It's maybe not surprising this only lasted one series, but it still has things going for it. Richard Wilson more or less reprises his Victor Meldrew and steals every scene he's in with his immaculate comic timing and trademark delivery. The scenery is gorgeous, set on a stretch of the Thames between Sunbury Lock and Hampton Sailing Club, although the name Ravensbeck and the number of northern accents seems to hint it's trying to set itself somewhere less London-centric - in a mythical middle England where the sun always shines, the only traffic is of the boating variety, and the only commerce is to be found in quaint little pubs that aren't mobbed as soon as the weather's fine.
Sue Johnston's character brings a certain Darling Buds of May warmth to the roster of characters, and the brusque but non-HR way in which Samantha Beckinsale's character deals with the casual and specific sexism on the job is rather different from the way it would be handled now.
David Tennant is pretty wasted in the sort of "Ballykissangel hapless male hero in unrequited love with the feisty young colleague" role, and doesn't really get to show the flair he shows in so much other fare, but it's still interesting watching him and Jason Watkins try their best with a fairly thin script.
It's nice not to have a laughter track, but the producers have over- compensated for this with heavy-handed jaunty incidental music, as if they couldn't quite handle the silence. And although having gentle stories where not much happens was never a problem for Last of the Summer Wine, here it's hampered by the stories often having very weak endings. And the Sarge character played by Geoffrey Hutchings was a mistake. He's a Col. Henry Blake type character- nominally in charge but actually always off fishing. But he's far too much of a fool to be tolerated, either by his colleagues or the viewer; no matter how much of a backwater this place is supposed to be (and no pun intended)- such an incompetent would never have lasted such a length of time in this day & age.
But such gripes aside, I enjoyed stumbling across it on Youtube- and watching the likes of Josie Lawrence and Celia Imrie doing their cameos. It was pretty star-studded for only 7 episodes.
