BBC Landmark Sitcom Season

[Lat-Literal]

I have seen four of these so far and have been pleasantly surprised.

The approaches have been imaginative and innovative and the acting and scripts have mainly been good.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/lat.../sitcom-season

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

I was greatly impressed by the Porridge update. I managed three minutes of the Are You Being Served? and was unpleasantly impressed with how the whole thing was even worse than the original! I didn't watch any of the other series when they were "current", so don't intend seeing how the remakes/updates fare.

But what is it with TV resurrections at the moment? Not just the Beeb, but Cold Feet on C4, too?!

[french frank]

Well, they've obviously been revived because the BBC thought they were enormously popular the first time so they'll surely be popular the second time.

For me, 'BBC popular comedy' of the past 30-40 years (with a few outstanding exceptions), is something that would make me willingly emigrate. And that's not to denigrate the performances: it's the concept of what is funny.

[Lat-Literal]

I was greatly impressed by the Porridge update. I managed three minutes of the Are You Being Served? and was unpleasantly impressed with how the whole thing was even worse than the original! I didn't watch any of the other series when they were "current", so don't intend seeing how the remakes/updates fare.

But what is it with TV resurrections at the moment? Not just the Beeb, but Cold Feet on C4, too?!

According to Radio 4's "Broadcasting House", which mentioned the current series "Poldark" and "Victoria" this morning, it is because we live in horrible times and we want to feel safe. History is static. News moves. That movement can be a problem. Yes - I did identify with that assessment. Specifically, on this BBC comedy season, "Porridge" could also have been troubling. It was set in relatively recent times. Kevin Bishop who was very convincing as Fletcher's (the late Ronnie Barker's) grandson was in prison for a modern crime - a sort of cyber banking thing - and there were a lot of current social references. Still, it was warm and thrillingly, the original writing team of Clement and La Frenais wrote the script, many decades on from the Barker series (1974-1977). "Young Hyacinth" by the extraordinary 86 year old Roy Clarke was a prequel to "Keeping Up Appearances", focusing on the future Mrs Bucket’s early life as a domestic servant for the local gentry. Set in the 1950s, it was a period piece with outdoor scenes in Clarke's "Summer Wine" style. The young actresses who played Hyacinth's three sisters did well in capturing the essence of the older characters in "Appearances" and Kerry Howard who played the role of Hyacinth was very good indeed. On a philosophical level the programme helped to explain why Mrs Bucket became the person she was in late middle age - her early outlook and social experience.

The new versions of "Are You Being Served?" and especially "Till Death Us Do Part" were always going to be challenging to the point of controversial given changes in social attitudes. To attempt them was stupid or brave depending on viewpoint. The first was set in 1988, jut three years after the programme ended so the set was much the same but it had a new writing team, new actors and a few new characters. Some of the postcard humour was more "edgy" than the original in line, I suppose, with these times and also some involvement of those who produced "Benidorm". Mainly it worked and the viewing figures were high although it has had a lukewarm critical response. The Croft and Lloyd wrote the originals. That and the Croft and Perry partnership ("Dad's Army", "Hi De Hi", "Allo 'Allo" etc) is impossible to equal and the original series was memorable not least for Mollie Sugden's Mrs Slocombe and John Inman's Mr Humphries. But there were laughs in the script and the main actors' replacements were quite successful. The full cast included familiar comedy actors John Challis and Roy Barraclough and that helped. As for "Till Death Us Do Part", that was done as if it were a theatre production so it was distinctive in that way. It was a "lost" Speight script and Simon Day was rather effective in recreating the character of Alf Garnett although as with the original series I didn't find it hugely amusing.

Sitcom has always been closely linked to social history and in all four examples there was an opportunity to consider where we came from and where we are now. Eyebrows would have been raised perhaps no more than three years ago at the remaking of the latter two programmes and in the case of Speight's vehicle there will be many who would have hoped it would never again see the light of day. This, though, is the year of a partially UKIP led Brexit. Some things we thought had gone away have never disappeared. Some of what we thought was the past was not so. It hasalso been a period when the BBC has been scrutinized to the nth degree, not always flatteringly, and after several decades there is a sense that there isn't a lot of money sloshing around at every level. While the instinct may be to cheer to the rafters what this summer has brought politically or to condemn it out of hand with exasperation, the saner approach is to observe and ask collectively "so what is this Britain?". If the BBC's judgement is anything to go by, it is a country that will view the camp Mr Humphreys not with offended outrage but with a feeling of ease with many aspects of diversity. In this episode, he was simply one of a number of characters and that was fine. That idea of Britain being a country of characters goes back to the Carry On films and, before it, the music hall. More jarring was the decision to accommodate questionable attitudes towards women. Some of the dialogue in the new "Till Death Us Do Part" seemed prehistoric but then shortly afterwards there was an airing of the first episode of a new comedy series "Our Ex Wives". It stepped way beyond anything Alf Garnett would have said and being new it was more overtly sexual. In these times those who welcomed it would turn any comparison into contrast and indeed refute comparison. Such are political perspective and social context as starting points for influencing outlook.

The BBC was rightly cautious about the new "Till Death Us Do Part". It was broadcast on BBC 4 rather than BBC 1 or BBC 2 presumably on the grounds that it could only be shown to a sophisticated audience. The programme was followed by a five minute one on the character of Garnett. A range of people in the comedy business gave their opinions on him as a comedic character. In truth this was designed to smooth over any misgivings. He was a great comic creation but to be pitied for being so pathetic. That was the gist of it and while it was designed for the youngish viewer those of us who can recall him first time round knew that it was the same axis upon which there had been debate before. Indeed, we understood that he was regarded as heroic by many just as Springsteen found his ironic "Born in the USA" lyric taken up by many as a rallying anthem and the BBC knew that too.

Which brings us to race. Interestingly, the BBC managed to dig out an unused script that hardly made any reference to it, preferring Garnett's old fashioned attitudes to women take the centre stage. In 2016, few would have been laughing with him in his attitudes to women rather than laughing at him. That part is pretty plain. In fact, the most overtly political moment was when he condemned the Labour Party which had always been a recurring theme. Sadly one sensed more people would be with him on that point today. But what of race? That five minute programme I mentioned did include two or three people of ethnic background. One was Trix Worrell, the writer of the British Guyanan comedy series of the late 1980s/early 1990s "Desmond's" and one of my favourite comedy writers. I was very pleased that he was interviewed albeit briefly as I had never seen or heard him before. He seemed content enough with Alf's resurrection. But it is worth saying here that repeats of Croft and Perry's pretty good "It Ain't Half Hot Mum" from the mid 1970s are still off limits because of its racial stereotyping. Clearly - and for better or worse - the BBC is only prepared to challenge so-called political correctness on areas other than race at least for the moment. And maybe - just maybe - that is a close reflection of where the powers that be feel we are in Britain now. That is, it is just racial humour that is strictly out of bounds.

[Lat-Literal]

......I have now seen a fifth - Marks and Gran's "Goodnight Sweetheart" - which appears to have been especially well received. It is cleverly structured, making reference to three eras - 1962, 1999 and 2016. The main character travels from 1962 to 2016 but we know that it was 1999 when he originally travelled back in time (to WW2). Consequently his surprise at the social changes he sees on arriving in 2016 highlights for us what has changed since 1999, ie just 17 years. Many have asked for a new series to be commissioned:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b07tjbbw/goodnight-sweetheart-many-happy-returns