Linda Green

You really have to be have been locked in your house for 40 years not to appreciate the wry, honest account of 30-something Linda Green's attempts at relationships, friendship and sex. Earthy without being vulgar and set in Manchester, England, the ensemble cast work wonderfully together, with each having their moment over the series. Linda (Lisa Tarbuck) works as clerical manager in a car-repair workshop, has a regular "jump" (sex) with Jimmy the mechanic (subtly played by the always excellent Sean Gallagher). In the evening, Linda sings (live and, like everything else, not perfectly) at the local social club where Jimmy and Linda's other friends join her for a gossip and to sort out each other's problems. The songs comment naturally on the story without being crass and the dialogue sparks. Lisa Tarbuck is not a showy star and allows the rest of the regular cast as well as the guest actors to breathe, but it's her natural portrayal as a funny, modern, complicated woman that really makes this work. In two words, hugely satisfying.

I picked up series 1 on DVD very cheaply about 4 years ago but never watched an episode until this week. I have watched 8 of the 10 episodes now and I have to say overall I found it quite enjoyable. The show was created by Paul Abbott who went on to do 'Shameless' so it has a good pedigree.It doesn't always hit the mark but the dialogue is witty and generally sharp even if none of the story lines amount to a whole lot. But life is like that isn't it.

Liza Tarbuck carries the title role well, she's big brassy and confident - most of the time anyway. The singing is probably a bit overdone, I felt there was no need to sing a full song at the beginning, middle and end which is pretty much how it goes in each episode.

I really like Daniel Ryan, Claire Rushbrook and Sean Gallagher who are the principal members of the supporting cast - being Linda's best mates. I love watching out for early appearances of established stars or cameos even and this series is packed with them. Pam Ferris is brilliant as are David Morrissey and Christopher Eccleston - he plays twins - which I thought was a great storyline. I also spotted Maxine Peake (later to be Veronica in Shameless) as a receptionist in a gym.

Liza Tarbuck is hillarious. In this comedy series Liza basically is looking for love and it's side splitingly funny. She's an excellent actress. I wish I could meet her in person. And she's a great role model for people trying to act who arn't a stick insect e.g Callister Flockheart. Liza if you ever read this I just want to say that you are the queen of comedy and I hope this series runs for many year and I hope to see you in other projects aswell.

This refers to one particular episode as opposed to the whole series.

It concerns Linda and her mates gatecrashing the funeral of someone they've never even met just for 'fun'. They giggle at the audacity of their cruel dare during the service of a girl who died young, whom they pretend was a close schoolfriend...And, get this - the grieving mother even forgives Linda for permanently marring the memorial of her daughter.

I think this was in the first series. I immediately lost sympathy for characters capable of such insensitivity, and didn't watch any further episodes as a consequence. Nor did I derive any satirical point from the proceedings. It seems the writer must've thought "Haha...They gatecrash a funeral...No one's done that in a sitcom before...".

Linda's a monster.

I may go into a very boring discussion about the character development on this so-called comedy, but 'nuff said it's about a very annoying, frustrated woman who makes a very bad favor to single women all over the world. Situations seem like a recycling of old shows from the 60's, but under a very "contemporary" point of view. I live in a Spanish spoken country, and I gave the show the benefit of doubt, using the SAP feature on my TV to listen to the original English audio track (which I do with shows like The Office), but the stories never got me, really. The TV station struggles to make catchy spots announcing the show, calling her "modern", "funny" and borderline pathetic, "sex *is* Linda".

Thank God the series is over. Hopefully they won't make any reruns of the show, using air time they could use to broadcast, for example, BBC classics, like "Doctor Who".

Even "Changing Rooms" or any BBC news show has more hilarious situations. BTW, the Spanish dubbing sucks, too, big time.