A Sharp Intake of Breath (TV Series) Match of the Day (1981) User Reviews

Match of the Day

[Prismark10 · 6/10 · 22 December 2017]

Sheila has always thought Peter has been working late on friday nights when in fact he has been having drinks at the pub with his colleagues including a young Linda Robson.

Peter is not good at getting the rounds in as he picks up the wrong tray of drinks and then when looking for some lost coins knocking some drinks over.

However Peter's biggest problem is trying to get back the tickets to the England football match at Wembley Stadium that he mistakenly puts in the postbox.

He has to deal with a suspicious policeman, a jobsworth postman, a tearaway on a skateboard who steals the ticket and then a guard dog.

I would like to say I feel sorry for Peter but even when he retrieves the match ticket he still does not put them properly back so Sheila leaves it out as a note for the milkman leaving Peter no option but try to sneak into Wembley stadium.

There is a nice sequence where Peter dreams he is captaining England in the World Cup final against West Germany with footage used from the 1966 final.

David Jason is in his element with the knockabout comedy and the frustrations of life.

Just the ticket!

[ShadeGrenade · 8/10 · 28 March 2009]

Peter is looking forward to England playing West Germany at Wembley Stadium. Walking past a post box, he absent-mindedly pops in the envelope containing his ticket. A policeman, seeing him trying to put his hand inside, wanders over. The postman ( Albert Moses ) opens the box, but refuses to hand back the ticket as tampering with Royal Mail is illegal.

Barnes snatches it but, before he can do a runner, a boy on a skateboard grabs it from him, and races off. The chase is on...

I do not know if this was a remake of one of Powell's earlier shows ( as 'Wheels' was ), but it is an okay episode, giving David Jason a chance to do physical stuff such as climbing over the fence of a factory, running, and ( in a 'Billy Liar' type dream sequence ) fantasising about being part of the English football team. Richard Wilson is still missed though.

Alister Williamson, cast as the stadium's 'security officer', was Eric Duffy's dad in both 'Please Sir!' and 'The Fenn Street Gang'. A young Linda Robson plays one of Peter's colleagues, whom we see in a pub. Albert Moses was, of course, in 'Mind Your Language', scripted by Powell.

Funniest moment - in the pub, Peter bends down to pick up his dropped ticket and, when he rises, knocks over a tray of drinks a man is carrying.

CODA: I note that the fourth season did not carry a credit for the late Ronnie Taylor, such as 'Series Created By...'. Bearing in mind that the show was originally his idea, it seems somewhat odd.