Episode 02: Desire In The Mickey Mouse Grotto

[*dcuk*]

This episode features EastEnders and The Bill star, Gillian Taylforth!

It is the final episode that features the character Marty Storm.

Not my favourite of the first series but a good start and a classic episode that puts Simon Cadell in a suitably embarrassing situation by the end.

[RSteve]

Gillian Taylforth - some people always look the same from a young age to when they're older, don't they - you recognise her immediately! I still think it's a shame they didn't develop the character of Marty Storm, I think he could have been funny and it's a shame to give an actor a part which seems to be a regular one but disappears after two episodes - difficult to establish a character with a handful of lines and two episodes!

Not my favourite episode of series 1 either, but the classic scene is when they discover Geoff in the flowerbeds with Gillian Taylforth's character and he pops up with the classic embarrassed look and says "hi de hi!" Still makes me laugh every time.

I think the characters who play Gillian's parents are stupid though - too charicatured even for Hi-de-Hi. They over-act and really aren't realistic.

I like the way Gladys lies and says Geoffrey spent the night with her - the longing in her voice that she wishes it were true really comes through!

Not very true to life though - Gladys herself says repeatedly throughout the show that staff must never go into each others chalets, so to admit to a "personal friend" of Joe Maplin that the Entertainments Manager was already sleeping with the Chief Yellowcoat after less than a week in the camp is a bit far-fetched - the man was still angry enough to report this to Joe Maplin and they would both have been sacked...
Still artistic licence I guess!