Having read that this had been voted 6th worst comedy of all time, I watched with trepidation but was pleasantly surprised by what I found. The series takes a couple of episodes to get going, does seem to be unsure what it wants to do with its characters, but the potential is there and I think the intended second series, with new writers and some fresh ideas, would have brought it far more into the public eye.
By the time it reached ep 3 ' One Night in Portofino' it was hitting its stride and the actors were comfortable with their characters. Episodes 4 'The Germans are Coming' and 5 'Chef's Special' capitalise on that and the addition of Peter Howitt as the chef helps. I wasn't sure about some of the stereotyping in the final episode ' Full House' and feel the writer Colin Pearson tried to push it towards a conclusion it wasn't ready to have.
Full credit to the actors though. Kevin Lloyd, Am Ashton and Joe McPartland as the removal men were believable and fun to watch. It was great to see them as recurring characters as the series benefitted from their input, energy and comedy timing. Pat Phoenix was forceful and that suited the character of Phyllis Nugent to a tee! Roger Kemp as her hen pecked husband Norman would have benefitted from a few more lines but delivered what he had with aplomb. Mohammed Ashiq as Trevor the shopkeeper was a familiar character but basically underused and there as a foil for other characters and deserved better. Steve Alder as Frank and Prunella Gee as Miranda were both delightful if both rather too good looking for any real doubt of how their friendship would progress. Incidentally, if men like Frank exist in real life I have yet to meet one!
The comedy wasn't always consistent and it would have benefitted from some pathos stemming from the back stories of both Frank and Miranda. Frank especially had responsibilities that seem to have been too quickly forgotten, but perhaps a second series would have addressed and rectified that? Yes, the humour is rather dated and of its time in some episodes but overall I would say it was worth watching and it was a shame it never had the chance for a second series due to the sad death of Patricia Phoenix.
