Keith Barron again stars in Wim T. Schipper's second English language television play as the rather unlikable barrister Patrick Dench. Everywhere he goes he makes a fuss, raises his voice and usually breaks other people's property as well. He is a walking disaster. One by one people and things start to abandon him, starting off with his car during the opening credits. Thes arrive ten minutes into the programme after Patrick's first row with Suzy (Susna Penhaligon) in a motorway restaurant. The car breaks down opposite a road-sign that reads Ramp Ahead and also serves as the title. Wim T. must have thought this very clever because the word Ramp means disaster in Dutch.
The next day, Suzy moves out of Patrick's flat. As soon as she's gone, he calls his secretary Christine (Cyd Hayman) and asks her out to a party. Once there he gets drunk fast (and why shouldn't he, she's driving as his car is in repairs) and starts bothering people. These include translator Adriane Brine and Marie Kooyman, who had appeared in several Schippers' productions including the 1981 series 'De Lachende Scheerkwast', which also featured Barron. Finally he forces Christine to take off her glasses, and steps on them several time during an impromptu dance to music from the hard to find LP 'Hark' by Jacques Plafond and his Plafonnières.
Christine is shocked to find herself waking up next to her boss, and when she purposely arrives at work a few minutes after him, she finds all her colleagues gossiping already about them. It is no surprise Chrissie is upset when we find out she happens to be best friends with Suzy. But still, Suzy drops by Patrick's office and asks him to represent her in court. She is trying to get an inheritance from a wealthy but recently deceased old man. Patrick misses an appointment with the rich man's daughter after being rude to a train conductor (he's still without a car). That evening he begins to entertain suicidal thoughts, but prefers drinking over anything more drastic in the end. Things pick up for him the moment the woman he was to meet, Linda Bevidge (Kirstie Pooley), visits his office the next day. Suddenly his normally crass behavior becomes charming and innocent as she uses her feminine whiles to get him to changes sides in the court case.
And that's basically all that happens. All the usual Schippers elements are present and correct: scenes set in restaurants, trains and lavatories and a lot of quarreling characters. Unfortunately there is no strong drive to anything the characters do, and it all ends in a semi cliffhanger. Each scene works fine on it's own, but viewed separately, it becomes a rather pointless series of sketches that have no punch line. The acting is adequate and the women are all very pretty (though don't expect to see any nudity this time around, there isn't any.) The story doesn't even lead up to one large disaster (as the title would make Dutch viewers believe), just a series of small ones self inflicted by the insufferable lead. Even at the end it remains unclear if he's really fallen in love with Linda or not.
5 out of 10
The next day, Suzy moves out of Patrick's flat. As soon as she's gone, he calls his secretary Christine (Cyd Hayman) and asks her out to a party. Once there he gets drunk fast (and why shouldn't he, she's driving as his car is in repairs) and starts bothering people. These include translator Adriane Brine and Marie Kooyman, who had appeared in several Schippers' productions including the 1981 series 'De Lachende Scheerkwast', which also featured Barron. Finally he forces Christine to take off her glasses, and steps on them several time during an impromptu dance to music from the hard to find LP 'Hark' by Jacques Plafond and his Plafonnières.
Christine is shocked to find herself waking up next to her boss, and when she purposely arrives at work a few minutes after him, she finds all her colleagues gossiping already about them. It is no surprise Chrissie is upset when we find out she happens to be best friends with Suzy. But still, Suzy drops by Patrick's office and asks him to represent her in court. She is trying to get an inheritance from a wealthy but recently deceased old man. Patrick misses an appointment with the rich man's daughter after being rude to a train conductor (he's still without a car). That evening he begins to entertain suicidal thoughts, but prefers drinking over anything more drastic in the end. Things pick up for him the moment the woman he was to meet, Linda Bevidge (Kirstie Pooley), visits his office the next day. Suddenly his normally crass behavior becomes charming and innocent as she uses her feminine whiles to get him to changes sides in the court case.
And that's basically all that happens. All the usual Schippers elements are present and correct: scenes set in restaurants, trains and lavatories and a lot of quarreling characters. Unfortunately there is no strong drive to anything the characters do, and it all ends in a semi cliffhanger. Each scene works fine on it's own, but viewed separately, it becomes a rather pointless series of sketches that have no punch line. The acting is adequate and the women are all very pretty (though don't expect to see any nudity this time around, there isn't any.) The story doesn't even lead up to one large disaster (as the title would make Dutch viewers believe), just a series of small ones self inflicted by the insufferable lead. Even at the end it remains unclear if he's really fallen in love with Linda or not.
5 out of 10