Roger & Val Have Just Got In

now if you know anything about Molina, then you know he has a terrific acting range. if you don't know his work then i won't waste my time listing it--just do a search.

dawn French has an excellent comedic resume--in Brit comedy.

the point being--when you put a dramatic actor of such acclaimed status as Molina with a comedic pro in the likes of French, then you most probably have a recipe for disaster. but not this time.

Molina proves that not only does he have technique, but also timing. and this is proved by his impeccable comedic timing--the toughest of all to master.

and in being so proficient, and so lauded, he pulls French into a lofty zone i doubt any have seen her achieve before.

this is a mature comedy, and i hate to say it but, if you don't get it--then you are probably too young. it's the opposite of "if it's too loud, then you are too old." these two are able to manage long takes with seemingly little effort.

this quality is what the BBC is famed for. and though often tried, is seldom achieved. and i know what pulled Molina from the big screen into a risky, short term BBC project: and that was the writing. it is supremely subtle comedy.

these two have pulled each other into comic reality. and when it comes to couples--there is nothing funnier than everyday truth. and this team proves it. when i watch the tenderness they show each other, I'm glad to be aging.

Imagine a series about which the central premise is the death of a child. One that regularly makes you laugh out loud and sob like a baby. This series reaches the heights of comedy, drama, and tragedy like no other.

If you've seen The Vicar of Dibley and Spiderman II you know how utterly cheap Molina and French can be. Here you see two actors at the top of their field. Beyond good and...funny.

If they gave Oscars for foreign television shows this would have won one for each season. I challenge any human to see the finale of season two without crying in joy for a good few minutes. Go ahead, I dare you.

This is a difficult review to write as I want to give this series glowing praise, and in some ways I can, but something is holding me back. I have a feeling that one day I may see repeats and my appreciation will grow, but for this review I can only say what I feel now. The acting is superb, the dialogue is top notch, and the atmosphere is somehow homely and moody all at the same time. Even the plot content is above average. So what's wrong? It's not the lack of the belly laugh factor, because it's not intended to be that kind of comedy...it's far more of a dry comedy drama. It doesn't even work as cringe TV, because it never reaches the depths of cringe that shows like 'The Office' or 'Extras' reaches, which conversely makes them immensely funny. It's a really weird angle, that somehow works without you realising why. There is most definitely a subtlety that means there is a good chance that a lot of people, especially those with more mainstream tastes in entertainment, will not get. If this were a movie, then I'd expect this to play in the 'Art House' venues more than the local multiplex, but, with the possibility of it gaining word of mouth and becoming a sleeper hit, because audiences just started getting it!

When looking at the characters, I saw much that went on between them, going on in my own relationships. This was both cringing and heart warming. I saw the characters self indulge themselves with a self importance contained within the cocoon of their seemingly solitary existence outside of work, preventing them from getting a balanced prospective on their viewpoints and activities...but then, isn't that the same for all of us, if we're honest? This is what I meant by the cringe factor, as subtle as it is, because I saw things in their relationship, that I've seen in my own...and that makes that cringing feeling, even more uncomfortable. Maybe that's what holds me back from making this extremely well produced work, from being a classic...it's just too real to stomach? One thing for sure...at a time when good, well written sitcom's are almost a thing of the past, it is good to see that the flag of intelligent writing is still being flown, but I hope that while this was an extremely interesting watch, that the effort put into the writing in this series, could be transferred into something more mainstream, entertaining, and, dare I say it, more palatable. I would dearly like to see the Beeb return to the days of 'One Foot In The Grave', 'Men Behaving Badly', 'Waiting For God', 'Vicar Of Dibley' 'Keeping Up Appearances', and even some of the older classics like 'The Good Life' and 'Butterflies'. This series proves that the quality of the writing is out there, but that is needs to be more universally accessible. When will the current powers that be at BBC1 remember that it is the 'situation' in sitcom, and not ironically unfunny one liners that so many of todays's new comedies resort to. When will they realise that a situation is funny because of a combination of good dialogue, good plot, and good acting. There is usually one or more of those things missing in nearly every new comedy that comes along.

As a conclusion I would like to say that I enjoyed 'Roger And Val...' and looked out for it in the following weeks schedules, but probably will not miss it if a follow up series doesn't happen. I do however, have great respect for what they achieved. As a footnote, I am extremely glad to see Dawn French in something that is a huge improvement on the awful 'Psychoville', which to date, is the only box set I have given up on after just 2 or 3 episodes.

Contrary to the review made by rduddridge I can honestly say that is one of the finest comedies ever to grace British television, and by 'finest' I also mean with regards to the delicately subtle attention to detail throughout. Human behaviour is difficult enough to nail down in one person, let alone in the dynamic and complex boundaries of a loving marriage, yet Roger & Val convinces us straight away that these two people have known each other for a very long time. Having watched both series (so far just the two) I would say that the first slightly betters the second mainly because of the slow reveal and revelation that became more apparent as the series went on, though, again, this was handled so cleverly and subtly that it genuinely creeped up on me. Aside from that both series maintained a consistently intriguing insight into this couple's lives. Dawn French has finally found the space to flex her real acting muscles, having been hidden beneath her masterful comedy work for so long, and Alfred Molina has been given this opportunity to explode, albeit quietly, into the world of TV comedy with his spot-on timing. A gem, and one of my new favourite comedies.

I love Dawn French. She was great in the Vicar of Dibley, Delicious, The Trouble With Maggie Cole, and several other roles she's played over her long, distinguished career. However, Roger & Val Have Just Got In was depressing and sad. I tried several times to watch episodes of this series and had to turn it off because the angst of the main characters was too upsetting. This is seriously the most depressing and sad series I've ever watched. I don't know what went wrong with the writers, but they fell far short of the word, "comedy." How such good actors could have agreed to act in such a seriously miserable series is beyond me.