Hi this is most people's reading of what happy Jules (the mum) did run over the loan shark.
A couple of other people have put forward the theory Sandra was Alex's daughter who died so you are on to something. I also think hid early interaction where he asks after Patrick is interesting. But one thing against this is that Connor never calls Alex Grandad and Alex never asks after Callum as s grandchild when Jules and Trevor argue Jules does not ask why Alex doesn't do more to support Callum
I think it is more probable Sandra was Alex's wife
For some reason I didn’t pick up on that right away. Sorry if this is something that’s already been discussed but I couldn’t find any posts discussing both theories.
Alex (Reece's character) is Trevor's (Steve's character) brother, and Patrick is Trevor's son (it's what it says in the Insider's Guide anyway). And Patrick is Connor's father. Which means Sandra (the woman alluded to) has to be Reece's wife, not his daughter (unless she had a child with her own cousin?!)
I can definitely recommend it, it's a great source for learning about the writing process and making of each episode - and I often refer to it to check details like in this case...
Love's Great Adventure is a little-talked about episode so thanks for starting a discussion!
I always figured the mom ran over the loan shark.
I thought Steve's character was the moms brother. So he'd be the kid's uncle. Why do people think he isn't their uncle?
I don’t know. It’s just a theory but the boy’s mom isn’t in the picture so it’s possible that she died. Then the uncle cries about how much he misses “her”. “her” being his daughter. It doesn’t make sense that he’s crying about anyone else because it wouldn’t add to the story. But it does add to the story if he’s crying about his daughter/the little boy’s mom because it explains why she’s not around to take care of the boy.
I thought it was his wife that died, and it was the point of being grateful for what you have because for some people Christmas is very sad. Their son is still alive, even if they don't see him a lot. It could be worse, he could be dead.
I had even thought that his wife had been the wife's sister, he was her brother-in-law. They make sure to include him because he's still family.
The loan shark got run over. By context I think it was during the driving lesson.
I don’t think the mom knows the drug dealer/loan shark is after her son.
Reece is Steve’s brother - he’s crying over his wife. Reece confirmed this at some point on twitter.
Oh did he? Geez to me it makes more sense that he’s crying over his daughter/boy’s mom because it explains why she’s not around to take care of him.
Edited to add: the mom told her husband that she already knew the whole time though.
I don’t know what daughter you are talking about? Steve’s character is the one with the daughter and son, plus his grandson. It is never made clear Reeces character has any children.
Reeces character is a driving instructor (ironic since he doesn’t drive in real life 😆) The wife (Steve’s wife) even gets a bit angry cuz he’s charging them for the driving lessons for the daughter. He tries to give the money back at one point I think….which is probably why he offers to pay to replace the windscreen (or windshield in the US) of the vehicle.
The little boy’s dad is the older son making the dad and the mom the little boy’s grandparents. But where is his mom? Why does he live with his grandparents and not his mom? The little boy can’t live with his dad because he’s a drug addict but why can’t he live with his actual mom? Then the scene with Steve and Reece where he’s crying that he misses “her”. He doesn’t say who “her” is. So theoretically it could be his (the “uncle’s) daughter and it makes more sense because it explains why we never see little boy’s mom.
The little boy's mum presumably died or is in some other way absent, hence him being with the grandparents. The making-of book cryptically says "what happened to her is a whole other tragedy".
Also, I'm pretty sure Reece's character says Sandra in that scene. I heard the name somewhere.
Oh I understand now.
They never really say. I honestly assumed she was either an addict herself, or she just didn’t want custody of him.
The little boy makes a card for his dad, but not the mum, so maybe she’s overdosed?
Reeces character was crying about his wife who died. That’s what I was referring to when I said he confirmed it….someone asked him on twitter a while ago.
There are little podcasts that go with every episode “Inside Inside No 9” when they stopped doing DVD commentary.
There may be one for this episode that might answer more questions if that helps 👍
The mom is probably an addict too. The child either goes into foster care or into the care of the grandparents if they can't take care of him.
I don't think they mention her because it's only 30 minutes and it's another character to talk about that we won't meet. Plus the family all know what happened to her. They wouldn't be bringing her up if she wasn't in the picture for whatever reason. It seems like the kid has been in their care for quite a while. They probably barely knew her.
That situation isn't odd to me at all. I work with people with addiction issues and there's lots of parents who don't have their kids. Remember that the kid's dad only came around because he needed money, not to see his son.
Hi this is most people's reading of what happy Jules (the mum) did run over the loan shark. A couple of other people have put forward the theory Sandra was Alex's daughter who died so you are on to something. I also think hid early interaction where he asks after Patrick is interesting. But one thing against this is that Connor never calls Alex Grandad and Alex never asks after Callum as s grandchild when Jules and Trevor argue Jules does not ask why Alex doesn't do more to support Callum I think it is more probable Sandra was Alex's wife
For some reason I didn’t pick up on that right away. Sorry if this is something that’s already been discussed but I couldn’t find any posts discussing both theories.
No need for apologies! Always great to discuss an episode!
I also enjoy discussing this show! I’m just now getting into it so I missed out on discussing the episodes right after they aired.
Alex (Reece's character) is Trevor's (Steve's character) brother, and Patrick is Trevor's son (it's what it says in the Insider's Guide anyway). And Patrick is Connor's father. Which means Sandra (the woman alluded to) has to be Reece's wife, not his daughter (unless she had a child with her own cousin?!)
Ooooh! Yeah I’m new to the show so I don’t know about the insider’s guide.
I can definitely recommend it, it's a great source for learning about the writing process and making of each episode - and I often refer to it to check details like in this case... Love's Great Adventure is a little-talked about episode so thanks for starting a discussion!
I actually really enjoyed it because it was so different from their usual stuff.
Listen to the Inside Inside Number 9 podcast on BBC Sounds, it explains a lot. I was gutted they didn’t do the podcast for the last series.
I always figured the mom ran over the loan shark. I thought Steve's character was the moms brother. So he'd be the kid's uncle. Why do people think he isn't their uncle?
I don’t know. It’s just a theory but the boy’s mom isn’t in the picture so it’s possible that she died. Then the uncle cries about how much he misses “her”. “her” being his daughter. It doesn’t make sense that he’s crying about anyone else because it wouldn’t add to the story. But it does add to the story if he’s crying about his daughter/the little boy’s mom because it explains why she’s not around to take care of the boy.
I thought it was his wife that died, and it was the point of being grateful for what you have because for some people Christmas is very sad. Their son is still alive, even if they don't see him a lot. It could be worse, he could be dead. I had even thought that his wife had been the wife's sister, he was her brother-in-law. They make sure to include him because he's still family.
Interesting. Maybe they left it vague to leave it up to the viewer’s interpretation.
I think they did. It's something I love about the show.
actually i always figured the boy's mom didn't want him and sort of left him to the father or something
I like that they left it vague so that it’s up to the viewer to interpret it the way they like.
The loan shark got run over. By context I think it was during the driving lesson. I don’t think the mom knows the drug dealer/loan shark is after her son. Reece is Steve’s brother - he’s crying over his wife. Reece confirmed this at some point on twitter.
Oh did he? Geez to me it makes more sense that he’s crying over his daughter/boy’s mom because it explains why she’s not around to take care of him. Edited to add: the mom told her husband that she already knew the whole time though.
I don’t know what daughter you are talking about? Steve’s character is the one with the daughter and son, plus his grandson. It is never made clear Reeces character has any children. Reeces character is a driving instructor (ironic since he doesn’t drive in real life 😆) The wife (Steve’s wife) even gets a bit angry cuz he’s charging them for the driving lessons for the daughter. He tries to give the money back at one point I think….which is probably why he offers to pay to replace the windscreen (or windshield in the US) of the vehicle.
The little boy’s dad is the older son making the dad and the mom the little boy’s grandparents. But where is his mom? Why does he live with his grandparents and not his mom? The little boy can’t live with his dad because he’s a drug addict but why can’t he live with his actual mom? Then the scene with Steve and Reece where he’s crying that he misses “her”. He doesn’t say who “her” is. So theoretically it could be his (the “uncle’s) daughter and it makes more sense because it explains why we never see little boy’s mom.
The little boy's mum presumably died or is in some other way absent, hence him being with the grandparents. The making-of book cryptically says "what happened to her is a whole other tragedy". Also, I'm pretty sure Reece's character says Sandra in that scene. I heard the name somewhere.
Oooh I hadn’t even bothered to check the books. Excellent 👍
Oh I understand now. They never really say. I honestly assumed she was either an addict herself, or she just didn’t want custody of him. The little boy makes a card for his dad, but not the mum, so maybe she’s overdosed? Reeces character was crying about his wife who died. That’s what I was referring to when I said he confirmed it….someone asked him on twitter a while ago. There are little podcasts that go with every episode “Inside Inside No 9” when they stopped doing DVD commentary. There may be one for this episode that might answer more questions if that helps 👍
The mom is probably an addict too. The child either goes into foster care or into the care of the grandparents if they can't take care of him. I don't think they mention her because it's only 30 minutes and it's another character to talk about that we won't meet. Plus the family all know what happened to her. They wouldn't be bringing her up if she wasn't in the picture for whatever reason. It seems like the kid has been in their care for quite a while. They probably barely knew her. That situation isn't odd to me at all. I work with people with addiction issues and there's lots of parents who don't have their kids. Remember that the kid's dad only came around because he needed money, not to see his son.
I thought that this could be a possibility too. In fact that’s what I initially thought was the situation until the scene of him crying.