I've had a further thought on this topic. The subject title is Mistress Marina, yet it is difficult to see Marina as a Mistress in the true sense of the word. Howard and Marina were not engaged in an affair as such. Their relationship was one of fantasy and what might be. Howard behaves like a mischievous little boy, the character is often seen wearing shorts when out on his bike. He behaves like a naughty schoolboy. He spends his life trying to escape from Pearl, she spends it trying to stop him. He always manages to get away though and ends up alone with Marina. Just when they are about to get more intimate they are interrupted, usually by the trio, even though it is out in the middle of nowhere. Like a naughty schoolboy he always gets caught, but he always denies knowing her, or that he just came across her, even though it is obvious they are together. 25 years of more or less the same scenario, the same running gag.
It was clever that such a relationship, or lack of, could be sustained for so long. Roy Clarke came up with a running joke situation that went on for 25 years, the story around Howard, Pearl and Marina hardly changed although it was fairly predictable and unrealistic, it worked because the characters were very good. It is however, very difficult to analyse this in a serious way because it is hard to believe that two people could have had a relationship for 25 years that everyone knew about, but was effectively totally innocent. In some respects this relationship was resolved in the final series, with Howard returning to Pearl after being kicked out and Marina having her eyes on and offering Toby a sympathetic shoulder in the final episode.
