Alarms and Diversions

Tripper is kept up all night as the police are called out every hour as the alarm keeps going off in the supermarket.

Eventually Tripper has to switch the alarm off and sleep in the store or else the police will arrest him for wasting their time.

A tired Tripper is rudely awoken when hit by a baguette by Alf. Mr Christian doing a impression of him during the morning roll call.

Greeting the millionth customer to the store is not that easy. The alarm repairer suddenly decides not to cross a picket line. It is enough to send a man cuckoo.

You have to hand it again to Leonard Rossiter. He is trying to make it work but the material is feeble. Just lazy writing. Thames Television should had said goodbye to some of its writers.

As an example Fred Evans is wasted as the alarm repair man. The actor had a schtick where he would appear in shows as a doddery old man who could suddenly dance so gracefully.

Tripper looks forward to welcoming the millionth customer into the store, but first he has to sort out the alarm system, which is randomly going off at all hours.

Unfortunately it really is another weak episode. I've actually warmed to some of these characters, I really like Alf and Hilda for example, even the milky wet Mr Christian was slightly improved here.... but....

...it's the writing, it's just so incredibly poor, the gags feel laboured, even though for the most part they're competently delivered, it's just all so deliberate and predictable, nothing feels natural.

Hilda and Tripper shared a few half decent scenes, I thought the problems associated with industrial disputes occured years before this? I may be wrong.

Not good sadly, 4/10.