Monday Night Fever

Episode Overview

Arthur falls for a young, attractive, but not so talented singer called Sharon Dobbs. Telling her that he has contacts in the business and that he can make her a star, Arthur organises a gig for her at ‘The Music Room’, a dodgy club that Terry had been working at the night before. When club owner Chris Lambert rips Arthur off, Arthur asks Terry to get his money back. Fearing he could end up back in prison, Terry refuses to help Arthur resulting in Arthur sacking Terry. Out of desperation, Arthur turns to local psychopath Vic Piner for help. When Dave hears of what Arthur is up to with Piner, he tells Terry whose only option is to help Arthur out before he ends up going down as an accessory to murder.

Cast

Cast: Glynn Edwards as Dave, Sheila White as Sharon Dobbs, Eric Deacon as Chris Lambert, Brian Croucher as Big John, Anthony Heaton as Vic Piner, Patrick Malahide as Chisholm, Gennie Nevinson as Penny, Peter Blake as Barry, Aaron Shirley as Sammy, Tommy Wright as Henry Piner, Richard Hunter as Alan, Michael Melia as Freddie, Flint as Disco Group

Facts

Facts: In this episode we learn that Arthur has children when he asks Terry to wake him up in the morning so that he can take them to school the next day. This episode also features a very unusual scene where Arthur kisses Sharon in his car after an evening out. We are also introduced to Terry’s semi-regular girlfriend, Penny (played by the lovely Gennie Nevinson) who works as an air-hostess on the London to Manchester Shuttle Service. Penny appears a further three times in series two. From what the viewer sees, Terry is very fond of Penny, though scared of settling down with her. This is a very gritty Leon Griffiths episode and it shows Terry’s fondness for Arthur despite disliking what Arthur gets involved in.

The group ‘Flint’ playing at the start of this episode was indeed a real group at the time and the song featured in the episode is called ‘Dirty Last Night’, composed by John Dickenson & Elfed Hayes. The drummer in Flint was Matt Letley, who has played with many popular artists over the years. In 2000 he was the regular drummer in Status Quo. A great line in this episode when Sharon asks Arthur “Are you in the business then?” only for him to reply “I’m Arthur Daley”. If you look closely the name of the band ‘Flint’ is shown many times around the club.

Filming Dates

September 1979 (likely).

Double Take

This is the first of four appearances by Gennie Nevinson as Penny – she would appear again in #2.3 You Lose Some, You Win Some, #2.4 A Lot Of Bull And A Pat On The Back and #2.6 Not A Bad Lad, Dad. Michael Melia (Freddie) also stars in #7.2 Days Of Fines & Closures.

Bloopers: At 17m14s Arthur and Sharon stop suddenly in Arthur’s Jag with a dark green MG behind them. Look carefully out the back window when it pans to the shot of the two of them in the car. A red car can be seen approaching from behind. In the next shot there is a green MG there.

Title: ‘Saturday Night Fever’, a 1977 film starring John Travolta.