Poor Ken is not having much luck with the ladies. When he and Jakey try to chat up the local talent - Julie ( Adrienne Posta ) and Rhonda ( Shirley Cheriton ), it is a disaster. He is too clever for Julie's liking. Besides, he is besotted with Squadron Leader Fairfax's attractive wife ( Angela Thorne ). Marsh and Leckie bet on him not being able to pull her, no-one at the base has. Determined to proof his manhood, he accepts the challenge...
A sweet little episode. It might be hard for the young people watching this to understand, but in those days being homosexual was not something any man wanted to be thought of as ( it was illegal for one thing ). In Andrew Collins' book 'Where Did It All Go Right?', he notes that the worst insult you could throw at another boy once was to call him a 'poof'. Marsh does this to Ken, based on the ( false ) premise that because Ken is well educated, he has to be gay.
Lovely performance by Angela Thorne. This was her second appearance as 'Mrs.Fairfax', the first was in Season 2's 'Coke'. Her scenes with Ken have a warmth and tenderness not normally found in this show. What adds greater poignancy is the fact that her husband has been posted to Aden, meaning Ken will soon no longer see her again. As a farewell gesture, she only gives him his first kiss, but, in front of the others, hands back a comb she claims she found 'while making the bed', thus helping him win the bet.
Adrienne Posta was 'Scrubba' in the dreadful 1971 film of Frankie Howerd's 'Up Pompeii!' and 'Rita' in the equally dismal 'The Alf Garnett Saga' in 1972. On the other hand, she was also 'Runny Old Linda' in the sublime 'Here We Go Round The Mulberry Bush' in 1968. Shirley Cheriton was a pupil in Season 4 of 'Please Sir!' and later went on to 'Eastenders'.
Funniest moment - Ken attempting to impress Mrs.Fairfax by ( badly ) impersonating film star Robert Mitchum!
A sweet little episode. It might be hard for the young people watching this to understand, but in those days being homosexual was not something any man wanted to be thought of as ( it was illegal for one thing ). In Andrew Collins' book 'Where Did It All Go Right?', he notes that the worst insult you could throw at another boy once was to call him a 'poof'. Marsh does this to Ken, based on the ( false ) premise that because Ken is well educated, he has to be gay.
Lovely performance by Angela Thorne. This was her second appearance as 'Mrs.Fairfax', the first was in Season 2's 'Coke'. Her scenes with Ken have a warmth and tenderness not normally found in this show. What adds greater poignancy is the fact that her husband has been posted to Aden, meaning Ken will soon no longer see her again. As a farewell gesture, she only gives him his first kiss, but, in front of the others, hands back a comb she claims she found 'while making the bed', thus helping him win the bet.
Adrienne Posta was 'Scrubba' in the dreadful 1971 film of Frankie Howerd's 'Up Pompeii!' and 'Rita' in the equally dismal 'The Alf Garnett Saga' in 1972. On the other hand, she was also 'Runny Old Linda' in the sublime 'Here We Go Round The Mulberry Bush' in 1968. Shirley Cheriton was a pupil in Season 4 of 'Please Sir!' and later went on to 'Eastenders'.
Funniest moment - Ken attempting to impress Mrs.Fairfax by ( badly ) impersonating film star Robert Mitchum!
