T. Bag and the Pearls of Wisdom S6E4 (1990) - FULL EPISODE

Grimble and Squiffy. An unscrupulous tailor steals all of Sally's pearls to use as buttons on Lord Squiffington-Fop's special highly fashionable jacket. Will she be able to crash the masked ball and get them back, or will T-Bag stick her oar in first? T-Shirt, meanwhile, is busy training his pet fleas. This episode was originally broadcast on Tuesday, 23rd January, 1990. There's a lot packed into this one, what with the pearls and bag both being nicked separately, the party preparations and the extraordinary flea circus. There's something unusual about us knowing throughout the long ball scene exactly where all the pearls are, when all around are in the right room but either have no idea where to start or are actively looking for the wrong things. And how about the outfits? The various heroines of the series rarely got the chance to dress up, but Kellie Bright makes up for that here with the most extravagant of gowns. I suppose this is also a great opportunity to give a big shout-out to costume designer Raymond Childe, who always met (and often exceeded) all expectations. The two guest stars of this episode - John Cater and Aubrey Woods (both sadly no longer with us) - are each veterans of the show, and it's great to see two older pros apparently having an absolute blast and embracing the silliness to the full. From the upper-class cluelessness of His Lordship to the unspeakably uncouth roguishness of Grimble (who makes no attempt whatsoever to cover his crime), these are characters that work brilliantly together. The time period gives us a bit of a Blackadder the Third feeling, and the surreal running cat joke wouldn't have been out of place in that. Look out at the beginning and end not only for some Children's ITV continuity presented by Jeanne Downs and Scally, but also a full ad break featuring - if you watch closely enough - none other than Kellie Bright herself! Blink and you miss her, but she's definitely there. (In fact, I think I picked out Pink Windmill Kid Rocky Samrai in the same ad, too, along with a few other familiar-looking faces - perhaps from Grange Hill or something. In fact, half of Sylvia Young's lot of the era are probably in there.) Many thanks to Grant for providing this recording. (To the best of my knowledge, the contents of this video have never been available commercially anywhere in the world. Please also note that I don't monetise any of my uploads. Nevertheless, if you are a copyright holder and have an objection, please don't hesitate to contact me.)