I still maintain its a tonal mess of a series! They really should have just ditched the humour and gone full on with the drama. Although that said so frustratingly dysfunctional are most of the cast it may have been considered unwatchable without the levity.
I still maintain its a tonal mess of a series! They really should have just ditched the humour and gone full on with the drama. Although that said so frustratingly dysfunctional are most of the cast it may have been considered unwatchable without the levity.
You could say the same things about Ideal, which had a similar mixture that veered between splapstick, surrealism, Family Guy-type bad taste, pathos and horror - while also being one of the funniest sit-coms ever shown. I like it just the way it is.
There have been some very strange criticisms on this thread, berating it for not being what it never tried to be in the first place. As it is, this is one the most original and unexpected UK dramas in a long time. Predictable it is not.
However, there are annoyances (mostly Angela's character) and, while I accept that the characters are heightened and it's very much not 'slice of life', the pedant in me couldn't get past the fact that they travelled down from Northampton to London (a journey that takes around an hour, I assume) and then all stayed in a hotel prior to the meeting with the minister. Also, why did the minister's aide stay in the hotel, when she is based in London and presumably has accommodation of her own?
Er, if you had watched last week you would have seen the train break down so they were late and the meeting with the minister was rescheduled for the next day. You may then quibble that they may as well have returned home to Northampton then travelled back down the next day of course.
Ah, forgot that bit. I still think the aide should have gone back to her own place but then I sound petty. So how did Danny know the meeting was the next day? Presumably because he didn't know what day it was.
I still maintain its a tonal mess of a series! They really should have just ditched the humour and gone full on with the drama. Although that said so frustratingly dysfunctional are most of the cast it may have been considered unwatchable without the levity.
I'm no expert on this, but I think the series relies heavily on the concept of "hyperreality"
A good example being when Jenny destroys her "Exit Interview Questionnaire". If you've ever been in a situation where you're confronted with filling one of these in, you would have been overwhelmed with a desire to do what she did. Instead, what we all do is just buckle and fill it in.
I've just caught up with the latest episode and thought it was the best one yet. It's almost like a Shakespearian tragi-comedy with elements of farce. It could almost have been written by the creators of Green Wing and is similar, in that if you didn't get that, you don't have a hope in hell of enjoying this.
Its tone is also slightly reminiscent of Ideal, which I believe to be the greatest comedy ever to be shown on television. The only character that falls flat is Angela, which admittedly, was probably a very difficult part to play. It would easy for her to have been portrayed as a reckless bimbo, but they went for something just a bit more difficult, which was a brave attempt, but for me just doesn't quite work. She certainly succeeds as the wicked witch, but is just a bit to blunt to be wholly successful.
I'm pleased that a lot of people just don't get it, because that's what sets the truly great comedy-drams apart from the safe and boring mainstream sit-coms.
As you find someone picking their nose and then eating a bogey funny, I think we can safely say you wouldn't know a 'great' comedy drama if it bit you on the bum!
I'm no expert on this, but I think the series relies heavily on the concept of "hyperreality"
A good example being when Jenny destroys her "Exit Interview Questionnaire". If you've ever been in a situation where you're confronted with filling one of these in, you would have been overwhelmed with a desire to do what she did. Instead, what we all do is just buckle and fill it in.
That is where the humour lies.
I thought the humour was in her destroying the questionnaire.
Hey ho I'm a bit stupid and am watching this for the drama.
I thought the humour was in her destroying the questionnaire. Hey ho I'm a bit stupid and am watching this for the drama.
Well, it does raise a wry smile from me and yes, there is dark humour but over-whelmingly, it is the drama that is gripping me. The interplay between all the characters I find really interesting and it certainly the only thing on TV at the moment (other than The Last Leg) that I am watching with any regularity.
As you find someone picking their nose and then eating a bogey funny, I think we can safely say you wouldn't know a 'great' comedy drama if it bit you on the bum!
And you obviously know nothing about the comedic potential of people ingesting bodily waste. It's all in the technique.
I thought the actor who plays Danny was superb last night, adding unexpected depth and vulnerablity to his character. I thought he was well OTT at first, but now think he plays that part brilliantly.
I must have blinked and missed the bit where it revealed that the snotty Minister's secretary had been attacked by her brother – perhaps I was skipping through the ad breaks and missed a bit. I saw her in hospital but thought it must have been a car crash.
It all seems so perfectly self-contained that I'm not sure that another series would work. All the same, I'm just so glad that I decided to investigate it this one and didn't miss out. It's the best thing on TV for me at the moment. I will miss it when it finishes.
I find I am unable to warm to Danny at all. OK, he's had some problems, but he was also given a great opportunity and he squandered it, damaging the lives and careers of other people in the process.
I am curious about his relationship with his PA. Did she start as a PA first, and become a social relationship after, or did he pick her up in a bar first and offer her a job? How much of the downhill slide originally came from her, and how much from him?
Ohh she's very cute, I'd be all over her like a cheap suit.
This is such an odd show.
I did get my laugh of the week from the punch up and Danny in the cupboard 'I'm not going out there'
Edit: Can't say I was happy with the ending of this.
Particularly Danny, wanted him to move on, but it looked like Angela was going to take him around in a loop again.
Hey ho odd show, all the players did their part, suspect it's down to them that this was watchable.
For the probably tiny audience who liked this, it's a shame it won't be back and get a chance to move the characters on.
Although how they'd do that is another boggle.
Anyone know anything else TV wise from the same writer.
It was a very self-contained story and couldn't possibly be extended into another series, but there were some marvellous performances, especially from Jenny last night.
I'm afraid that Danny played his part so well in this that he will always be compared to it in anything he's in from now on. People will tend to believe he really is that character.
I noticed that Angela had a part in the film, Ill Manors, that was on TV at the weekend, although I found that far too depressing to watch all the way through.
Comments
However, there are annoyances (mostly Angela's character) and, while I accept that the characters are heightened and it's very much not 'slice of life', the pedant in me couldn't get past the fact that they travelled down from Northampton to London (a journey that takes around an hour, I assume) and then all stayed in a hotel prior to the meeting with the minister. Also, why did the minister's aide stay in the hotel, when she is based in London and presumably has accommodation of her own?
End of quibbles...
I'm no expert on this, but I think the series relies heavily on the concept of "hyperreality"
A good example being when Jenny destroys her "Exit Interview Questionnaire". If you've ever been in a situation where you're confronted with filling one of these in, you would have been overwhelmed with a desire to do what she did. Instead, what we all do is just buckle and fill it in.
That is where the humour lies.
That was no revelation unless you have been asleep!
As you find someone picking their nose and then eating a bogey funny, I think we can safely say you wouldn't know a 'great' comedy drama if it bit you on the bum!
I thought the humour was in her destroying the questionnaire.
Hey ho I'm a bit stupid and am watching this for the drama.
Well, it does raise a wry smile from me and yes, there is dark humour but over-whelmingly, it is the drama that is gripping me. The interplay between all the characters I find really interesting and it certainly the only thing on TV at the moment (other than The Last Leg) that I am watching with any regularity.
Obviously
Oh gawd, you're in at the birth of the new Algonquin round table.
Always where I wanted to be
I wasn't being serious when I said "Obviously" ;-) You knew that I'm sure.
He is the best one in it by far for me.
I am curious about his relationship with his PA. Did she start as a PA first, and become a social relationship after, or did he pick her up in a bar first and offer her a job? How much of the downhill slide originally came from her, and how much from him?
Ohh she's very cute, I'd be all over her like a cheap suit.
This is such an odd show.
I did get my laugh of the week from the punch up and Danny in the cupboard 'I'm not going out there'
Edit: Can't say I was happy with the ending of this.
Particularly Danny, wanted him to move on, but it looked like Angela was going to take him around in a loop again.
Hey ho odd show, all the players did their part, suspect it's down to them that this was watchable.
For the probably tiny audience who liked this, it's a shame it won't be back and get a chance to move the characters on.
Although how they'd do that is another boggle.
Anyone know anything else TV wise from the same writer.
I'm afraid that Danny played his part so well in this that he will always be compared to it in anything he's in from now on. People will tend to believe he really is that character.
I noticed that Angela had a part in the film, Ill Manors, that was on TV at the weekend, although I found that far too depressing to watch all the way through.