The Likely Lads

Full credit to writers Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais for trying to open out The Likely Lads into a feature-length story, with no need of the TV series as a constant reminder. It works a lot of the time, with a solid background of the lads' sentimental attachment to old Newcastle, and the realities of high-rise flats and married life as they increasingly look their age. And of course the characters and gags (Terry: 'I'd offer you a beer, Bob, but I've only got six cans') are terrific. Brigit Forsyth's Thelma is a genuine monster. Unfortunately, Michael Tuchner's direction is so flat that after about an hour the film does begin to seem like an extended TV special.