Some of Eric Sykes comedies are excellent and he's certainly a real legend - but it's sad to say that this one falls a bit flat, despite a fairly promising start.
The plot is fairly simple - an incompetent Scoutmaster takes a group of boys away by train to set up camp in a quiet woodland. But, it seems they may be in a spot of trouble (and not especially welcome) as there's more to the woods than meets they eye - some rather strange goings on involving crooks, police, MI5 and even the armed services.
What comedy there is seems a little labored, old-fashioned (even for the time) and obvious, and you're left with the feeling this could have been so much better perhaps with a slightly different approach. There's a good strong cast of familiar faces, and not surprisingly many who appear in other Thames shows, being that this is a Thames TV production.
I really wanted to like this, but it's ultimately a bit painful to watch, and seems to be aimed predominantly at children - although I'm sad to say I'm not sure many children these days would find much here in the way of entertainment.
The plot is fairly simple - an incompetent Scoutmaster takes a group of boys away by train to set up camp in a quiet woodland. But, it seems they may be in a spot of trouble (and not especially welcome) as there's more to the woods than meets they eye - some rather strange goings on involving crooks, police, MI5 and even the armed services.
What comedy there is seems a little labored, old-fashioned (even for the time) and obvious, and you're left with the feeling this could have been so much better perhaps with a slightly different approach. There's a good strong cast of familiar faces, and not surprisingly many who appear in other Thames shows, being that this is a Thames TV production.
I really wanted to like this, but it's ultimately a bit painful to watch, and seems to be aimed predominantly at children - although I'm sad to say I'm not sure many children these days would find much here in the way of entertainment.