I first watched this show years ago when it came out, a quiet little nothing comedy. I remember watching and wondering why such a minimalist comedy would be led by actors as great as Dawn French and Alfred Molina, who play the leads Roger and Val. Here I am now, around 5 years later and having given the show a second run through I understand why such a show required the superior acting talents of the two - the show works brilliantly not because it is funny, but because it is real. And French and Molina help push this reality and are truly the reason the show works so well.
I'm a strong believer that subtlety is an effective tool in storytelling and it is used brilliantly throughout the show. In fact, simply put, the best aspect of the show is how it holds back. Throughout the six episodes of season 1 we get the hints of drama in this "real-life comedy-drama", overlayed by excellent comedy that varies from clever wit to believable silliness. It never gives in. There are few heavy-handed expositional segments (although there is a few disappointing bits of dialogue where Roger in particular will state what has already been made clear, just in case some of the audience haven't caught on).
It's a careful balance of feeding the audience small snippets of the deeper issues and keeping them laughing and it works brilliantly until the payoff at the end of episode 5 and 6 where after all their talking, Roger and Val actually get to the heart of their relationship issues. It's a beautiful, delicate and heartbreaking moment for characters we've only been sat with for a few hours.
The biggest issue with the show that I've heard a lot is the pacing. At points it can be slow and there are huge pauses of silence, and although I'm not going to lie and say that every moment of the show is engaging, but these moments are necessary.
As I've said, this show is very much a slice of real life and in real life there is heartbreak but there is laughter, there is silence and then there is nonsense and conversations about nothing in particular. Roger and Val show us their lives of quiet desperation, and in little stories about curtains and emails we get to sit down with two of the better written characters in recent BBC history.
I'm a strong believer that subtlety is an effective tool in storytelling and it is used brilliantly throughout the show. In fact, simply put, the best aspect of the show is how it holds back. Throughout the six episodes of season 1 we get the hints of drama in this "real-life comedy-drama", overlayed by excellent comedy that varies from clever wit to believable silliness. It never gives in. There are few heavy-handed expositional segments (although there is a few disappointing bits of dialogue where Roger in particular will state what has already been made clear, just in case some of the audience haven't caught on).
It's a careful balance of feeding the audience small snippets of the deeper issues and keeping them laughing and it works brilliantly until the payoff at the end of episode 5 and 6 where after all their talking, Roger and Val actually get to the heart of their relationship issues. It's a beautiful, delicate and heartbreaking moment for characters we've only been sat with for a few hours.
The biggest issue with the show that I've heard a lot is the pacing. At points it can be slow and there are huge pauses of silence, and although I'm not going to lie and say that every moment of the show is engaging, but these moments are necessary.
As I've said, this show is very much a slice of real life and in real life there is heartbreak but there is laughter, there is silence and then there is nonsense and conversations about nothing in particular. Roger and Val show us their lives of quiet desperation, and in little stories about curtains and emails we get to sit down with two of the better written characters in recent BBC history.
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