‘HOW TO GO ON HOLIDAY WITHOUT REALLY TRYING’

Please feel free to comment on my review.

In this episode, Hyacinth tries to show off by purchasing some holiday brochures. This is because she gets jealous about one of her neighbours going off for a luxury holiday. Here Hyacinth’s snobbery gets the better of her, as she tries to get people to notice that she has purchased holiday brochures.

You can see how Hyacinth’s silliness and snobbery comes to the fore in this episode. She purchases holiday brochures for something very expensive such as the Orient Express and the QE2. Hyacinth tries to get Richard and Elizabeth to notice her holiday brochures, but they don’t take any interest. 😐

What’s funny is that this episode predates the Christmas Special where Hyacinth and Richard actually get to go on a luxury cruise aboard the QE2 called ‘Sea Fever’. I wonder if Hyacinth was inspired to go aboard the QE2 from checking out the holiday brochure for it. She probably was here.

I found it amusing in the scene where Hyacinth invites Elizabeth around for morning coffee to notice her holiday brochures. But Elizabeth is preoccupied and nervous about drinking her coffee that she doesn’t even take notice of the brochures. This gets Hyacinth annoyed when Liz doesn’t see them. 🙂

Elizabeth’s nervousness is equally demonstrated beforehand when she returns home and Emmet finds her a bundle of nerves. He too becomes a bundle of nerves once Elizabeth mentions Hyacinth’s name. It’s funny when Emmet plays at the piano to reflect the sudden dour mood he and Liz are in. 🙂

Hyacinth is also pretty particular when she’s polishing the cutlery away, much to the annoyance of Karen Chatwin as the waitress. I wonder if Hyacinth has always been like this with being prim and proper. It’s contrast to how her sisters Daisy and Rose are. I wonder how it all began for Hyacinth. 😐

My favourite part of the episode is when Onslow decides to help Richard out in his situation of early retirement with Hyacinth. This demonstrates Onslow’s friendship with Richard, as he takes him away from his duties to Hyacinth; they both go to the pub for a pint and they play a game of pool there. 🙂

The episode also has Hyacinth and Elizabeth going to the church to help out with the spring cleaning. Jeremy Gittins as the Vicar and Marion Barron as his wife appear in this episode. Rose also comes over to the church to help out with the spring cleaning, since she’s decided to become a missionary.

‘How to Go on Holiday Without Really Trying’ rating – 8/10