The Diary of a Nobody

If it's got Andrew Davies on the screenplay it's certainly worth watching. I picked this one up at our local library, and though I had my reservations at first, each episode grew on me. Not being familiar with the book and other adaptations, I took this version at face value and was charmed. Understated humor and a marvelous peek into Victorian life filled my evening. Many of Charles Pooter's concerns, friendships, his job security, tiffs with the wife, and his son's inability to focus, are relevant to today. The mock seriousness, the light parody of taking oneself much too seriously certainly added to the performance. Hugh Bonneville, gave a nicely rounded performance, and reminded me of John Cleese at times. Another quality BBC presentation.

Mr Charles Pooter is a lower-middle-class man who sees himself higher up the social ladder by clinging to the mannerisms and habits of polite society. His diary tells the real story though as Pooter is constantly frustrated by a world that conspires to see his standing in the community, in the home and in his own head, damaged. Constantly subject to his own gaffs and self-importance, Pooter's recollections of his day vary from his enjoyment of his own jokes to the embarrassments the reality of his situation produce.

I had seen a documentary on the character of Pooter on BBC4 and enjoyed it enough to watch the 2007 version of the fictional diaries. Obviously it is all still set in the late 19th century but the topics of self-importance, social climbing and such will still easily produce humour for modern audiences. Those expecting to be rolling in the aisles will be disappointed because it is not funny in that sort of way but rather a wonderfully witty observational type. It is impressive that the material has stood up and it is credit to how accurately it lampoons the character that it is still relevant today. The success can be seen in the existence of the term "pooterism" to mean taking oneself too seriously.

The delivery of the material is excellent. Although it is limited to a few locations, it is never a man reading from his diary as Pooter gives us his recollections "live" as it were, whether he is at work, in his bedroom, at the breakfast table and so on. The sense of movement does really help the series feel like it is being told in the way of a normal narrative rather than a static diary looking backwards. This is helped by the rooms being really well laid out and designed; the trappings fit well into the period but also manage to have the feel of a place that is trying to have "nice things" but on a limited budget – much like you can see with modern families in the same situation (albeit with different "things" of course).

Since it is a one-man-show, a lot does rest on the actor playing Pooter – in this instance, Hugh Bonneville is quite excellent as he pitches Pooter just right. He produces great moments of being flustered while managing to be quite oblivious about his own part in the things that befall him, however this is "easy" and it is the harder stuff that impressed me. He never allows his Pooter to be a character totally to be mocked, which of course is realistic as Pooter would not do this to himself. In doing this he makes the character slightly tragic at times but also one we care about, so when he does have simply victories, we care – they are as interesting as the gaffs, rather than them coming off as weaker material in the story. It is quite an impressive performance and all the more so for how effortless Bonneville makes it look.

Overall then a witty and enjoyable version of the famous satirical work. Over 100 years old now, but still relevant and amusing thanks in part to a very good delivery from BBC4 and a strong performance from Bonneville.

How do you take a book which is in the format of a dairy where a man recollects his impressions of experiences, and then convert that into TV comedy/drama? it was a brave attempt; the acting was not bad at all, but it just didn't seem like I was watching 'Charles Pooter'; rather I was watching someone attempt to play Charles Pooter, and in a few places until I tuned out i even found what i considered to be some mistakes in how the performance depicted some sections of the diary - By that I mean the character on screen wasn't acting in accordance with how the emotions of the character would be in the context of the book and the time and social rules and etiquette - I saw this along time ago so cannot relate which actual scenes made me feel this way, but there were a few times when Pooters body language and whole demeanour was just wrong for the incident he was relating to camera (imo) It was a long time ago I saw this, so it is hard to recall exactly which bits i felt were played wrongly - possibly one was Pooter's recollection of the "Cummings is always going, & Gowings is always coming" gaff incident. Possibly it was that.

To my mind some literature simply cannot work in film/TV medium - Some of the more lengthy 'entries' might work excellently if created with cast as flashback type sequences - perhaps that would have been the thing to do - Have Pooter narrate, while the action is done as a series of set pieces.

I am a huge fan of the book but couldn't even sit through this all the way.

In all fairness i should perhaps watch it again, not sure were i could view it tho. The mark given with this review if for brave effort, but ultimately imo it failed to convey the subtle stuffiness of Charles Pooter.