Getting On

Set on a geriactric ward in a NHS hospital..Getting On is one of the best comedies of 2010. Jo Brand is a funny woman and turns out to be a great comic character actor. She is so convincing as the as the ward's dogsbody, the portrayal is as true to life as you will get and without being reminded Jo Brand was a former psychiatric nurse..this part must be written on her experiences. Joanna Scanlan and Ricky Grover are great and Vikki Pepperdine just brilliant. This first series is possibly the best and funniest scripts I have seen for a while. I am writing this on just seeing the first three episodes on DVD. I have just ordered the second series and hope it is as good as the first.

What I have seen so far 'Getting on' is as good as 'The Office'..I hope it gets even better. The BBC seem to be putting on a lot of good stuff of late. This certainly has cheered me and a few others up these dark winter nights.

Is this a "comedy"? It's not really jokes. It's story of strong women working under impossible conditions and against impossible odds. Maybe is the human comedy.

Kim Wilde (Jo Brand) is the lowly nurse who does the work of cleaning up, taking care of endless tasks, and trying to stay sane with a breaking marriage and a job with very little hope. Sister Den Scanlan (her line manager) is the main onduty nurse who is trying to be decent to the people under her care but also navigating difficult personal situations, especially with her own line manager, Hilary Loftus (Ricky Grover). And Dr. Pippa Moore (Vicki Pepperdine) is trying to keep the ward and hospital running by grasping for grants and performing bewildering research projects in hope of getting funding.

The ward is for elderly women, some who are there for their last journey, and some who are there for palliative care in hopes they will be well enough to be transferred to a better long-term care facility.

It's humour found in bathos. Small victories, small failures, some bright moments and perhaps more sad moments.

I loved the show and binge-watched it. I had seen Jo Brand first on "Would I Lie to You," and then when I saw her listed as a cast member in "Damned," I binged watched that. But it was over in 2 seasons. So this series comes up, and I am finding that I love this person who plays these characters: world-weary, gruff, testy, but really there is a person who wants to be kind and wants to be respected.

I wish there were more to this series just as I wish there was more to "Damned." But at least neither of them wear out their welcome. They're cut short before they get stale.

British humour like this is so different from American humor. We have a need on this side of the pond for the happy ending, and there's a greater freedom in British productions to let failure end a story. Much more realistic, sure, and harder to watch, but I think it's more satisfying.

But there are far more good points than bad . I particularly liked Vicky Pepperdine in the role of Dr Pippa Moore and is the interaction between Jo Brand and Joanne Scanlan. One or two of the episodes fell a bit flat but certainly episodes one and three of the first series had me crying with laughter. Well worth a watch to make your own mind up

The show is truly one of the funniest ever. The fact that it was written by the three leads makes it special. As with any show that is worth anything the situations it portrays are sad in their core but the show gives them a this is what it is point of view. Dr. Moore and Kim Wilde are just incredible and as you watch while the series unfolds you become immersed in their characters. I don't recall laughing as much as I have with this show. I've watched the first six episodes at least 10 times and I can't stop laughing each time. One more thing that needs mentioning is the way the show is filmed. It is documentary style and it is effective.

Comedies without laugh tracks tend to be great or awful. The 8.3 rating suggests that this is one of the greats. However, it just didn't resonate with me. A bunch of hospital personal talking over one another about trivialities didn't bring a smile to my face, let alone a chuckle.

However, the really big issue for me was the camera-work. It reminded me of the person who just got their first camcorder. Instead of taking videos, they wave the camera round like a paint brush on steroids. The cameraman would change the perspective from top-town to a shot looking up between the bed rails at one of the characters.

CONFESSION: I gave up after 10 minutes of the first episode. It probably got better later one because I just can't father the great 8.3 rating.