- 19 hours ago
First broadcast 8th January 1980.
Robin starts to question whether there's more to life than running a bistro.
Richard O'Sullivan - Robin
Tessa Wyatt - Vicky
Tony Britton - James Nicholls
David Kelly - Albert
Peggy Aitchison - Gertrude
Robin starts to question whether there's more to life than running a bistro.
Richard O'Sullivan - Robin
Tessa Wyatt - Vicky
Tony Britton - James Nicholls
David Kelly - Albert
Peggy Aitchison - Gertrude
Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:00I
00:41yes hmm where young sucker hopes to get his lolly 4-4 tuck shop oh come on
00:55haven't you finished wrapping the present yet uh but we're here soon what is your fault it
00:59shouldn't have been so long in the newsagents i don't know why you've got christmas wrapping
01:02paper well that's all they had left you great big fibber it's because they were selling it off
01:07at half price very well i shall take it back i shall buy some womble paper twice the price but
01:12who cares i can't imagine why you're making such a fuss about riddle leaving anyway and giving him
01:18a silver tankard i mean that's overdoing it isn't it mr nichols oh albert's been with us
01:25ever since we opened how can you be so mean anyway it's only silver plated dad surely you
01:30don't begrudge going halves of course not right then give us your half then come in albert
01:39well oh yeah i just came to say boy boy yes well goodbye albert uh the best of luck and
01:46keep in
01:47i'll turn your we're really sorry you're leaving us but we'd all like to wish you the best of luck
01:54in
01:54your new business venture in ireland here yeah thanks mrs tripp when actually are you taking over
02:00this uh it's a bookshop sir the bookshop when are you actually taking it over albert well there's a
02:05little bit of trouble about the lease or something i'm waiting on the solicitor yes well the solicitors
02:10they're always a bit slow i wouldn't worry about it no albert uh dad robin and i've got you a
02:15little
02:15present it's just something to remember us by mrs tripp you shouldn't have that's what mr nichols said
02:24well good luck albert yeah good luck albert i don't know what to say well why don't you open it
02:32oh what a lovely mug it's a tankard riddle it's just what i've always wanted a stainless steel tankard
02:50it's silver plated albert silver places isn't it amazing what they can do these days it looks just
02:58like genuine stainless steel it's lovely thanks very much
03:08now albert don't forget you promised to kiss the blarney stone for me yes mr tripp
03:22well i'd better be going oh albert um as dad says keep in touch oh mr tripp would you like
03:33me to lay
03:33the tables before i go oh yes it's a good idea before you go no no no that'll be all
03:38right
03:38albert well goodbye mr tripp mrs tripp goodbye mr nichols thanks for everything you've done for me
03:46you're all the best friends i ever had oh oh mr nichols here's your hanky back
03:55no thank you riddle you keep it oh mr nichols give me your own hanky
04:02i'll never forget us every time i blow me nose i'll think of you why then well
04:14oh albert
04:22bye albert
04:28well there he goes on his way back home to dublin yes i'll miss him terribly hmm me too really
04:39of course
04:41after all who's going to do the washing up do you know mr nichols sometimes i find your
04:49sense of humor in very poor taste oh yes you see you don't seem to realize that albert was very
04:56dear
04:56to us and his departure is going to leave a very big gap in vicky and my life oh quite
05:02right robin it's
05:03no laughing matter mr nichols and i frankly i don't i don't see how you can take it so lightly
05:08well i'm i'm very sorry trip i didn't know that albert's decision to go back and live in ireland
05:14meant such a great loss to you of course it's a loss it's a terrible loss after all who the
05:19hell is
05:19going to do the washing up
05:30i should not be doing this
05:34i'm supposed to be the sleeping partner in this establishment
05:37and when you finish that i'd like you to peel the potatoes they're down in the cellar
05:40and sweep out the restaurant before we put the clean tablecloths on
05:45this water is ruining my hands oh
05:50haven't you got a pair of rubber gloves or something well only albert's i don't think that's
05:53going to be a lot of help
05:56anyway why don't you peel the potatoes me yes peel potatoes certainly mr nichols i'm a culinary artiste
06:06would you ask michelangelo to mix concrete would you ask picasso to paint your front room would you
06:11ask beethoven to shift a piano no but if one was here i asked him to peel the potatoes
06:18you can't expect an artiste of my caliber to waste his talents on such mundane matters as peeling
06:23potatoes but all you're doing is chopping a few vegetables chopping vegetables mr nichols you don't
06:31seem to realize that it is not what i'm doing it is the way i'm doing it what i can
06:38do with my chopper
06:39is no bad his business oh hurry up you two you're getting nowhere fast well yes he could be peeling
06:46the potatoes while i finish the washing up i've asked him and he's refused what you asked robin
06:51to peel potatoes certainly would you ask michelangelo to mix concrete would you ask picasso to paint your
06:58front room would you ask beethoven to shift a piano that's just what he said i know it's his stock
07:03answer
07:04when you ask him to do something he doesn't want to do peel the potatoes dad lay the table and
07:09what
07:09are you going to do i'm going to have a fag and a cup of tea it's time for my
07:12legends this mystery
07:15well come on then come on hurry up i want to peel the potatoes in there
07:20what in here where i'm doing the washing up well i was thinking of changing the water first
07:26are you telling me that you peel potatoes in the same bowl in which you do the washing
07:30up now i usually peel them in the bath but i can't be fact to move the coat where do
07:34you think
07:34i want but you should use a separate bowl for the vegetables it's unhygienic oh dad that's not fair
07:40robin's been going on for weeks about having a double drainer i shall organize something i'm not
07:44only a double drainer there's lots of other labor saving devices we need i quite agree with you
07:48for example a dishwasher what do you really think we ought to have a dishwasher i most certainly do after
07:54spending a morning here i think a dishwasher is essential and i promise you yes i shall get a
07:59replacement for riddle just as soon as i possibly can
08:15vicky
08:22oh oh robin i'm sorry i must have fallen back to sleep again oh lucky old you listen where are
08:29gonna put this oh put it here
08:43is it worth it i ask you then is it all worth it what are you muttering about i'm not
08:49muttering i'm
08:49talking to you oh sorry i can't tell talk from mutter
08:58come on give us a smile all right so we should have washed up last night well we didn't it's
09:03not
09:03that and i promised to get the dishes done by the time you got back from market and i overslept
09:08and i
09:20getting up at six o'clock in the morning going to market washing up coming back cooking for her but
09:25who don't know the difference between croc monsieur and cheese on toast what's croc monsieur cheese on toast
09:33oh robin you'll feel much better once we've got a replacement for our but dad wants us to go over
09:38at lunchtime talk about it oh terrific it's all right for him isn't it while we're here slaving away all
09:42day he's most probably still in bed dreaming about his share of the profits they don't call him a sleeping
09:46partner for nothing do they dear we are getting bitter in our old age well that's just it vicky
09:50i'm not old i'm young but look at me i'm spending the best years of my life slaving away over
09:56a hot
09:56stone robin it's your job it's what you trained for it's what you chose to do yeah well i choose
10:02to
10:02do something else for a while you know break out you know take a year off bum around sail around
10:08the
10:08world yeah why not why not just go around the world for a year do you mean you want to
10:12leave me
10:15vicky have you got so little faith in me you can come with me too if you want
10:20no come on vicky i'm being serious oh darling you know i love you if you wanted i'd follow you
10:26to
10:26the other side of the world well that's where i'm thinking of going oh come on i'm being serious come
10:31on come on let's just take a break from here maybe we could find a manager for this place we
10:37can't even
10:37find a washer-upper i mean don't let's run before we can walk yeah well i'm going to talk to
10:42your
10:42father about it when we see him at lunchtime hello robin's nest yes it's albert hello yes do you know
10:55i miss dear old albert he wants to reverse the charges i don't miss him that much
11:02yes yes yes that's fine yeah hello hello albert how are you hello in there this is me out here
11:10is
11:11that you yes yes it's vicky speaking yes i'm fine yep he's fine robin come and say hello
11:22hello albert how's things how's the weather in dublin hey i've no idea i'm in watford
11:32he says he's in watford i thought the operator said waterford
11:36albert don't you mean waterford i know mr trip waterford's in ireland sir no i'm in watford
11:43but what are you doing in watford albert i mean what happened to that bookshop you were taking over
11:48well it wasn't the sort of bookshop i thought it was sir it wasn't very nice
11:54oh i oh yeah i see so what are you doing in watford telephoning you sir
12:01no i mean apart from telephoning me you what
12:08albert started up his own restaurant what well it's more of a cafe i suppose
12:14well that's that's marvelous albert what are you called it
12:19well i i i i haven't finalized the name yet sir oh i've got a customer i must go i'm
12:27running the
12:27place single-handed
12:31albert do you mean you've already opened oh of course i'm telephoning from my office bye
12:51may i recommend the jam bodies
12:59so i thought it'd be a good idea if we had a little talk about the kind of person we
13:03want for
13:04the restaurant yes well there's something i want to talk to you about mr trip mrs trip how are you
13:09oh fine thanks you see vick and i have been talking about gertrude if you've quite finished
13:13in here i was just in the middle of my polishing when you interrupted me oh yes i'm very sorry
13:19about
13:19that gertrude but you see the three of us have got to have a talk about something oh that's all
13:23right so long as you don't get in my way we would prefer to be uh mr nichols have you
13:30wiped your feet
13:31i've just overed in here yes yes dear i have yes yes you have to watch him you know he
13:37can be a little
13:37monkey yes yes he can be a little monkey well i'll just get on it's all right for those who
13:46can stand
13:46around chatting all day right now what would you like as a pre-lunch drink oh i didn't realize we
13:52were invited for lunch you're not we're launching separately but what would you like for a pre-lunch
13:57trick no victoria um i'll have a sherry please dad medium if you've got it you're running a bit low
14:04on
14:05sherry mr nichols yes i see trip gin and tonic nichols
14:13now i've given some thought to the question of who we should have to replace riddle i feel it's
14:19very important what do you do for a living mr trip um well i run my own restaurant gertrude your
14:25own
14:26restaurant oh well done you always was keen on cooking you must be ever so proud of him mr nichols
14:33he
14:34owns his own restaurant i know we both own it gertrude we are partners oh i didn't know you could
14:41cook he's so secretive you know he never gives nothing away yes i know gertrude robin does all
14:51the cooking we both work in the restaurant dad doesn't actually work in there and he just takes
14:56his share of the profits oh i see he's your snoring partner yes yes gertrude i want to have a
15:03very
15:03important discussion with my daughter and my son-in-law don't mind me no you you see one of
15:09our staff has just left so we've got to decide what we're going to do oh yes so may we
15:14continue
15:20now although the job we're talking about is behind the scenes so to speak in the kitchen
15:24and so forth nonetheless i feel that the sort of person that we ought to be looking for
15:28is someone who would be presentable in the restaurant is someone who could if the need arose
15:36actually serve the customers uh victoria allow me mr nichols thank you and of course somebody who
15:44could cope with our french menu excusez-moi madame your sherry oh thank you and who could actually
15:53take orders without too much difficulty it for who monsieur gin and tonic please gertrude merci
16:02is that mr trip's gin and tonic yes yes it is gertrude yes thank you of course i realize that
16:10uh
16:11finding such a person right um ah your gin and tonic would you like some ice oh yes please gertrude
16:20i won't be a midway
16:25i think perhaps we ought to try an employment agency what do you think i think she'd be perfect
16:32thank you vicky hmm absolutely marvelous who gertrude oh do you think she'd be interested
16:43i think she might gertrude tell me would you be interested oh yes when do you want me to start
16:53as soon as possible gertrude only i must warn you the money's not great oh don't tell me i know
16:59how
16:59mean he is i've laid all the tables mr trip what would you like me to do next uh well
17:09look why don't
17:09we have a cup of tea oh i'll do it that's what i'm here for oh i'll get it that's
17:15what i'm here for
17:17hello robin's nest can i help you oh just a moment here mr trip can you fit in two at
17:259 30. uh yeah yeah
17:28yes that'll be okay what name please robin i must tell you something oh hello gertrude yes goodbye
17:37hello mrs trip i'm out of cup of tea uh no no thanks well what is it what oh it
17:44doesn't matter i'll
17:45tell you later oh i'm starving that's an omelette anyone care to join me not for me dear robin
17:53uh no no no thank you forget did you did you did you say an omelette yep in the middle
18:02of the
18:02afternoon yeah well i'm a bit peckish now what on earth are zero rated outputs and standard rated
18:10inputs robin honestly how you can find time to do the crossword in the middle of the afternoon i
18:15shall never know what what i'm the letters i'm not doing a crossword i'm doing my
18:22vat
18:35sorry can't stand it can't stand it no i'm sorry biggie i'm sorry biggie i am a chef i am
18:43not an
18:43accountant no sorry sorry sorry can't stand it do you remember what i was talking to you about the
18:49evening about taking ear off breaking ourselves away from this place well i'm going to talk to
18:53your father when he comes here there we are madam one freshly made omit including vat
19:02ah victoria darling thought i'd just come in and see how uh how gertrude's getting on
19:08mm-hmm dad mr nichols there's something i've got to talk to you about good heavens what what on
19:15earth was that my vat form now listen there's something very important your vat form you've
19:22gone mad no he's uh having a nervous breakdown okay i suppose he thinks that's funny his idea of cooking
19:27the books dad robin wants to go away for a while he he wants to take a break from the
19:35restaurant
19:35oh no i'm very sorry but this is not a suitable time to take a holiday
19:40how long were you thinking going for a year
19:42yes i want to take a year off i want to get away i want to experience life before it's
19:47too late
19:48i want to get out of this rut i see yes i understand well perhaps it's all for the best
19:55split up now while victoria's still young enough no faith in robin he means both of us
20:04you mean you're taking my little girl away from me no gertrude's not coming
20:11oh just think in a couple of weeks time we could be uh oh where could we we could be
20:15anywhere in the
20:16world do you know your father suddenly picked up after you had a little chat with him what actually
20:21did you say to him oh well have you seen this one huh look at that every school boy's atlas
20:28but you know i've had this for about 20 years i knew it would come in handy one day see
20:32there look
20:34robin trip 2d huh now come on tell you what let's decide let's let's let's let's make out a route
20:40now
20:40which way do you fancy east or west oh um i think west up the m4
20:49i'm talking about asia or the americas now come on come on the world's our oyster
20:54robin it's not that simple there's a lot to organize
20:58why be so negative vicky come on where is your spirit of adventure what is there to organize listen
21:03all we need is a couple of rucksacks right a couple of sleeping bags a tent traveling cot traveling
21:10cot a prime stove a pram a pram a compass disposable nappies yes a disposable
21:20what what it's going to be three of us
21:28at least
21:34what so what what what what do you what what do you mean at least well there are twins in
21:40my family
21:45well say something robin
21:48we can still go if you want to vicky what are you thinking about we're going to be a family
21:56with responsibilities this is no time to skive off work what are you talking about
22:02oh robin i do love you oh and i love you robin yeah do you know what i fancy yeah
22:10you would like me to make you a lovely cheese omelette yes please
22:17with crunchy peanut butter
22:29catch double mash from
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