Written by Alan Janes. Tx 23rd February 1979
Although the boys make it back safely, there’s no sign of the girls – so a full-scale search is initiated. Justin wants to tell Mr Mitchell that they saw Penny and Susi in the forest, but the others aren’t keen as they know how angry he’ll be. So for the moment they all keep quiet.
Apart from the natural dangers of the forest, an extra level of jeopardy is introduced when it’s revealed that a puma has escaped from a local wildlife park and is roaming around. Since we never see it (we’re told later that it’s been caught) it turns out to be something of a red herring, especially when there are other dangers – such as marshlands – which could be equally as dangerous.
Eventually Justin decides to speak up – despite Doyle’s threats and this marks something of a turning point in Justin’s character. He’s always been portrayed as rather weedy (in the previous episode the coach had to stop as he was feeling sick, for example) but he stands up to Doyle here and threatens to smash his face in if he doesn’t stop complaining.
Dramatically there’s not a great deal of tension during the search, since we can confidently assume that Penny and Susi are going to be found safe and well (a similar problem occurred in a later episode when Mr Baxter and Roland were lost on an outward bound course). But the hunt for the girls is quite effectively staged – especially when it gets darker. The only problem is that they presumably couldn’t afford to shoot at night, so instead a dark filter is placed over the camera to simulate the night-time ambiance. The dead giveaway is the fact that the blue sky can still be seen (an unavoidable side effect of day for night filming).
Mr Mitchell is all for punishing the boys when they get back to school but Miss Clarke (Jill Dixon) is much more forgiving, considering that if the trip was partly to teach the kids about the countryside, then they’ve certainly learnt how dangerous it can be. Her counsel wins the day and the pupils return to London a little wiser.
Archive Television Musings 
A decent conclusion to what effectively is a two-part story. In my opinion, the level of “peril” that Penny and Susi are suggested to be in, whilst hardly edge-of-the-seat stuff, is quie watchable, and was probably just about right for the just-before-teatime slot of the era. We know they’re in some mild trouble, but not enough to have the more sensitive younger viewer in tears. The addition of the escaped puma from a wildlife park does, on paper, maybe seem a bit clunky and “just because” to try and up the drama a bit; Thankfully, this rather concocted addition to the situation it isn’t overplayed in the episode enough to become a major problem.
Penny and Susi are likable characters, with Penny more strong-willed and Susi the quieter, slightly more innocent one, and Ruth Davies (often later credited as Rudi Davies) and Linda Slater working very well together. In fact, if they weren’t so good together, I don’t think this episode would be quite so watchable and instead of a cobbled together “pupils lost in the forest” tale which would just leave us yearning to get back to the more familiar confines of the school.
The curiosity regarding whether this story was, or wasn’t, originally conceived with Tucker in place of Doyle, continues. In some ways, it is quite easy to imagine Tucker not wanting to say anything about seeing the girls in the forest, which would land themselves in trouble if they did speak up, and it’s even easy to imagine him keep ‘moving the goal posts’ as Doyle does in the episode, keep arguing for “another half hour and if they’re not back, then we’ll tell Mitchell”; However as I mused in my post for the previous episode, if this were the case then I’d imagine things were extensively re-written as concern for the girls’ safety grew. Tucker, whilst often misguided, does generally have some sort of moral compass when he knows something is wrong, whereas Doyle forcibly threatens Justin not to say anything. Alan – often reasonably level-headed is undecided, and even Andrew is on the fence.
Either way it’s an interesting development for Justin, who turns out to be the most level headed of the four, and who by this episode has learned to stand up for himself far more, and ultimately stands up to Doyle’s bullying. Later on, when Doyle again tries to push him around, he ultimately says “Look, I’m sick of hearing your voice, so shut it or I’ll smash your face” – in one says this is naturally quite amusing, when delivered in Justin’s well-spoken voice, but at the same time, it’s a nice turnaround to see the character finally standing on his own two feet. In Series One, Justin could sometimes not be the most likeable of characters, sometimes doing himself no favours when trying to fit in with his new classmates, but by Series Two, he is actually a far more likeable character. Another amusing line, pre-speaking about where they saw Penny and Susi, is “You really are a twit sometimes, Doyle” – in one sense of course, this is about as strong language as they could really get away with on children’s tea-time telly (they had already pushed the limits with a few “bleeding” and a “bitch” previously in Series Two), although the word “twit” does seem very Justin!
The scenes supposedly after nightfall clearly being filmed during day (presumably evening as light was dimming) is noticeable, but in fairness not uncommon of so many TV series of the era, both UK produced, and the usually more flashy US counterparts of the time. Occasionally ‘The Sweeney’ and it’s would have some good night-time footage, but there are so many dramas of the era clearly shot in similar late daytime conditions, particularly when filming in rural areas. Presumably, limited working hours allowed for the young actors would have also been a factor.
It’s not one of my favourite Series Two storylines but I do quite like it. Oh, and as always, Michael Percival is on good form too.
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I’ve started watching Grange Hill from the beginning, inspired by That’s TV’s aborted broadcasting effort which ended after three episodes. I’m too young to have watched the first four series when they were first broadcast, so I’m pretty sure I’ve never seen this before.
Anyway, I’m commenting on this episode as someone who is extremely pedantic. At the end, the female teacher tells Penny that ‘the doctor will be here soon to look at your ankle, and then you can have a bath’. Within thirty seconds, Mr Mitchell tells them all to finish their soup and then go to bed. Which they duly do. Why does nobody say ‘But what about the doctor?’. It makes no sense!
It seems like there were a fair few inconsistencies and odd storylines in these first couple of series. Alan’s surname changing three times, teachers who appear for one ep and then are never heard from again, Justin being bullied by kids who he then becomes best friends with immediately, actors clearly well into their 20s (and in some cases with thinning hair) playing characters who are supposed to be 3rd or 4th year children, Benny’s uniform changes and half the school seemingly not required to wear uniform at all.
Overall, though, the nostalgia value and the late 70s backdrop trumps all of that.
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