The Past Is Another Country...
Finally released on DVD is a series I found hilarious as a child. This and 'Some Mothers'and 'The Goodies' were the height of comedy for an 8 year old (I caught the repeats).
Man Child Selwyn, well meaning but a walking disaster area, creates mayhem despite the best of intentions and goodwill.
Maynard actually saves the show with a powerhouse performance of energy, attacking unexceptional scripts with gusto and delivering a well balanced performance injected with physical comedy.
Watching as an adult, its hard to miss the bleakness of the show though. Looking at it post Eighties it shows a narrow way of life and outlook, peopled with characters of limited horizons. The Pilot Episode shows why some characters were wisely changed: The office characters (with their sexual overtones)wisely discarded, the Mother greatly softened and the homosexual suggestions of the older brother removed with the introduction of a girlfriend. Looking at this episode the Family seem like a bunch of genetic misfits. Selwyn should be a sad case, a socially inept, stupid middle aged man with no love life(ever) but Maynard, as stated, saves this situation remarkably.
Perhaps most interestingly, it shows a certain outlook and lifestyle that would be lost forever after the defeat of the 1984 Miners Strike. Or perhaps it simply lost out to progress itself.
Whether it was worth preserving is something you can judge better for yourself by watching this series.
Man Child Selwyn, well meaning but a walking disaster area, creates mayhem despite the best of intentions and goodwill.
Maynard actually saves the show with a powerhouse performance of energy, attacking unexceptional scripts with gusto and delivering a well balanced performance injected with physical comedy.
Watching as an adult, its hard to miss the bleakness of the show though. Looking at it post Eighties it shows a narrow way of life and outlook, peopled with characters of limited horizons. The Pilot Episode shows why some characters were wisely changed: The office characters (with their sexual overtones)wisely discarded, the Mother greatly softened and the homosexual suggestions of the older brother removed with the introduction of a girlfriend. Looking at this episode the Family seem like a bunch of genetic misfits. Selwyn should be a sad case, a socially inept, stupid middle aged man with no love life(ever) but Maynard, as stated, saves this situation remarkably.
Perhaps most interestingly, it shows a certain outlook and lifestyle that would be lost forever after the defeat of the 1984 Miners Strike. Or perhaps it simply lost out to progress itself.
Whether it was worth preserving is something you can judge better for yourself by watching this series.
- bml84
- 31 oct. 2009