I started re-watching this series on YouTube and have found it even better than when I watched it the first time (this is often the case with 're-runs', especially movies, as one often sees little things one missed initially.) "May to December" is, as one acquaintance called it, 'really charming'.
The romance between Alec, the older gentleman, and Zoe, the much younger woman, is treated realistically, thanks to the writing and the acting. Anton Rodgers is perfect as the steady, middle aged solicitor, not looking for a new relationship (the first episode is entitled 'It Never Entered My Mind') and Eve Matheson is equally perfect as the young, newly divorced schoolteacher. One of the reasons I think it works is that the people were real: if this had been Americanized, someone who looked like George Clooney or Brad Pitt would have been cast as the older man, and the woman would have been a model. Neither lead would have been his or her character's age, nor would the age-difference have reflected that in the series. Though both Rodgers and Matheson were a few years older than their characters, their real-life age-difference was exactly that of their characters', which I think helps tremendously.
The writing is excellent; gentle comedy for the most part, but some bits arehilarious. As well, there was no villain or unpleasant person, except perhaps Alec's daughter, and she is wisely kept to a recurring role. Everyone is basically a decent person, which is nice to see in sitcoms, though rare. The relationship between Alec and his son is also a good one; they are poles apart politically and emotionally, but are nonetheless clearly fond of each other.
The chemistry between Matheson and Rodgers is essential, I think. Chemistry is less evident when Lesley Dunlop took over the role of Zoe after the second series. Her version of Zoe is not as witty as Matheson's, and she was not as good a comic actress. I prefer the first actress to the second for these reasons, though I have a natural preference for the originator of a role (such as preferring David Burke as the 'younger' Watson (in the Jeremy Brett Sherlock Holmes tv series) to the older Edward Hardwick, or the first person I see playing a part (such as liking Tom Baker as Dr Who, over all the other actors in that role; Baker was the first I had seen play the character.)
I must state my belief that "May to December" should have ended with the fifth series; the final episode of that series ("The Best is Yet to Come") would have made a natural and optimistic finale. The sixth series saw a deterioration in the writing: the comedy became more broad, even throwing uncomfortable slapstick into the stories. The characters did things uncharacteristic (at one point Alec tells Zoe to 'shut it' during an argument, and in another episode Alec gets drunk). The character of Rosie, replacing Hilary, did not help. This was all due, I think, to series creator, Paul Mendelsohn, giving up the writing chores to others.
Nonetheless, "May to December" remains in large part an original, enjoyable comedy, with people one cares about, and scripts one can laugh at. Such a tv series is not common.
