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<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:14.0pt;color:black">Episode No. 12, "If It's Got Your Number on It"<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="color:black"><img width="371" height="281" style="width:3.8645in;height:2.927in" id="Picture_x0020_1" src="cid:image001.png@01D451B3.BFE02280"></span></b><b><span style="color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="color:black">Writer Elaine Morgan’s only script in the series proves to be a strong one, as three major plot lines are tied together convincingly: Philip is home on leave, Freda meets wartime sweetheart Owen Thomas, and
Peter Collins feels compelled to seek enlistment.<br>
<br>
Owen Thomas establishes himself as a sympathetic character from the very instant we meet him outside the shelter, and Australian-born actor Mark Edwards possesses an on-screen charisma that recalls a young Gary Cooper. Personally, I think Owen would have made
a nice “catch” for Freda, and her subsequent ambivalent feelings toward him have always bothered me. Not that this is bad writing at all—quite the contrary! The very human “games people play,” including fickle attitudes of the sexes, is captured beautifully
by the screenplay's author. Still, it is frustrating to watch their relationship unravel, and my heart goes out to poor, bewildered Owen, particularly when (in the very next episode) he visits the Ashtons for Christmas and inexplicably gets the cold shoulder.
Jean cautions Owen that Freda might not seem the same as before, a change of attitude that she ascribes to the fact that Peter was killed. Freda tells Owen that even she herself cannot explain the change, except to say that she no longer feels the same about
him.</span></b><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="color:black">The pressures that Peter Collins is forced to endure are formidable indeed: unresponsive Freda Ashton, his mother’s manipulative nature, his voluntary work at the ARP on top of daytime work as an exempt draftsman,
the cruel looks and unspoken thoughts of “slacker,” and, perhaps most challenging of all, the long shadow of older brother Danny, whose naval service is posited as an ideal well beyond Peter’s modest reach. (“Danny is different,” says Mrs. Collins.) I feel
sorry for Peter, and ultimately he comes across as a tragic figure. Mrs. Collins is nearly as thoughtless and self-centred as another emotionally smothering mother, Celia Porter. And yet one cannot help but feel some compassion for her when director Gerry
Mill utilises an effective long-shot, even zooming out a bit further to show the woman’s pathetic isolation as Peter is leaving her alone. One of my favourite lines of dialogue in this episode arrives when Freda advises her troubled friend, “Don’t turn yourself
into a tough guy, Peter.” Somehow these melodramatic words manage to strike an honest chord, like something Freda Ashton really would say in that situation. Writer Elaine Morgan seems to be giving an affectionate nod toward the vocabulary of film noir, and
it works quite well in this context. The closing shot of “If It’s Got Your Number on It” is a disturbing one, as Edwin looks from the damaged ARP post to the flaming ruins outside. The camera zooms in to reveal the lifeless body of Peter Collins.<br>
<br>
Peter and Owen interact in two ways—emotionally, in vying for Freda’s affections, and physically, in a violent scuffle that results in a cut lip for Owen and a swollen eye for Peter. Philip’s protective side is evident when he leaps to his sister’s defence
upon hearing that Owen was kissing her. Later, though, he becomes chummy with the uniformed Owen when they engage in (as Peter contemptuously terms it) some “shop talk.”
<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="color:black">Barbara Flynn’s performance throughout “If It’s Got Your Number on It” is wonderful, but my favourite moment would be her delayed reaction when she arrives home and belatedly spots Philip sitting right there
among the others. It is so natural, presented with humour and perfect timing. And then there is that funny scene in a café when Freda tries to act oh-so-sophisticated by smoking with Owen Thomas. Her coughing tips him off that she is not very adept at this
social grace, as does the unpracticed way she holds her cigarette, as if it were a child’s crayon.</span></b><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
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