Reviews

Easily one of the best episodes so far. As soon as you get a really good actress like Rowena Wallace, best known as Pat the rat in classic 1980's soap Sons and Daughters, the quality shoots up very quickly. Her scenes with Georgie Parker and Celia Ireland in particular are very good.

A lot of episodes seem to have religious nuts in them. They think everything is ''in the hands of god''' so why even go to a hospital for help in the first place? Then the woman has the nerve to tell the doctor ''your arrogance is sinful'' when he points it out. She should have been looking in a mirror as she said it.

This is enjoyable enough but make no mistake it is not a ''drama'' its a soap opera set in a hospital. It has all the old soap opera clichés like when two characters are innocently comforting each other and they get ''caught'' they behave like they are guilty of something instead of just acting normal (if you have nothing to feel guilty about you don't act guilty right? Well not in the world of soaps) or a character is in a major crisis and after a pep talk they go back to normal the next episode as if it never happened. Or they are hard working and seem on top of things at work but they are hiding a troubled personal life. Also the heavy focus on the personal lives of the staff reveal generic soap opera plots which are not dependent on the hospital setting.

Still its fun spotting all the familiar faces from shows such as Prisoner, Home and Away and Neighbours who turn up in every episode. Judith McGrath is also very good as cynical Von.

So far I've watched about 6 episodes and its not bad. The writers seem to have a thing about teen boys being on punishment. The main character is a teen boy who is doing one year on detention and in most of the episodes he also complains about being grounded by his parents. This poor boy is just being punished in every episode, its cute and funny!

When you watch the first 2 or 3 episodes of Series 1 it seems intriguing and draws you in. Even though the main character Jill is awful. By the end of Series 1 it just gets annoying and Series 2 is even more annoying and it feels like it has outstayed its welcome by the end even though there are only 12 episodes.

The way the characters interact with each other comes across as fake and unnatural the entire way through the 12 episodes which can be funny for a few episodes but gets irritating fast. I can't comment on Rebecca Front as an actress in general as i have never seen her in anything else but the character she plays here just gets on my nerves. Cathy is one of the biggest drips i have ever seen in a tv show and i had no sympathy in the end, in every scene she is in she does the same thing over and over with the irritating smiling and laughing and constantly hiding her true feelings. No one in real life would put up with someone like Jill for as long as these characters do. I like Angus Deayton in other shows but he doesn't really have a memorable part here and other characters like Sue, Glen and Linda don't add much to it either and they certainly aren't that funny.

In conclusion its worth watching once at least but its not something i would want to watch again and again. It gets tedious fast and the most annoying character is Cathy and not Jill.

The first 5 Series of Frost are excellent. From Series 6 onwards there are still some very good episodes but the whole tone of the show changes. It becomes more lightweight and the darker, grittier feeling of the early series isn't there anymore. The best episodes are

CARE AND PROTECTION (S1) CONCLUSIONS(S1) WIDOWS AND ORPHANS (S2) STRANGER IN THE HOUSE (S2) APPROPRIATE ADULTS (S3) PAYING THE PRICE (S4) UNKNOWN SOLDIERS (S4) PENNY FOR THE GUY (S5) HOUSE CALLS (S5) NO OTHER LOVE (S5) KEYS TO THE CAR (S6) BENEFIT OF THE DOUBT (S8) HELD IN TRUST (S10)

Penny for the Guy is absolutely the best episode with the cat and mouse between Frost and Finch being outstanding. The episodes which are based on the Frost novels by R. D Wingfield do seem to be the best episodes. Penny for the Guy and House Calls are based on the novel Hard Frost and are two of the strongest episodes. Widows and Orphans is based on Night Frost and is again a strong episode and Stranger in the house is based on one of the others (i forget now)

The episode Unknown Soldiers has one of the most haunting moments in the entire series in a scene where Frost is in a hospital corridor with D. S Toolan and says ''there is a small about illness, not illness itself just a smell. When we went into Hockey's house it was there, it was how my house smelt. You know when.....and afterwards....and it never went away'' If anyone ever doubted if David Jason could shake off the image of Del boy and do serious acting just watch that scene and you have your answer.

Jimmy McGovern, the man who wrote Cracker and Hillsborough, again gives us a powerful piece of television. McGovern's writing can be somewhat grim at times but is always challenging and thought provoking.

The scene at the very end between the two mothers, and the brief clip of the young boy in his cell with the sun pouring in through the window, was incredibly powerful, add in that beautiful song that sadly does not seem to be available to purchase or listen to anywhere but in this drama. Poignant.

This is often considered to be Britain's greatest ever sitcom, although Fawlty Towers often is as well. If i'm honest i'd say there was a time when i was a big OFAH fan but these days i'd rather watch the superior One Foot In The Grave over this. That's not to say that i don't think think this is good, i think it can be very very good in parts. But i think its overrated and really its very hit and miss. Series 1 was really not very good, there were a number of boring episodes in that. From Series 2 it got better, but there were always one or two bad episodes in every series, the quality is not consistent.

The only Series i can think of where i liked every single episode is Series 6 (and even than the Sickness and Wealth episode didn't need to be as long as it was really) I was surprised that the writer John Sullivan was able to knock out such a superior series as late in the run as that, its fairly unusual for a later series to be so much better than the earlier ones. Unfortunately he couldn't sustain the quality of the longer 50 min episodes over two series, as series 7 returned to the hit and miss that is present in every other series other than Series 6. There were only two episodes i thought sustained the 50 minute length well in Series 7 (the cwying episode and the birth of Damian), the other four were far too long and full of filler (especially The Chance Of A Lunchtime)

I kind of like how the series evolves, with them eventually settling down with wives and having kids. This is something a lot of fans do not seem to like at all and they prefer the earlier years with Grandad.But for me i can appreciate the Grandad years and the later years, both are very different but there is no reason not to like both and enjoy both. I think it was good that they grew up and settled down a bit as they got older, i do think perhaps the problem was that the two women playing Cassandra and Raquel were not particularly funny or warm. If they had been funnier then i think people would have warmed to them more.

After Series 7 there are a number of Christmas specials that (in my opinion) are really poor and not funny at all. Fatal Extraction is a dull episode particularly and even the 1996 ''final'' episodes could have been done in two parts rather than three. The ''Modern Men;; episode is more like a filler episode, with some editing they could have got that down to two parts/two hours. The last three episodes aired between 2001-2003 shouldn't have been made, although the ''Gary!'' stuff is fairly amusing.

Supporting cast are fine but mostly underused and underdeveloped. Trigger is quite amusing but in all honesty the whole ''Dave'' thing is only funny the first few times you see it, after that it wears a bit thin. David Jason of course plays his character very well and so does Nick Lyndhurst.

Overall a pleasant series to watch, but overrated and inconsistent quality throughout its run. Best series is Series 6 by far, worst Series 1. There are other sitcoms i think are superior and which i would choose to watch over this (and if i did want to watch it i know that Gold will be playing an episode anytime i fancy it)

One Foot In The Grave is my favorite ever sitcom. I can't think of another UK sitcom that ran for as many episodes and remained consistently of a high quality all the way through in the same way OFITG did.Fawlty Towers was consistently great throughout but only ran for 12 episodes, most other sitcoms that stay great from start to finish usually have 2 or 3 series at most.One foot ran for over 40 episodes and 6 series and remained great throughout, that's quite an achievement that no other sitcom has managed with that many episodes, If they do run that long than most begin to decline after Series 2 or 3, or at best become hit and miss.

Only fools and Horses was brilliant at times but imho opinion the quality was inconsistent throughout, there were often a couple of substandard episodes in every series and some of the later Christmas specials were far too long and short on laughs. It was a hit and miss, patchy sitcom. One Foot on the other hand never had a single bad episode and the Specials were all wonderful ( especially the excellent One Foot In The Algarve)While i do enjoy some episodes less than others, even the ones i enjoy less are of high standard and always have something funny in them.

I have seen some people suggest that the quality dipped in Series 6, the final series. I don't really see that, i think it was just as great as all the others. The last episode is very sad but a powerful ending for the series. Series 1 i might say was maybe not as good as the others, but again that doesn't make it bad, its still high quality but i didn't like the house they lived in as much as the one from Series 2 onwards.

Another thing i like is writer David Renwick's ability to keep it fresh and bring different elements and scenarios into it to avoid repetition. Sometimes i get bored watching the same things being repeated over and over in other sitcoms, it gets where the episode is a different episode but its basically the same episode you already saw the other week but they changed the name. This doesn't happen with One Foot In The Grave and while Victor does of course have his famous catchphrase i wouldn't say its overused to the point of tedium like the catchphrases often are in other sitcoms.

Another thing i like is the depth and pathos this show has, its like a comedy-drama at times with some incredibly poignant and moving moments. Its also very surreal often and even brutal on occasion. There are times when David Renwick takes us to places we weren't expecting to go to and places the characters in unnerving or even scary situations where you really do think they are in danger. Other times you are in fits of laughter one minute and the next you feel emotional without warning because what was very funny suddenly turned into something incredibly sad and emotional (like the sublime moment when Victor is buried up to his neck in the ground and Margaret gets a phone call to tell her that her mother has died, you're roaring with laughter one second and the next you're in tears)This darker side is part of the appeal to me, it really makes the show interesting and adds extra layers to it. If i wanted something cosy and safe i'd watch The Good Life.

Rihard Wilson gives a superb performance as Meldrew, a role i feel he was born to play. While he is very much the star and the main focus i would say that Margaret is crucial as well and she appears in all but one of the episodes. Also worth mentioning are the supporting cast, all of whom play their part also and i can't imagine it without them in it either. Doreen Mantle at times steals the show as the well meaning but annoying Mrs Warboys and Owen Brenman gives some moving performances as Victors oddball neighbour Mr Swainey. Angus Deayton and Janine Duvitski were also very good as Victor's other neighbours Patrick and Pippa. I liked the feuds between Victor and Patrick while the two wives shared a friendship and tried hard to keep the peace between the two men. Patrick was like a younger (and much more spiteful) version of Victor.

Victor himself is actually a very likable character, he is a kind hearted person who basically means well but gets mad at the world around him, at the insanity, cruelty and injustice. I often find myself agreeing with him and siding with him to be fair. He is on the side of whats good and decent. Margaret is the one who can be quite mean and insufferable at times (along with Patrick),but you realize she puts up with a lot and the show wouldn't be the same without her there. Annette Crosbie is very natural in the part.

Favourite episode is probably ''Warm Champagne'' but every episode is great so its hard to pick just one, but the moment when Margaret finds Victor in bed with the old woman is just priceless ''Its not every day you arrive home to find that your husband has taken up necrophilia!'' I never tire of watching repeats of this and i have the complete boxset. Even just talking about it now makes me want to watch them all again!