The third and final teleplay in the series begins with a more serious tone as the death of Maurice's mother-in-law brings together three of the original four couples under a church roof, although even at mum's funeral, Maurice can't help being a giddy fool (which is understandable, given he loathed the woman), and it's made pretty clear via a single gesture in the opening scene that The Booze Cruise III: The Scattering will have a smattering of morose humour and low blows to the just departed.

Like the prior teleplay, booze isn't the element that bonds the neighbours and takes them on a road trip. Instead of a quest for cheap French libations, Maurice must follow mum's final wishes so that he may get a set of antique clocks (which he plans to flip for some substantial quid). All he has to do is scatter the ashes at her favourite moor, and he wins the ticking heirlooms.

Writers Paul Minett and Brian Leveson stick to their assured template, and around the primary ‘scattering' storyline are two secondary threads: Rob – now separated from wife Leoni due to his diddling with his peroxide fling from the first two films – must deal with riding in Dave's van with both women at claw's-length; and to ensure his company remains solvent, Dave willingly carries a delicate, mysterious package for evil corporate meanie Marcus (slimy Ian Richardson in one of his final roles).

(Like Dave's attempts to subvert a fatty diet in the previous film, the screenwriters have Dave and Cath trying to start a family; it's pure sitcom kibble meant to keep marginalized characters busy now and then, and Minett and Leveson more or less abandon the tiresome scenes when the scattering is brought to the forefront in the teleplay's final third.

A stopover in a small town to repair Dave's kaput van sets up a few amusing gags (a clever tobacco switcheroo nicely embarrasses poor Maurice), and the teleplay has a midsection that's a bit more mature in nature, with Rob trying to figure out which woman he wants after being a wanker to his wife.

Unlike the prior film, the plotting is tighter, mostly because the secondary storylines don't involve as many cutaways, and the characters regroup and reunite before the finale. Once everyone treks to the moors, however, the humour becomes more contrived, and the fate of Rob's marriage is wrapped up in a typical compact, feel-good scene that ensures everyone is happy and giddy before the end credit roll.

The score by Mark Thomas (Rottweiler, Dog Soldiers, Back in Business) is just as thematically repetitive as Jim Parker's scores for the first two teleplays, which makes one assume when director Paul Seed likes a theme, his direction towards the poor composer and music editor is to apply it verbatim, and ad nauseum (which is frankly oppressive, and amateurish).

In terms of linear storytelling and a marked reduction of maudlin speeches, Booze Cruise III is an improvement over II , and marks a fitting end to the fluffy and quite fun trilogy.

The Booze Cruise trio are available in widescreen (1.85:1) on Region 2 DVDs, whereas the Region 1 edition from BFS is apparently fullscreen (1.33:1), and each teleplay has been clunkily re-branded Cheers and Tears.

© 2008 Mark R. Hasan