BREAKFAST AT CZARS, by Claire N #PGat25
IMPORTANT: This review contains SPOILERS. Massive great honking ones. If you haven’t ever seen Press Gang (Seriously?! Are you a KD?!!! What are you even doing here reading this, you fool?! Click right on over to Amazon, buy yourself the complete series boxset and remedy that situation immediately before you read any further…)
The second series of Press Gang is my favourite by far, and Breakfast at Czars gets it off to a great start. (In fact I like the episode so much I wrote a review several years ago on Livejournal. I’ve plagiarised myself a fair bit here so apologies to anyone who experiences a feeling of déjà vu!)
As the first episode of a new series, Breakfast at Czars has a lot to do. When it was originally shown, Press Gang had been off the air for eight whole months, so the audience needed to be reminded what it was all about. Additionally if anyone had been crazy enough to have missed series one completely, this was an opportunity to hook them in. The result is a fast-paced episode featuring a main plot, several sub-plots and a significant update to the Spike and Lynda story arc. Phew! With all this going on each of the characters is given an opportunity to demonstrate to the audience what they do best.
My favourite thing about BAC is the way it all fits together. From the moment the lights come on and the music starts in the cold opening we are plunged back in to the world of the newsroom. The art department has done a fabulous job dressing the set with the remnants of a party basically so Lynda can pull it apart. As usual the little touches are perfect – the way Julie’s name has been scrawled out and replaced with Sam’s on the Graphics Department window, the infamous computer from Interface on a desk in the back of the shot, the framed copy of the first edition on the wall, and many more.
The main adults vs kids plot is a bit on the weak side. Steven Moffat admits in the commentary that the scenes with the adults were shot later by a different director and aren’t very good. But the sub-plots are great, Frazz’s shock as he is repeatedly congratulated for writing accurate horoscopes, Colin and his escapologist-related problems and the introduction of three new characters, slightly evil seeming lower school students Sophie and Laura (seen briefly in Shouldn’t I Be Taller measuring Mr Sullivan for a tomb) and new Head of the Graphics, Sam Black. The episode flits between plot-lines without losing momentum. I particularly admire the tracking shot near the beginning of the episode, which takes in four different sets of characters and includes Lynda moving from one conversation to another. Quite an achievement for a kids show! I think even ER would have been proud of that one.
Although Moffat gives each character plenty to do in this episode, he makes it clear from the outset that it’s really all about Lynda. Our favourite Editor rushes through BAC like a whirlwind, interacting with almost everyone in the newsroom. She’s found a worthy new sparring partner in Sam, who has replaced the disappeared-without-a-mention Julie. Sam’s not afraid of taking Lynda on, something which is clearly annoying Da Boss:
Of course no episode of Press Gang would be complete without a bit of Spike and Lynda trying to figure out their relationship. Breakfast at Czars includes one of the most significant scenes in their story to date – the ‘Nearly Kiss’.
Steven Moffat explains in the commentary that the Nearly Kiss was written and added later when the episode ran under time. He goes on to say he thinks it ‘makes’ the episode. I disagree. In my opinion the scene in which Charlotte enters the newsroom is much more interesting. This scene is firmly embedded in the plot of the episode, whilst the Nearly Kiss scene feels tacked on, which of course it is. I’m also not convinced that Lynda would go for a test kiss, especially so firmly on Spike’s terms. It doesn’t seem to fit in with her personality through the series up to this point. Conversely, the scene with Charlotte fits perfectly. Firstly, Lynda panics as she realises that Spike has been invited but hasn’t arrived yet, but he walks in before she has a chance to make herself presentable. [Ed: And this is of course the complete opposite of her reaction when she thought Spike was downstairs in her kitchen in Money, Love & Birdseed… ]
Series two marks a change in the way Spike and Lynda’s relationship works. In series one Spike constantly asked Lynda out, but they built up a strong friendship in the background. I think that following the ‘twirly hug’ at the end of Shouldn’t I be Taller, Spike realised that he was getting somewhere with Lynda and stepped his tactics up a gear. In this episode he’s actively trying to make her jealous, a tactic which works very well. The look on Lynda’s face when she meets the beautiful Charlotte is one of pure disdain.
Spike, however, knows exactly what he’s doing at this stage and rubs salt in the wound by revealing that not only is Charlotte better looking than Lynda, she’s older and cleverer too. No wonder Lynda’s jealousy leads her to resort to desperate measures. Spike has underestimated Lynda once again! Lynda’s obvious distraction whilst on the phone to Chrissie is excellently filmed. I’m not the biggest fan of the Nearly Kiss, but I think Kenny’s reaction to catching them together is fantastic. Lee Ross has such great comic timing.
I also feel that Colin’s role in Breakfast at Czars deserves a special mention. A comic sub-plot about an escape artist getting stuck in a box could easily have been a dull, kids TV stereotype. However, the winning combination of Moffat’s writing and Paul Reynolds’ performance makes it very funny. I particularly love the scene where Colin attempts, very poorly, to explain why he is carrying a selection of tools. When the hammer falls out of his inside pocket I’m fairly sure he has to jump out of the way to avoid it hitting his foot. Doing his own stunts like a true pro! Colin’s scenes are expertly woven in, so the sub-plot doesn’t feel at all tacked on. He even joins the team for Breakfast at Czars the following morning accompanied by the escapologist still in his sack.
If anyone ever asks me to recommend an episode of Press Gang to watch I always suggest this one. I think it is a great introduction to the show and works well as a stand alone. It’s a also a great set up for the rest of the series. In the words of the great Kenny Phillips:
Press Gang @ 35 