gary and Abby affair scenes in Knots Landing. There was one where a post coital Jan descends the awkward looking spiral staircase in Ken’s windowless apartment and sticks her stilettos back on while Ken floats around in a silk robe. There’s something a bit racy about all of their scenes and the fact that they’re a real life couple / were soon to become a real life couple, obviously lends itself to that.

 

[Carrie Fairchild]

Series Two - Episodes 6 & 7

I’m going to stick episode numbers at the start of these, as my viewing has been a bit disjointed lately, so it’ll be easier to keep track of where I left off. Lynne is lost at sea but life continues in Tarrant. There is some concern for her whereabouts but that doesn’t stop Jan popping into the boutique, Tom to the boatyard and Leo to the site where they’re protesting the marina project. This aforementioned protest is taking centre stage at the moment, as a journalist with Dennis Taylor glasses pokes around Ken’s business after accusations of back handers surface. Abby is spending all of her time there too, which doesn’t impress a shifty social welfare inspector who shows up at the Urquharts to talk to Abby about the maternity benefit that she applied for. The only thing is, Abby never applied for a payment, so who is he and what is going on?

On the subject of finances, Kate is visited by a valuer from an auction house, as she has to sell off a painting that her late husband bought her in order to cover the money she lost on her injured racehorse. This may be building up to something bigger but at the moment, this subplot is featured so infrequently that it almost feels like it was only included to give Dulcie Gray something to do other than be a sounding board for Jan and Jack. The bit of concern that the Howards may have had about Lynne is put to rest when she makes contact mid-episode, via Portishead Radio no less. She’s fine and making her way to New York. The Howards response encapsulates that 80’s greed is good mantra as instead of flying to New York to reunite with the daughter they’d feared lost at sea, business has taken priority (Jan has to meet a buyer and Tom has to give a talk at a conference). In place of either of them going, Jan sends Claude (who was only too happy to lend his services) to meet Lynne as she arrives in New York. In addition to Claude, she is met by a media scrum which includes a reporter from NBC who offers her a TV special! This is one of the funnier aspects of the show, where the press seem to be overly interested in the lives of a group of people from a relatively sleepy town but I suppose it adds to the glam factor. The episode ends with Leo getting a punch in the face from some decidedly dodgy lout (credited as Yobbo) at the protest site.

Like a lot of things in Howards’ Way, what happened next happens offscreen. We find Leo in a hospital bed facing two charges for being involved in the offscreen melee that happened post-punch. Abby also faces charges, which is causing no end of hassle at the Urquharts. Orrin’s father has shown up and it’s soon discovered that the shifty social welfare guy was actually a spy that he sent to suss out Abby. He’s not too impressed that Abby is (a) hanging around protest sites when she should be looking after his grandson and (b) still hasn’t accepted Orrin’s proposal of marriage, so he’s making noises about taking the child back to America. Lynne and Claude have departed New York (where they had their own upbeat theme music akin to Jan’s Cannes theme) and are now returning to the UK via cruise ship (we all know where this arc is going). But while her daughter is being romanced on the high seas, Jan and Ken’s relationship has seemingly run aground back in Tarrant as she discovers that Ken paid the yobbos to start the fight that has Leo facing court. Also on the romance front, Ken’s series one ex Dawn (of the huge hair) has returned, this time as barmaid in the Jolly Sailor and new arm candy of Jack (“Your niece?” asks a deadpan Kate after being introduced to Jack’s new “friend”).

The Dynasty factor is strong in this one as we see a sunglassed Claude and gold bikini-ed Lynne sunning themselves on the deck of a cruise ship while its white tuxedos and evening gowns for dinner at the Urquharts. In a random twist, Orrin’s father offers Abby money for the baby and she declines, but tells them that they can take the baby back to the US with them anyway. She wants to dedicate her life to saving a legacy for the next generations (or something to that effect). This is clearly the limit for Polly as she springs into action, setting off to visit Charles and implore him to disentangle Abby from the ongoing protest charges nonsense. Charles doesn’t see what he can do but his tune may soon change as Polly reveals to him that Abby is his daughter!! Maybe I’ve watched too many soaps but I could see this coming as soon as Polly mentioned that Gerald wasn’t Abby’s father. Regardless, I’m looking forward to the fallout.

 

[Willie Oleson]

This is one of the funnier aspects of the show, where the press seem to be overly interested in the lives of a group of people from a relatively sleepy town

Everybody is a rock star in SoapLand, according to the soapy headlines.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't there a TV news coverage (!!) of a Palmers wedding in Sons & Daughters? (was it Kevin and Lynn's?)

 

[Carrie Fairchild]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't there a TV news coverage (!!) of a Palmers wedding in Sons & Daughters? (was it Kevin and Lynn's?)

This rings a bell. Did they marry around the time of the “John on the run” period and therefore there was press interest in the family?

 

[Willie Oleson]

Did they marry around the time of the “John on the run” period

John was on the run for quite some time therefore I can't pinpoint the exact events, but it's possible. Maybe it was Susan and Bill's wedding, that had a stronger connection to John's disappearance.
And perhaps that disappearance wouldn't have been such a big thing - I'm sure it wasn't the only or biggest Australian crime happening at that time - except that John had already made a public spectacle of himself in the very first 1980s S&D storylines.

So, perhaps in this case it makes sense, and that means I'll have to eat my words.

 

[Carrie Fairchild]

Series Two - Episode 8

A lot going on in this episode. Polly’s revelation to Charles causes something of a domino effect. Charles tells Gerald that he knows, Gerald confronts Polly and then reveals to Abby that he isn’t her father, who then confronts Polly demanding to know who her father is but Polly refuses to reveal his identity. Meanwhile, Gerald has jacked in his job with Charles but Polly is having none of it and threatens to divorce Gerald, using “you know what” as cause if he doesn’t get the job back. In the midst of all of this turmoil, baby William is loaded into the back of a taxi and heads off for a new life in the States with his super rich father.

Jack is back on the bottle (was he ever really off it?) as Dawn is gone and he owes €10k to a bookie and another €12k to the bank. He sells some of his shares to David Lloyd, which Avril then buys back in order to keep the boatyard within the family (and Tom). Jan is also facing choppy waters business wise as Claude’s ex-fiancée Helena appears to be trying to sabotage their business before it’s really gotten off the ground. Why? Because after sharing a handful of scenes (at most) together, Claude and Lynne having gotten engaged and fashion mogul Helena obviously isn’t happy.

At the yard, Bill has been harping on about their new boat, the Lynette, not being seaworthy but nobody seems to be listening. Tom is too wrapped up in the new computer system they’ve invested in to expand their sail making section, Jack is constantly on the sauce and while Avril lends an ear, it isn’t enough for her not to overstretch herself financially to buy back Jack’s shares from David Lloyd. Well, maybe they’ll listen to old Bill next time around as Tom is out testing the boat and the front part (stern, bow? I’m not sure) snaps, no doubt setting up the yard for financial peril!

Some other tidbits from this episode. Charles has dropped the marina project due to his newfound daughter possibly facing criminal charges in connection with it but not before screwing over Ken again, this time buying back his shares at a loss for Ken. This has happened twice now and appears to be Charles’ MO when dealing with Ken. He leads him along then drops whatever project they were working on, leaving Ken adrift or out of pocket. Kate gets an outing in this episode, in one scene where she’s tasked with getting Jack back on track. Funnily, there’s still no word of the financial issues she was facing a few episodes ago or whether she managed to sell that painting. Also, Leo is now at a loose end after the marina protest came to halt, so he’s starting working in the boatyard (in the aforementioned sail making section that we’d never seen before). There’s five episodes left in this series and I can see that we’re building to some sort of financial fiasco for both Tom (whose new boat has just broken) and Jan (who was talking to the bank about using the house as collateral for a loan). We’ve also Lynne & Claude’s wedding to look forward to and the eventual reunion of Abby and her birth father.

 

[Carrie Fairchild]

Charles tells Gerald that he knows, Gerald confronts Polly and then reveals to Abby that he isn’t her father, who then confronts Polly demanding to know who her father is but Polly refuses to reveal his identity

I forgot to add that the Abby / Polly confrontation gives us the first slap across the face of the series. Abby makes reference to everyone in Tarrant knowing what Polly does in the flat in London, prompting Mommie Dearest to smack her around the chops.

 

[Grangehill1]

What I find strange about season 2 is that Lynn and Charles don’t share a single scene. Indeed after the cliffhanger from season 1 she next sees him in season 6! It’s bizarre

 

[Grangehill1]

I’ve also always been fascinated about how they made the show. It was a BBC Birmingham commission and so the studio was Pebble Mill and all exteriors (maybe bar a few) were done on the south coast. So did they do episodes in pairs and maybe episode 13 was a single shoot? That would have been 7 blocks of shooting per series. Did they go to the south coast at the beginning of each block for a week? Or did they shoot location stuff upfront like Dallas used to?

the series would probably start shooting around March time (we know they always filmed in August as in the penultimate series when Maurice colbourne died they had to rewrite the ending. He died on August 5th 89)

From memory the weather was mainly good for exteriors. Maybe they just got lucky?

 

[Mel O'Drama]

Just in case it's of any interest, I recently discovered a great archive which has the original Radio Times listings verbatim. I've had fun looking at other BBC series such as Knots Landing, Dallas, Neighbours and Wonder Woman, and it just struck me today that of course Howards' Way would be on it as well.

Something I'd forgotten is that, instead of a synopsis, each episode got just a quoted line of dialogue, EastEnders-style. I remember it used to be fun to guess who would actually deliver the line in question and try and work out the context.

Here are the listings for every screening of HW in all their glory. Enjoy.

 

[Carrie Fairchild]

What I find strange about season 2 is that Lynn and Charles don’t share a single scene. Indeed after the cliffhanger from season 1 she next sees him in season 6! It’s bizarre

Indeed, I was only thinking this the other day when I finished episode 8. As their pairing was a pivotal part of the season 1 cliffhanger, I figured the writers would have to have them share a scene at some stage in season two but obviously not. It’s a funny show in that way. As I mentioned in my previous posts, Jan and Avril didn’t share a single scene in the first season despite both being involved in a love triangle with Tom.

Just in case it's of any interest, I recently discovered a great archive which has the original Radio Times listings verbatim. I've had fun looking at other BBC series such as Knots Landing, Dallas, Neighbours and Wonder Woman, and it just struck me today that of course Howards' Way would be on it as well.

Something I'd forgotten is that, instead of a synopsis, each episode got just a quoted line of dialogue, EastEnders-style. I remember it used to be fun to guess who would actually deliver the line in question and try and work out the context.

Here are the listings for every screening of HW in all their glory. Enjoy.

I love these. I haven’t seen them all but at a quick glance, I have to say my favourite so far is 'I put up with it for his sake. To me boats were always just a necessary evil. I never thought he'd let them ruin our lives.' where Jan talks about Tom’s love of boats as if it were a heroin addiction.

Also, 'If we go ahead with this it'll be your baby. A few days ago you were in a blue funk about working full-time. Now you want to start a chain of boutiques!' is a perfect synopsis of Jan’s trajectory as a businesswoman.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

'If we go ahead with this it'll be your baby. A few days ago you were in a blue funk about working full-time. Now you want to start a chain of boutiques!' is a perfect synopsis of Jan’s trajectory as a businesswoman.

Yes... and that's by the fifth episode!

 

[Carrie Fairchild]

Series 2 Episode 9

This episode had something of an “inbetween” feel to it. Nothing drastic happened in it, it felt more like a lot of setup for what’s to come. Tom is back ashore after his sea trial of the new catamaran ended in a broken beam and a bruised ego. Bill and Jack adopt a “told him so” attitude, while Tom is convinced his calculations were correct and something else caused the damage. There’s a side plot involving Jack avoiding the wife of an old customer with a double barrel surname because he considers her a pain (and also fat, something he mentions at least twice). The joke’s on Jack though, when he discovers that the old customer remarried and the wife that he’s avoiding is beautiful and slim and not the “fat biddy” he was trying to avoid. Oh the 80’s!

Jan has left Kate in charge of the boutique for the day. The writers never seem to know what to with poor Dulcie Gray, despite her being great, so if she’s not acting as Jack’s sounding board, she’s ending up in random scenes like this. Not that she doesn’t give it her all. Straight out of the gate, she’s telling Jan that some of her stock is awful and then helpfully talks a customer (future Sarah Sugden #1 from Emmerdale) out of buying two dresses that Kate tells her will look dreadful on her and talks her into buying one of Claude’s designs for a hefty £800. Kate rounds out her day on the job by throwing a bit of shade towards Ken, who has spent the day meeting a powerboat manufacturer, an old flame of Dawn’s, who helped Ken orchestrate the meeting. Back to Jan, she’s taken the day off to meet a financial consultant from the bank, as she plans to put the house up as collateral (this will surely end in disaster). She then heads off with Lynne to look at wedding dress designs, courtesy of her Ab Fab London fashion friend Sonia, whose giant ponytail appears to have gotten even bigger since we last saw her. She’s also upped the chic stakes, puffing away on an extra long Alexis Colby style brown cigarillo while sporting a beret.

Abby is longing for her baby and longing to find out who her real father is, so Leo (who seems to be a permanent resident of the friend zone now) brings her out to a disco to get her mind off it. Poor Davy is wheeled out again to do a bit of breakdancing (to Roxy Music no less) alongside a dancing extra who breaks the fourth wall by smiling directly down the camera. Abby has invited some guy connected to the protesting. I don’t know whether it’s just jealousy or Abby is about to get tangled up in some sort of Baader Meinhof type conservationist terror group, but Leo’s reaction to this guy showing up is quite disproportionate. The episode ends with Mrs Double Barrel Surname ordering a boat and Jack telling Bill that the old yard (ie the one not making plastic boats) is back in business.

As I said, there was no great drama in this episode but it was enjoyable all the same. There was a couple of other nice bits of setup that I’m looking forward to watching come to fruition. Tom has invited Avril to Lynne’s wedding, which will hopefully lead to some more Javril barbs while Charles has asked a PI to check out Abby, suggesting that he’s edging closer to making himself known to her soon.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

Great to see you back on the soapy high seas, Carrie. Your observations of HW's Eightiesness always give me a few little chuckles, which is a great way to start the day.

The writers never seem to know what to with poor Dulcie Gray, despite her being great, so if she’s not acting as Jack’s sounding board, she’s ending up in random scenes like this. Not that she doesn’t give it her all.

It's probably over a decade since I last watched the series and I've watched it in full three times at the most, but I'm sad to say this observation matches up perfectly with my memory of Dulcie in this series. She has her moments and is consistently solid but there's a pervading feeling of hugely untapped potential. It's a testament to Dulcie's charisma that Kate is a favourite of mine despite this. I couldn't imagine the series without her.

 

[Carrie Fairchild]

Great to see you back on the soapy high seas

I’ve been busy of late, so haven’t been watching at the pace I was previously. Also, I think I’m savouring the episodes a bit more as I’m facing a Howards’ Way style dilemma when I finish series two. Only a tiny, disjointed portion of series three is available online, so I’m either going to have to skip it or see if I can get a decently priced copy of it on DVD somewhere.

It's probably over a decade since I last watched the series and I've watched it in full three times at the most, but I'm sad to say this observation matches up perfectly with my memory of Dulcie in this series. She has her moments and is consistently solid but there's a pervading feeling of hugely untapped potential. It's a testament to Dulcie's charisma that Kate is a favourite of mine despite this. I couldn't imagine the series without her.

She’s so good and I really enjoy her friendship with Jack. You’d wonder why they didn’t utilise her more but I’m just glad she’s there at all. I believe she gets a love interest at least, in one of the later series, played by her own real life husband.

 

[Carrie Fairchild]

Series 2 Episodes 10 & 11

A cavalcade of Eightiesness in these two episodes as we hurtle towards the finale. Some highlights:

Jan’s fashionista friend Sonya is back to finish off Lynne’s wedding dress and dole out some hard advice. She’s less Alexis Colby and more Pat Butcher in this episode, as she’s swapped out her fancy cigarillo for a Superking, the cigarette of choice of East End matriarchs and cleaning ladies. Jan isn’t going to win against Claude’s vengeful ex, so she needs to bite the bullet, ditch those pesky continentals and engage the services of some good old British suppliers. Anti foreigner sentiment is a recurring theme on Howards’ Way. There was the outright racism towards Davy in series one (despite the fact that he was born in the UK), Jack continually referring to a German customer as a “kraut” while both Ken and Lynne have called Claude a “frog” at various intervals. Anyway, Jan tries one last time to get Claude to make amends with his ex before she ditches the suppliers that were dragging their heels by telling them that she’s enlisted the services of good old British suppliers instead and bidding them an “au revoir”.

On the subject of Jan, things aren’t looking great between her and Ken. He’s trying his best to win her back after the Leo protest / refusing to fund her company fallout, even schmoozing Kate to try and get Jan on side but it’s to no avail. So, to keep himself entertained, he’s flirting wildly with the wife of his new powerboat business partner. There’s a scene at a powerboat gathering that could have been straight out of a Carry On film where we see a bikini clad lady sunbathing on a deck before having her arse smacked while Ken and his potential new mistress have a double entendre laden conversation where sexual prowess is equated to a powerboat race and Ken’s manhood is compared to the race flags going up and down!

At the Urquharts, Abby takes the plunge and goes to bed with her weirdo animal activist lover Curtis. My previous joke about Abby joining some sort of eco-vigilante group might not be too far wrong as Curtis has made throwaway comments about blowing up the Houses of Parliament and goes rogue to rescue a dog from an illegal dogfight. Leo is bordering on weirdly possessive now, mainly hanging around to tell Abby that she’s doing the wrong thing by seeing Curtis (she is) but not actually following through by expressing his feelings for her.

Lynne and Claude’s wedding takes place after the quickest onscreen courtship and engagement (time is an abstract concept in Tarrant). Lots of glorious 80’s fashions on show here but it’s Jan who steals the show with in a pink number that makes it look like she’s heading off to do a shift as an air hostess on a budget airline as soon as the ceremony is over. Their wedding day also marks what I think may be the final appearance of Dawn. Not that she was invited to it. Cruelly, Dawn leaves town by bus, whose bus stop just so happens to be outside the church where everyone has gathered to celebrate the wedding.

Financial fiasco seems to be the theme that we’re building up to as this season reaches its climax. Kate’s going to have to sell her cottage. How we got to this point, I’m unsure, as she gets about one scene an episode so we went from injured racehorse to selling an old painting to keep herself afloat to signing some paper at the bank to selling her home. Regardless, there’s a touching scene between her and Jack, where the tables are turned for a change and Jack becomes the sympathetic ear for Kate as she tries to talk out her problems. Charles Frere is gaining ground at Reilton Marine, which could have catastrophic consequences for the Mermaid Yard, as the Barracuda could be ditched depending on what mood Charles is in, leading to financial ruin for Avril, Jack and Tom. And then there’s Jan, whose financial situation is as vague as her mother’s but it would appear that a delayed loan and the issue with suppliers could potentially lead to everything going belly up. She’s so stressed that she asks Claude to come home early from honeymoon, something that Leo throws in her face during an argument where he roars “why do you have to be a tycoon?” at her! First world, middle class 80’s problems!

I’ve now got two episodes left and then I’m adrift, to borrow one of the many nautical metaphors that they use in the show. I’ve noticed that none of series five is available online either, so I’m going to see what I can find available on DVD as I really don’t want to miss any of the drama.

 

[Carrie Fairchild]

Series 2 Episode 12

Another of those episodes where not a great deal happens in terms of drama (until the final scene….) but there are some nice interactions between the characters. As the episode opens, it’s confirmed that Charles has taken control of Reilton Marine, which results in Tom and Avril spending most of the episode scrabbling around trying to secure the yard’s future and arguing with Jack, who thinks it’s all an overreaction.

Jan is still rushing around trying to finish her collection only to be visited by Ken, who is hoping for a rekindling of their romance. He attempts this through the medium of Chinese takeaway, which involves him doing an impression of a Chinese person, which really wouldn’t fly on TV today. Jan is busy this episode, as well as offering Kate somewhere to live as her cottage goes up for sale, she also makes amends with Leo after their argument in the last episode and offers him some sage advice about his romantic situation with Abby (who before heading off to Southampton to move in with Curtis, tells Leo that she thinks of him as more than a friend).

We also get some scenes of Lynne and Claude on honeymoon in “Italy”, which I can only presume is a sunny swimming pool somewhere on the English south coast, before they head back to Tarrant to “spend the rest of their lives together” (spoiler: that ain’t gonna happen). The final scene is something of a shock to the system. Earlier in the episode, Tom had handed over the newly built Lynette to some happy customers. Tom, Avril and Jack are now in the Mermaid office, arguing (as usual) about the yard’s future when they get a phone call from the coastguard. There’s been an accident! Cut to debris from the Lynette strewn across the water and after a failed attempt to resuscitate him, a blanket is drawn over the dead body of the new owner as his distraught wife looks on. It’s quite a hard hitting scene in what is generally quite a cosy show. But even with only one episode left, the boat based peril isn’t over yet!

 

[Carrie Fairchild]

Series 2 Episode 13 - Finale

Carrying on the tone set by the final scene of the previous episode, this one is rather subdued as finales go. Tom is a wreck following the boat accident and goes to see the surviving widow to try and work out what happened. She can’t remember much but assures him that she’s not a vindictive woman. Alas, money talks and when her insurance policy may not cover her husband’s death, she sues the boatyard for £1.5m. On advice from their solicitor, Avril and Jack decide to suspend Tom. This, coinciding with Charles making Avril the new MD of Reilton Marine, looks to be the final nail in the coffin for Tom and Avril’s relationship.

Avril: “It breaks my heart Tom”.
Tom: “What heart?”.

Abby has come back to Tarrant, tail between her legs to Leo, after finally realising that Curtis is a psychopath. The fact that it took them driving all the way to Birmingham so that he could beat someone senseless over the killing of a dog for her to realise shows how blinkered she was but she’s back now, although not for long. After finally working out the identity of her father, she decides to not do what she thinks her own parents did to her (abandon her) and heads off to the US to reunite with baby William.

The only light relief in this episode is Jan and Claude’s spot at the British Fashion Show in London. Racks of couture are wheeled around hurriedly while Jan throws out orders like “Fix those shoulder pads on that pink number”. However, the show is soon to be tinged with sadness. In keeping with series one’s out of the blue cliffhanger, this series is wrapped up with a twist that isn’t even signposted beyond a throwaway comment over the previous nights dinner. Enjoying a bit of downtime before his big show, Claude goes waterskiing with Lynne, only to be struck by another speedboat while in the water. Poor Claude dies in hospital, making Madame Lynne Dupont, the second watery widow in as many episodes. The final scene is one of the best of the series so far. A crane shot pans across the remnants of Jan & Claude’s fashion show, clothes and celebratory bouquets strewn across the floor, before closing in on a distraught Leo and Jan, sat on the floor amidst the designer debris. As it closes in on Jan, a single tear rolls down her cheek, which Jan Harvey should be applauded for considering the crane shot is unbroken, so her timing was spot on.

So, as we close off this series, Jan, Tom, Lynne and Kate are all facing uncertainty either financially, romantically or both. Leo is the only one of the Howard clan who has something relatively positive to look forward to. Now that Abby has left town (for now) and he’s been released from the “friend zone” it will hopefully give him a bit of breathing room to spread his wings and do something other than pine after her.

This second series has been enjoyable. In terms of 80’s aspirations of upward mobility, Jan and Ken are now the epitome of it here. Ken is always busy “consolidating his business” while Jan is ordering her son in law back from honeymoon early to help with her upcoming fashion show. They may be from different classes but they’re made for each other. On the other hand, Tom just wants to build boats while I’m convinced that Charles has so much money that he only gets involved in business deals to mess with people’s lives. He’s screwed over Ken twice now and appears to have only bought Reilton Marine as a way to get back into Avril’s knickers. I’m taking an enforced Howards’ Way break now as I try to get my hands on series three. It’s probably a good thing as I’ll likely appreciate it a bit more when I do eventually get back to it but I’ll drop back in here with tidbits I’m sure in the meantime.

 

[Willie Oleson]

A crane shot pans across the remnants of Jan & Claude’s fashion show, clothes and celebratory bouquets strewn across the floor, before closing in on a distraught Leo and Jan, sat on the floor amidst the designer debris. As it closes in on Jan, a single tear rolls down her cheek

That's always the first scene I think of whenever we discuss Howards' Way, even though the water-related accidents are a little bit on the nose for a series about boats.

and arguing with Jack, who thinks it’s all an overreaction

He could be a frustrating character sometimes. Everybody is eager to get in that eighties-power mode and he just keeps on drinking and complaining.