Happy Families

Happy Families follows Guy Fuddle (Ade Edmondson) in a search for his four sisters. The first episode is an introduction, then each episode is dedicated to one sister and in the last episode they reunite with the grandmother. Every episode has it's good moments. The episode with Joyce and the people fleeing from hospital to avoid her singing reminded me of Hyacinth from Keeping up Appearances. And Roxanne was great, especially the part when Guy is getting her out of jail. I also liked Cassie, a satirical view of the world of soap-opera stars.

This series shows how versatile Jennifer Saunders is. She plays five different characters and she is believable as each one of them. The conclusion is a little silly but that doesn't hurt the appeal of this show. Ade is wonderful as goodhearted, naive Guy. Dawn French (cook) and Helen Lederer (maid) are very good in their respective parts. I especially liked Flossie's (Helen's) accent. Also, Hugh Laurie and Stephen Fry add a little charm to the overall impression. Rik Mayall has a small part in the episode about Madeline. His portrayal of a neurotic French priest is magnificent.