First viewed : May 1986
No Place Like Home mercifully finished in April 1986 but the Beeb found a worthy successor for its Wednesday night slot with a repeat of this comedy series which I'd been fortunate enough to miss the first time round on BBC 2. I suppose it was marginally better than NPLH but only because Marcia Warren wasn't in it.
Lame Ducks starred John Duttine as Mr Drake a man who opts out of normal life after losing his job and his wife after a car accident. On his way, he picks up some other losers including Lorraine Chase and Tony Millan ( Tucker from Citizen Smith ) as a postman walking a giant ball around the world. Brian Murphy joined them as an incompetent private eye hired by Drake's wife. The odd bunch find an unlikely refuge in an abandoned railway station.
Lame Ducks' main failing was simple ; it wasn't funny at all. John Duttine was ubiquitous in TV drama in the late seventies and eighties but he wasn't a comic actor. Similarly, the series' writer Peter Hammond was better known for writing for crime and science fiction series and hadn't ventured into comedy before. Chase's Cockney airhead shtick was also wearing very thin by now.
The repeats did not persuade the Beeb to commission another series.
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