Spatz S2E1 (1991) - FULL EPISODE

Star Attraction. Karen demands some sort of publicity stunt to steal back customers won by rival burger bar Blimpy's, and soon Dexter's boasts to new girl Freddy that he knows England footballer Gary Lineker come back to haunt him. Meanwhile, the builders outside are really getting to the female workers, what with all their wolf-whistling and lewd remarks, so they react accordingly. This episode was originally broadcast on Thursday, 3rd January, 1991, and this upload replaces a previous one of a later repeat -    • Spatz S2E1 (1991) - FULL EPISODE   - so we now have the correct "Next week on Spatz" at the end, plus CITV continuity presented by Jeanne Downs and Scally, and even a full ad break to get you in the retro mood.

This is the opener to the second series of Spatz, and things had changed considerably behind the scenes from a year earlier. Up until this point, the show had been a Canadian co-production, but for the remainder of the run full control passed to Thames Television, giving writers Lee Pressman and Grant Cathro the freedom to take things in their own direction, not to mention including British-specific references such as the aforementioned Mr Lineker. (I wonder if he'd done any crisp ads by this time - if not, this may be his first TV job outside of football.) That said, I gather that the story was written before it was decided precisely who the special celebrity guest should be, and efforts were made to get either Jason Donovan or Kylie Minogue. That didn't pan out, but you can't be disappointed to land the England captain, can you? (Compare and contrast when one of the same writers penned an episode of Children's Ward a few years later. The plot revolved around some of the cast sneaking into Old Trafford and meeting Ryan Giggs, but thanks to broken promises, admin, and agents, ended up as a bunch of kids being dead excited to meet DJ Mark Radcliffe.)

Look out for some other notable guest stars: I'm sure you recognise Rhys Ifans, who needs no introduction (more from him later in the series); the young girl desperate for a hat is Victoria Shalet, who went on to take the starring role of Harmony in The Queen's Nose (in fact, she returns in a few episodes' time, too); and her mum is played by Jo Unwin, a familiar face and voice who I had no idea wrote for the likes of Fry and Laurie and Lee and Herring and is married to Chris Morris. Plenty of very funny lines in this one, but I think Karen and TJ bickering ("Get out of your office!") is generally what makes me laugh the most. There's a bit of a sexual tension sort of arc to them this series, which adds an extra dimension but thankfully never spills over entirely. Oh, and if you look closely, Stanley can be spotted reading a ballroom dancing magazine - a character point that would pay off more than a year later.

Many thanks to Joe for lending me this tape, and humblest of humble apologies to him (and everyone else waiting to watch these) for taking so long to get my act together.

(To the best of my knowledge, the contents of this video have never been available commercially anywhere in the world. Please also note that I don't monetise any of my uploads. Nevertheless, if you are a copyright holder and have an objection, please don't hesitate to contact me.)