Its Saturday afternoon, and Upton is on call at Dr.Whiteland's practice. Dick has gone off with the lovely Tanya, but forgotten to cancel a previous date with photographic model Maxine.
An angry Maxine turns up at the practice, demanding to see Dick. She bursts her way into an examination room, only to find The Minister for Inland Development naked, having turned up for an appointment one week early.
Upton is confronted with a nightmare problem - Maxine is hysterical and on the point of suicide. Chasing her back to her flat, he becomes trapped when she locks the door and drops the key down her dress...
In need of money after a failed business venture, John Cleese penned several scripts for 'Large', of which this was the first. There's no Pythoneseque humour on display, but the writing style he later brought to 'Fawlty Towers' is in evidence, as seemingly unconnected plot strands - such as Lady Ashley and her teddy bears - converge at the end. Upton's boring conversation with Colonel Aystrop anticipates Basil Fawlty's meaningless exchanges with Major Gowen. Offered a drink, Aystrop replies: "No no no no yes.". This was many years before 'The Vicar Of Dibley'.
The late, lovely Hilary Pritchard was all over television and cinema screens in the late '60's/early '70's. One film of hers - 'Under The Doctor' - was a terrible low-budget British sex farce which starred, ironically, Barry Evans. Maureen Lipman attacks the role of the demented 'Maxine' with relish, though why she thinks Dick worth committing suicide over is a mystery. Even so, 'Saturday Matinée' is twenty-five minutes of expertly written and performed farce.
Funniest moment - Upton tries to calm Maxine by slapping her. She retaliates in kind!
An angry Maxine turns up at the practice, demanding to see Dick. She bursts her way into an examination room, only to find The Minister for Inland Development naked, having turned up for an appointment one week early.
Upton is confronted with a nightmare problem - Maxine is hysterical and on the point of suicide. Chasing her back to her flat, he becomes trapped when she locks the door and drops the key down her dress...
In need of money after a failed business venture, John Cleese penned several scripts for 'Large', of which this was the first. There's no Pythoneseque humour on display, but the writing style he later brought to 'Fawlty Towers' is in evidence, as seemingly unconnected plot strands - such as Lady Ashley and her teddy bears - converge at the end. Upton's boring conversation with Colonel Aystrop anticipates Basil Fawlty's meaningless exchanges with Major Gowen. Offered a drink, Aystrop replies: "No no no no yes.". This was many years before 'The Vicar Of Dibley'.
The late, lovely Hilary Pritchard was all over television and cinema screens in the late '60's/early '70's. One film of hers - 'Under The Doctor' - was a terrible low-budget British sex farce which starred, ironically, Barry Evans. Maureen Lipman attacks the role of the demented 'Maxine' with relish, though why she thinks Dick worth committing suicide over is a mystery. Even so, 'Saturday Matinée' is twenty-five minutes of expertly written and performed farce.
Funniest moment - Upton tries to calm Maxine by slapping her. She retaliates in kind!
