Mike Bassett: Manager

STAR RATING: ***** The Works **** Just Misses the Mark *** That Little Bit In Between ** Lagging Behind * The Pits

Colourful football manager Mike Bassett (Ricky Tomlinson) returns to manage Wirral County FC, a struggling football club in need of wins. The series follows the trials and tribulations of his run as manager and the various scrapes he gets into.

This series leaves me in a bit of an unusual predicament. Usually, it's the case that a great comedy series spawns a movie adaptation that turns out to be a very bad idea (usually because the length of the film can't handle the 30 minute segment of a show and stretches the joke out a bit too far.) But here it is the opposite case and we have a TV series adaptation of a film that was obviously popular enough to spawn it. And, the great news is, it ain't half bad.

Like the film, the series simply has moments that genuinely work and are really quite funny, not the moments of 'laugh-out loud hilarity' the film had, but still quite amusing. This is owed in no small part of course to the cast, mainly Tomlinson, whose standard loud-mouthed, barking, over-reacting scouser act is worked to pleasingly funny effect. The supporting cast (like Tonka!) also have their moments, but he is the driving force of the show.

The show is not big or memorable enough to be an absolute comedy classic, but when it has it's moments, like the film it was adapted from, it works. ***

To say this is the best sit com made about football wouldn't be saying much as there really haven't been to many, unless you include Footballers wives. For those who remember the film the film then Mike Bassett manager carries on where the film left off. Mike returns to his dream job of managing Wirral Country the club his father played for.We then follow Mikes journey of trying to keep his team in the league his marriage together and the gifted genius Tonka (Gazza!) from pissing his career away once again. For football fans this series is a fantastic swipe at the modern game, and even if your this is a very funny and enjoyable series. 8/10

Long after being fired from England for losing to Lichtenstein, Mike and his wife are holidaying in Spain, with her hoping to make it a permanent move off their savings. However when he gets an offer to return to professional management though, he cannot turn it down and the pair find themselves back in the north of England with him in charge of Wirral County in Elsmere Port. He gets off to a great start (with six consecutive defeats) and he'll need to do something to keep the job.

The film Mike Bassett England Manager was a basic but enjoyable affair that kept moving forward well enough with enough energy to cover all the problems. The television spin-off from the film had potential but it also had to get more of a story to it to be able to get through 3 hours of television instead of 90 minutes of film. The plot steps down to the lower leagues and charts the struggles as a manager without the pressure to make the narrative too big. It isn't anything great but it does do just about enough to keep things moving along. The writing is pretty broad and makes reasonable mileage off the football clichés as well as the odd touch where it switches them. I personally would have preferred a bit of smarter writing given that the whole subject has plenty of room for sharp joking as well as the broader stuff – although the fact that it is totally the latter is a bit of a weakness. The chief executive and the board are ripe for sharp digs but the series takes the easy option of making them basic characters.

The laughs are so-so, with some very funny moments but perhaps not that many. The series is helped by aiming for a nice basic chunk of the audience, while the laughter-track-free delivery helps because it doesn't force you to laugh. The cast are mostly quite good with their broad characters but the series is really carried by the performance of Tomlinson. He isn't brilliant but he makes it more engaging than it should be simply by the force of his personality. The support is pretty good with some of the actors from the film reappearing and do quite well. Redman is pretty good but she is acting in another series, one that has more of a serious heart to it than this one. Skinner's impression of Gazza is simple but enjoyable. Edge is understated but effective as the coach but Stevens makes almost no effort or impression as the chief executive.

Overall, like the film, this is a basic comedy but one that just about does enough to get by. The need for a six episode plot shows some weaknesses in the writing but mainly it has enough motion to it to keep moving forward. It could have been smarter and could have been funnier but it is still an enjoyable comedy that will please the football mad, male audience that it is clearly aimed at.