Clatterford

I thought the first episode was quite poor.

However, it improved and from week 3 I was very happy with it. Although, I watched them in a block over four nights, having taped them with Sky plus. The acting is consistently good and the scripts have little gems all the way through - e.g. Rosie's holy potato and the vicars blessing of the stones.

There is a refreshing lack of typical sitcom situations and characters. Whilst to some it may be quaint, there is a subtle edge to the whole thing which gives moments of sadness and joy.

I know this is at odds with prior posts, but, having sat through the whole series I feel that it does not deserve to suffer for the couple of episodes that it took to establish the characters and the situation.

So to sum up, it is well worth watching in my opinion and I am really looking forward to the second series.

After the first episode, which was disjointed and not funny, the show did a remarkable turnaround. My daughter and I watched all 6 shows of the 1st series, plus the Christmas show. The more the series went on, the more we liked it. As has been mentioned, it is not meant to be like AbFab. It is funny and heartwarming at the same time - a character driven show. Though at first it was disappointing to not see much of Jennifer Saunders on screen (she plays only a minor character), I found that I really enjoyed watching Sue Johnston (Sal Vine) and Pauline McLynn (Tippi Haddem)develop their characters. Dawn French as Rosie was endearing and hilarious. I am looking forward to Series 2.

This is a lovely program about life in a small village. Having grown up in a small town I can identify with the different personalities you find in small villages and towns everywhere. It's not supposed to be side split-tingly funny but a gentle poke at the small town politics that occur in a "ladies guild" sort of organisation. We had them in my home town and I would imagine just about every small town has them still. If you have never encountered this sort of life I pity you and this program will bore you but if you have the luck to live in such a place you will see the funny side of things and maybe even see yourself in one of the characters. I look forward to series two!

So, yeah, it's not abfab and it's true: at first, it feels like one of those inside-joke french and Saunders sketches that go on too long. HOWEVER, this show isn't meant to be the laugh-fest that abfab was. It's a much more balanced and calm series, one that finds humor in very human situations and subtleties. This may sound far-fetched, but there definitely is a sort of Chekhovian feel to Saunders' writing. Nothing much happens, but it is fascinating to watch the characters interact. The show touches on the awkwardness of living with such truth -- and therein lies the comedy (as with Chekhov, some viewers will only read tragedy... it's really a matter of perspective). The reason it may not catch on at first is because of the time necessary to establish the characters (there are perhaps too many) and adjust to the numerous subplots (it is an extremely ambitious show, spanning many tele-genres). Because of the character development and greater humanity of the writing, the show feels more like a full TV series than Jennifer Saunders' other work, and I think it's a sign of a certain maturity on her part. The classic Saunders quirks and humor are all still there, but it's toned down to approach something more like reality (unlike abfab, it is sans a laugh track, if that says anything). So, yeah, you have to realize Jam is a different animal.

Also, you've got to give Saunders credit for assembling a fine ensemble of older woman -- a demographic that is widely ignored by contemporary TV.

I think that this show has been very good for the first three episodes. It is nothing like Jennifer Saunders's previous comedies and so lots of people seem to be disappointed by it. The BBC promoted too much as a comedy and gave it a slot normally reserved for more obvious comedies. I would call it more of a comedy drama which would have been much more appropriate on a Sunday evening. I think when watching this show, you should expect gentle comedy which feels very warm, not the non-stop laughs of Absolutely Fabulous and then you won't be disappointed. All the actors give great performances, with Dawn French and Joanna Lumley providing most of the comic relief from most of the story lines, some of which are actually quite serious at times. Shows should never be judged on their pilot episodes and this is the perfect example - it was just setting the scene and creating openings for future story lines. I personally can't wait to see how all the characters develop over time and hope it is given the chance it deserves to grow into a lovely cosy drama. People are often too quick to judge, and with this show they absolutely mustn't.