Photo Finish (South Shields)

The Fletchers (Ray Spencer and Jane Holman) can’t wait for daughter Suzie (Jill Dellow) to bring her new boyfriend home to meet them; Shirley hears wedding bells and Bob blames her tinnitus. True to his previous “form”, Bob still can’t resist a bet on the horses and it’s no surprise that Suzie brings home a gambling man to tempt him back into the betting shop. But BJ (Russell Floyd) isn’t what they were expecting and Bob plots to split the happy couple up, with some limited (but comedic) success.

Returning to the familiar setting of the Fletcher sitting room is a pleasure. Spencer and Dellow return to the roles they played in Raising The Stakes recently with Holman taking on the formidable Shirley, previously played by Angela Szalay. The change in cast has no effect on the chemistry between the Fletcher couple, Holman able to recreate the sympathy and humour of Shirley and Spencer sliding back into the familiar territory of Bob with ease.

There’s plenty of gags and twists to the tale to keep the audience on its toes keeping the laughs coming until the end. Another example of clever sub-plots that come to fruition to bring the story to life that makes this another success for Waugh and Wood.