A blind man is sitting on a pavement. His tattered cap contains a few coins. Alan parks his car nearby, but has no change for the meter, so he steals the blind man's money and walks off, laughing. This scene attracted criticism at the time, but was in keeping with the show's theme, that of greed run amok. B'Stard is on his way to a secret meeting with Norman. Before the Falklands War, General Galtieri paid Alan £50,000 to dispose of some radioactive waste. He has not yet done so. From a drinker in Sidney Bliss' pub, Alan learns of the existence of an abandoned coal mine in his constituency, so he and Norman set about looking for it. It turns out to be owned by Roland Gidleigh-Park ( Charles Gray ), Alan's cantankerous father-in-law and Chairman of the local Conservative Party to boot...
Norman is not only beginning to resemble a woman physically, but seems to be developing a conscience. Alan is happy to dump the waste under a school on the grounds that its 'only a Council one anyway', but Norman refuses to assist him. Note Roland asking Sarah for South African fruit. At that time, there was a boycott of all South African products because of apartheid. Of course not all observed it.
Gray was 'Mocata' in the classic Hammer film 'The Devil Rides Out' ( 1968 ) and 'Blofeld' in 'Diamonds Are Forever' ( 1971 ).
Funniest moment - Alan takes Bliss into the coal mine, but the ex-hangman is afraid of depths. Alan goes down alone. He finds dusty canisters of Mustard Gas left over from The Great War. Roland dumped them there! Alan tells him: "You're an even bigger b#####d than I am!".
Norman is not only beginning to resemble a woman physically, but seems to be developing a conscience. Alan is happy to dump the waste under a school on the grounds that its 'only a Council one anyway', but Norman refuses to assist him. Note Roland asking Sarah for South African fruit. At that time, there was a boycott of all South African products because of apartheid. Of course not all observed it.
Gray was 'Mocata' in the classic Hammer film 'The Devil Rides Out' ( 1968 ) and 'Blofeld' in 'Diamonds Are Forever' ( 1971 ).
Funniest moment - Alan takes Bliss into the coal mine, but the ex-hangman is afraid of depths. Alan goes down alone. He finds dusty canisters of Mustard Gas left over from The Great War. Roland dumped them there! Alan tells him: "You're an even bigger b#####d than I am!".
