A brisk pace, lines that make sense and are to the point advancing a shaggy dog story about a hole in the ground and the once familiar sight of a lot workmen holding spades and spending a lot of time gazing at it. This with an inept cast would have had an audience fleeing.
However these not just familiar faces but long-standing character actors who make a great fist of it. Who, in the history of British cinema would you cast as the mouthy, sour, chippy, sarcastic leader of a gang of manual workers? And here he is: Victor Maddern. And bumbling pompous minor officialdom? Arthur Lowe. Typecasting is not always a curse, its often because the actor does it uniquely well. Amiable stuff, from a less stressful time of poorly paid but secure employment and cheap housing.
However these not just familiar faces but long-standing character actors who make a great fist of it. Who, in the history of British cinema would you cast as the mouthy, sour, chippy, sarcastic leader of a gang of manual workers? And here he is: Victor Maddern. And bumbling pompous minor officialdom? Arthur Lowe. Typecasting is not always a curse, its often because the actor does it uniquely well. Amiable stuff, from a less stressful time of poorly paid but secure employment and cheap housing.