A young couple's stolen furniture becomes a moveable feast as Eddie takes on the case and causes the thieves to panic.

EPISODE GUIDE

Series 2, Episode 8:

"ANOTHER MAN'S CASTLE" written by DAVE HUMPHRIES directed by DOUGLAS CAMFIELD

CAST & CREW

Original BBC1 tx: 7 DECEMBER 1980 2120 - 2215hrs, watched by 11 million Filming dates: 4 - 19 August 1980

Eddie investigates when the Hoskens' furniture is stolen on route to their new home

SYNOPSIS BY NICK:

NICK'S REVIEW:

A wonderful episode crammed with incident and character. The plot is intricate, yet easy to understand, and devoid of padding, whilst the two prominent one-off characters, Bowen and the trader, are memorable. Bowen is played with arrogant gusto by John Forgeham, whilst the trader, dressed in a wonderful array of old army clothing, and given a series of wry lines, is equally outstanding. Eddie is at home in the marketplace, bantering with the stall owners and finding himself, at one point, mistaken as a trader himself! It's difficult not to laugh at his use of Erica's exercise bike. Within the dense narrative of this episode, the production team manage to find room for a plot thread involving Erica, where Eddie is thrown out of the flat when her ex-husband comes to visit. Series two seems to become faster paced with the addition of Chris Boucher as script editor. After the enjoyable though slower moving episodes such as "Utmost Good Faith" and "The Farmer Had a Wife", this differing approach maintains the latter half of the series' verve.

Trader helps Eddie when the Hoskens' furniture turns up in the market

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS BY DENE:

This is John Forgeham's episode. Ex-boxer Terry Bowen is a villainous character certainly (who wouldn't be out of place in an episode of Minder, the theme music to which is heard briefly here!), but he has a lot of genuine charm. He is even a friend of Erica's - they had met, she tells Eddie, when he was her "star pupil" at a summer business class she taught. I don't think she would have been taken in by him if he weren't, on some level, sincere. We see his dealings with other people too, his secretary for one, and although he most certainly has an unpleasant side, that's not all there is to this man. I reckon his success isn't just down to shady practices. Not that he doesn't deserve his fate, but Bowen seems genuinely hurt when the police show up at the conclusion; as if it's the end of his 'fun and games'. His cry of "You b*****d, Shoestring!" is almost plaintive. But for once, Eddie's involvement turns out to be ancillary (akin to "AN UNCERTAIN CIRCLE") as Bowen has been under police surveillance for some time, for reasons different to those being investigated here. In fact Eddie needn't have been there at all (preempting Raiders of the Lost Ark perhaps? Maybe not).

There is more potential for Erica in this episode than is realised I think (especially given the indisputable talents of Doran Godwin). We could perhaps have had a scene at the end where we hear her thoughts on the fact that Bowen has been arrested. In addition, in this episode more than any other, she has good reason to be completely infuriated by Eddie (wonderful chap though he is): she is as helpful as ever with his investigations, etc. and yet he runs out on her, rudely, on more than one occasion. Her feelings on this behaviour are certainly written all over her face (and she must know by now what he's like), but maybe it would have been nice to give voice to them. Not that Eddie, in the midst of a case, would have listened mind you!

Erica is invited for lunch by her old friend Bowen

EPISODE GUIDE