Nighty Night

This show is billed as coming from the makers of Alan Partridge, but whilst Alan is a complete imbecile, the awkward situations he finds himslef in are often ones caused by his inflated ego and at the end of the day whilst he is a nasty chap, he isn't evil. Now lets come to Jill, the main character in this wicked (but very entertaining) new dark dark comedy. She is pure evil. Whilst her husband lies in hospital apparently dying of cancer, Jill tells the world he's dead and decided to start dating. In the first episode she meets her new neighbour Dr .Don, played by Angus Deayton ( the Beeb did say they'd find him new roles post the HIGNFY scandal!) who's married to Cath (the brilliant Rebecca Front of The Day Today - a show from the same creators) who happens to have MS. Jills nastiness ensues and you really squirm watching her ( a mix of David Brent and Alan partridge at their worst with a much more EVIL edge). The show is a guilty pleasure as you'll laugh at the nastiness and then feel really bad later on! BBC3 airs these shows and they do eventually come to BBC2 ( like Little Britain) and when it arrives, make sure to catch it. It's not your typical sitcom, but who wants typical??!!??

One has to categorise this show as as satirical comedy, and indeed the first season begins humorously and playfully enough. After just a short time however, the personality disorders portrayed must inevitably lead to a rather more uncomfortable experience. Jill is nothing other than a psychopath, blatantly unaware of the extremity of her behaviour. The other characters all incredibly tolerant and unbelievably sympathetic to Jill's activities. Whilst the humour is maintained throughout, it is hard not to feel that genuine personality disorders such as these surely do exist around us in the real world. Of course the events are all extremely exaggerated, and that forms the basis for the humour. Were the show a little more subtle, then it would probably be billed as a psycho-thriller. I personally enjoyed it very much, as I find extreme humour quite entertaining. However, I would not recommend it for the squeamish, or prudish, or the particularly emotional. The second season even surpasses the first in extremity, if not in humour. I have knocked off points for plot, repetition, and incredibility.

I watched the first series of Nighty Night straight through over an evening and an afternoon. It was addictive. I laughed out loud on several occasions, smiled more often than not and couldn't wait for the next episode. Aside from the humour the show ropes you in just to see how things turn out. It has a brilliant premise, which is how a selfish, yet very attractive, woman can play havoc by threading the needle between her own assumed 'good intentioned' authority and others' political correctness. Night Night is a brilliant satire on British manners. A must see for fans of British humour.

I can understand why some people review this show here and call it "rubbish" because it is not easily watchable. It takes you out of your comfort zone and is not banal safe comedy that often seems to often thrive on television. The main character Jill is a savagely cruel person, when her husband is diagnosed with cancer she drops him off at the hospital and goes to a dating agency to find a new man. When a couple move in next door she thinks nothing of wearing the disabled woman down physically and emotionally to get at her husband. You get the idea. Many of the lines are superbly witty in an outrageous "she can't say that" type of way. Interestingly Julia Davies has both naturalistic supporting characters like Cath and Don the couple next door and exaggerated broad comedy characters that inhabit Jill's world without the mix of the two jarring in any way. It is easier to watch a second or third time if you give it the chance, then you seem to be able to concentrate on the savage humour without feeling too much pity for the put upon characters involved. Superb.

This programme is actually a very twisted horror film Jill is the most evel woman on TV extremely funny extremely dark Julia Davis is amazing in this.