The Anniversary (26th March 1979)

Basil pretends to have forgotten his wedding anniversary, and has organised a surprise gathering of their friends as a celebration (and to make up for the fact that he really did forget the year before). Unfortunately, he pushes the faux forgetfulness too far and Sybil storms out of the hotel, declaring that she’s leaving him. Unfortunately, their friends are already on their way and Basil can’t bring himself to explain, so he tries his best to convince them that Sybil’s ill in bed. He seems to be getting away with it until they demand to see her, and that’s where Polly, a wig, a pair of sun glasses and a lot of hand-waving comes into the equation……

The Anniversary is unique in that it doesn’t really involve any of Basil’s usual problems, attitudes or fears. There is, however, a misunderstanding in as much as he tries his best to deceive Sybil into thinking that he’s forgotten their wedding anniversary for the second year in a row, whilst for once he’s actually being nice to her by arranging a surprise party. (On second thoughts I’m probably being kind when I say he’s being nice – he’s obviously just doing it to rub her nose in it.) The misunderstanding (if you can call it that) is that he pushes it too far - to the point where she announces that she’s leaving him for good – but he just can’t bring himself to tell their friends, nor does he want to spoil the surprise by telling Sybil about the party. So, as usual, he’s up to his neck in it and pulls out all the stops in order to convince all their friends that she’s ill and can’t make an appearance. Unfortunately he also pushes that too far when he feels they are accusing him of lying, and insists that they should go upstairs and see for themselves, obviously not thinking for a moment that they’ll agree. He’d just about pulled it off but as usual he gets carried away and pushes his luck that little bit too far, and soon it’s brown-trouser time for Basil when they actually decide they will see her……….

The best part of this episode is actually before Basil has roped Polly into impersonating Sybil, where he’s trying his damnedest to convince his friends that his wife is so ill that they really cannot see her. The deliciously sarcastic Roger – probably the only character in the series other than Sybil to give Basil a run for his money – seems to have pretty much worked out what’s going on from the moment he arrives, and takes great pleasure in winding Basil up as much as he can, particularly when he reminds him of a previous slip-up in his concocted story by remarking to one of their other friends that the Doctor hasn’t been to visit the ailing Sybil but the apparently dentist has had a good look.

The Anniversary contains what is probably my favourite line in the whole series. It’s in the scene where Basil is trying his best to convince Polly to impersonate Sybil and get him out of a hole, and Polly, of course, is not having any of it. Basil is so frustrated by her determination not to co-operate that he delivers to her the most futile and ridiculous threat of, "I’ll ruin you – you’ll never waitress in Torquay again!" Watching this moment – or even just thinking about it, come to that – always makes me laugh to the point where my ribs really do hurt. What really gets me is the way that Basil really thinks he’s getting the upper hand – you can tell by the victorious way he delivers the line – but of course in the scheme of things Polly really couldn’t give a toss about either waitressing or Torquay; I’m sure she could find an equally low wage somewhere else. Somewhere where she wouldn’t be required to impersonate the boss’s wife. Or hide his illicit gambling winnings. Or entertain local toffs with songs from the shows whilst they wait for their meals which will never arrive.

Production of The Anniversary was interrupted due to industrial action (the same bout of industrial action which saw the cancellation of Shada), so the remainder of the filming had to be completed at a later stage. Unfortunately, this meant that Julian Holloway (aka Sergeant Patterson from Survival), the original actor cast as the sarcastic Roger, was unavailable due other work engagements, and so Ken Campbell was cast in the role and all the existing scenes featuring Roger had to be recorded again.

I mentioned in my review of Waldorf Salad that you can sub-consciously pick up obscure bits of information from repeatedly watching the same episodes of TV shows. This is also true of The Anniversay, specifically a line from part of a song which Basil sings when he’s feeling all happy and smug that he’s remembered his wedding anniversary but is pretending that he’s forgotten. The song he sings is ‘Camptown Racetrack’ (a folk song composed by Stephen Foster), the first line of which is: "Camptown racetrack five miles long". I was once in a pub quiz where one of the questions was ‘How long is the Camptown racetrack?’ and I was the only person on the team that knew the answer, due entirely to the fact that I’ve watched this episode so many times. Unfortunately I don’t think my correct answer was enough to win us the quiz, but there you go – you can’t have everything.