13-Dec-1995
SEXTON BLAKE, Evening Star - Catch Them If You Can
With one thrust of his powerful square British chin he arrows straight to the heart of the matter. There's some fishy goings-on in this village and I'll get to the bottom of things or my name's not Sexton Blake. Our hero is in Orford, town of castles and oysters. It is in the dark of wartime, the Ness off shore is a hotbed of military secrets and there's a traitor in the nest.
Toby Davies plays our Boy's Own hero, all mad dash and derring-do, jawline and muscles. Richard Bates, Graham Colclough, Nan Kerr and Janeena Sims play villagers, military wallahs and a draconian ARP warden who all float in and out of the plot building up a mad spoof.
Don't ask me what the plot was - I just sat back and enjoyed the ripping yarn and the jolly Pat Whymark music that gallops it happily along.
This is a slight departure from Eastern Angles' usual Christmas jolly. Ivan Cutting directs Eileen Ryan's script with a less laid-back style than usual, and with not so many silly jokes. Although there is one marvellous episode when Blake is swimming the North Sea which has the audience in creases. Which is, after all, what we go for - a robust, merry, ridiculous start to the Christmas holiday season.
Jolly well done, Blake old parsnip, jolly spiffing.
Carol Carver