Why is Big Day at Dream Acres so bad?

Sarkus

Sarkus

Dedicated Member
Maybe "bad" is an exaggeration, but for a show I love to watch this is easily the worst episode in my opinion. It's so bad I've never been able to watch it to the end, and I've cycled through all the episodes I have many many times now. With two exceptions, I've skipped it every time. Those exceptions are the first time I tried to watch it and tonight, the second time I tried to watch it. Tonight I made it about to the halfway mark. I couldn't go any further as there was no enjoyment in it.

After thinking about it for awhile and re-reading his discussion of it in Alan Bells book, this is what I've come up with as why this episode doesn't work at all for me:

1. Clegg seems off. In particular his gullibility seems out of character. While Clegg being taken advantage is part of his relationship with Howard, he mostly is presented as being smart enough to avoid a clear con artist. Not here.

2. This story really drags. I almost wonder if someone went to Clarke and asked for a longer episode without giving him much time to write it. Perhaps the success of the first two film length episodes (Getting Sam Home and Uncle of the Bride) created a demand he could only meet by expanding a shorter piece. There are scenes that just seem like padding - Crusher loading the car, Nora and Crusher driving through town and stopping to interact with Compo, the car getting a flat tire, Crusher and Nora arriving at the house. Was that really necessary? And that's just some of the examples I could point to.

3. Neither the Tramp or the couple at the house are appealing. I just don't care about them or find them amusing. Bell says in his book that he and the actor who played the Tramp did not get along during filming and that this created tension on the set. I feel like that comes through.

I know other people here have expressed a dislike of this one so I know I'm not alone, but I would like to hear other takes on Big Day.
 
I totally agree, Clegg was never that gullible with strangers, people he know yes because I think he cared about them and ultimately trusted them to a certain extent, whether he admitted it or not but he wasn't like that with strangers, he was more weary than gullible.

Totally agree too on the length of the episode, if it had been shorter maybe I'd watch it more ( Or at all) I do think Crusher is good in it and the scenes with Pearl with her friend are quite good but other than that the main characters are just not themselves. Not just clegg but Seymour too and I didn't like the tramp in it at all. The man out of the couple I think was well placed but I didn't like the woman and not being an Eli fan I'm probably not the right person to point out he was particularly annoying in this one.

I'm not sure what was going on in Roy Clarke's head with this one maybe has you said he was under pressure but out of all the SW fans I know and I know quite a few I've never heard one say they like it, one or two tolerate it but wouldn't put it on their favourite list.
 
Did Clarke and Bell know it was Jonathan's swansong?,just ask as Crusher had 2 memorable scenes,lifting the donkey and the car
 
I read somewhere recently it could of been Jonathan Lindsey who posted the comment on Facebook that Ray McAnally took the show over, telling the cast how to act etc,so maybe that is what ruined it for the cast and their Hearts were not in doing the show, I find the better scenes are the ones without the Tramp

I do agree it is probably the lowest in the list of most enjoyable of all the shows [h=1][/h]
 
Agree not an episode I found enjoyable none of the cast seemed on form and the tramp was badly acted and annoying ,another one I did not enjoy was the health farm a bit on the boring side and again the supporting cast not good actors,moan over!
 
I too rarely watch this episode - usually skip it when I'm watching that series. If I do watch it, I skip over parts and look for a few good scenes. To me the tramp spoils it completely. I can't stand any scene that has him in it. After reading what Terry wrote, I can understand why I feel that way.
 
OK, folks here in the States am I right in assuming that PBS would never run this episode because they never run the specials and Christmas episodes?
 
I've never been able to put my finger on why this episode doesn't quite work.

It's by no means the worst episode.

But it just goes on and on.

It's a weak follow up to Getting Sam Home and Uncle of the Bride. Those two were superb.

I think perhaps Big Day was trying too hard to mirror Getting Sam Home by moving donkeys instead of corpses around.

I rarely watch this one as it seems to depress me.

Perhaps this special would have worked better in a 30 minute episode.

That said, this special is still significantly better than some post Compo episodes (IMO).
 
Adanor said:
OK, folks here in the States am I right in assuming that PBS would never run this episode because they never run the specials and Christmas episodes?
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At least here in Durham NC I have not seen any SW episode on PBS in yonks.

I am thankful that I have all the episodes downloaded and
playable here at home.
 
Adanor said:
OK, folks here in the States am I right in assuming that PBS would never run this episode because they never run the specials and Christmas episodes?
Click to expand...
My PBS station runs two episodes a night so presumably could run an hour episode, but they never do. I've never seen this on PBS but I saw it a few years ago on Youtube and now have it on DVD. It's on Youtube again but the recordings are not a real good quality. Someone suggested BBC has limited uploads to lower resolution. Don't know if that's what has happened but you can at least get an idea of the episode by watching it there.
 
C W Northrop said:
Did Clarke and Bell know it was Jonathan's swansong?,just ask as Crusher had 2 memorable scenes,lifting the donkey and the car
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According to Bell's book, no. He says he didn't know about the weight loss at all until someone mentioned they'd run into Linsley and that he had lost a lot of weight. Bell invited Jonathan to visit him at the BBC and says he would not have recognized him if he hadn't been told that's who had arrived. He also says that he took Jonathan around to some other crew members who also didn't recognize him. I guess Bell thought about putting Jonathan in a fat suit but realized the face was too gaunt to pull it off and Linsley refused to put any weight on to fill out a bit.

Adanor said:
OK, folks here in the States am I right in assuming that PBS would never run this episode because they never run the specials and Christmas episodes?
Click to expand...

This one is 79 minutes long, which is an odd time length to fit into standard US ideas. It would have to be a station with a strong Summerwine following to consider trying to fit the odd length episodes into a schedule. However, some of the other Christmas/New Years specials are standard length.
 
Adanor said:
OK, folks here in the States am I right in assuming that PBS would never run this episode because they never run the specials and Christmas episodes?
Click to expand...

Like Chuck, our Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) station here in central Pennsylvania doesn't show LOTSW at all.
 
Certainly Ray McAnally's character did not work at any level for me. It was very unusual for a guest to have such a prominent role and it didn't work. In Ireland McAnally was a revered theatre actor and only came to prominence in film late in his life, giving a stellar performance in My Left Foot as the father of the main character Christy Brown. Big Day was certainly too long, became directionless and lost its way early in the episode. I have seen it a good few times now and have never been able to remain interested through to the end.
 
I really liked the Seymour years, but Big Day was too long
perhaps Roy Clarke had to write it in a hurry for the BBC. Extra Extra another not one of my favourites, of the special 's my favourite's are Getting Sam Home, Uncle of the Bride,Crum's and A Leg Up For Christmas.
 
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Ray Macanally was never a favourite of mine so I don't watch "Dream Acres "very much. Michael Aldridge (Seymour) was a much better actor in my opinion. :respect:
 
I thought Ray Macanally did a reasonable job.

I thought the writing was passable.

The other actors were good.

It wasn't a BAD episode, just very, very average.

This episode was more like a 90s episode than an 80s one, in that it had no edge, was a bit childish, and showed the series starting to look tired.
 
I finally managed to get through this yesterday. Oddly. I found the second half far more amusing than the first. I think there are a couple of reasons for that. First, The Tramp almost completely disappears once they arrive for the garden party. He's mostly off screen making bets. Second, it becomes an uncommonly slapstick episode with the whole sequence where Compo and Eli are chasing the donkey through the house.

I'm not saying I now like this special as I still find the first half nearly unwatchable, but at least I now know it has some good bits.
 
and7barton said:
I feel the same way about "A Quiet Drink" - I think both of those shows are pretty dire.
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Thast is anohter one that just does not work for many - although I did not mind it too much but I agree probably the least successful of the Blamire years.
 
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