The Afternoon Play

A series of one of dramas transmitted by The BBC back in the early 2000's, going out late in the afternoon.

A really varied series, one that was unfortunately ever released commercially on DVD, if ever you get a chance to watch them, on whatever format, I would recommend you to.

Some were a bit silly, and really did feel like light, somewhat dull viewing, but some of them were surprisingly good, with a lot of depth.

The standout episodes for me, were coming up for Air, and The Singing Cactus.

If you're a fan of Moving on, they're along the same lines. Think Play for the Day, watered down for afternoon viewing.

Enjoyable, a missed series, 8/10.

Kate is getting married to boyfriend Dave and takes off for a hen weekend with three of her friends. Kate, Dawn, Becky and Jo take their car down to the coast with an envelope full of money to waste. However when Jo loses the money the group go to a holiday camp to blag a caravan for a few days. At the camp Kate meets an old flame, Tim, who lets them stay in a tiny caravan for free. During a drunken game of truth or dare, Kate discovers that all of her friends have slept with Dave at one time or another. Turning to Tim for comfort sparks even more problems as she tries to get past the past.

For a week in January 2003 the BBC tried to do what it had been doing on radio regularly for years - putting stand alone dramas (or plays) on each day. Girls' Weekend was the final of the 5 dramas to be shown. The drama owes a little to modern sitcom/dramas on BBC2 in that it is all about sexually complicated relationships, late twenties characters and has a modern, constant soundtrack.

The story is quite good even if it is straightforward enough, it does have a certain rough charm to it that helped me get involved in the characters. The second half of the film gets a little too hysterical for my taste and pushes the drama beyond the range that I could easily get into. However the four characters are pretty interesting and it's a good enough story for a cold afternoon.

Denby-Ashe is quite good in the lead and she is believable. Manners has a good character and had potential to bring plenty out of her lonely angst, but she overacts and is too OTT to be real. Simmons and Campbell are both good but are underused - Campbell in particular is more used for comedy than anything else which is a shame because it sours the mix a little by giving the appearance of two token blacks. Maybe it's because they are given less scope for angst than the two leads but I found them both very sexy - Campbell's nervous little shy thing in particular.

The soundtrack is good but it is overused and gets in the way a little. However it is pretty funky if you like modern pop music. Overall it is quite an enjoyable little romantic drama despite going a little over the top. A lively and sparky cast (at least the 4 girls) really help it though.