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Publisher
details:The Times 8 Nov 1986
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Friends
of Firth credits: article provided
by Jennie
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Lost Empires treacled on its way with a bad case
of repetition-compulsion. Once again, Tommy Beamish importuned the French
housemaid with his bag of plumber’s tricks; once again, raucous theatricals
did themselves very nicely, thank you, at table; and yet again, Richard
Herncastle was asked, ‘Don’t you know anything about women?’ Come
the end roller, breaking the mould, young Richard had indeed learnt a thing
or three, and we had been treated to a glimpse of Miss Julie Blaine as
nature intended.
This serial is certainly proving that you
can keep an audience in its collective armchair if you chuck enough décor
at it (designers: Roy Stonehouse, David Buxton), but in amongst the plush
and brass, its dramatic values are those of a soap opera with a muddy undercurrent
of finite narrative. The spoken narrative continues to irritate, and Brian
Glover’s chip-fat voice continues to strike the most authentic note. One
can probably manage to hold out until next week to discover the mechanics
of Uncle Nick’s threatened two-dwarf effect.
Copyright
© 1986 The Times
Reproduced
with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction or distribution
is prohibited without permission.
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