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Ken runs The Grapes, a failing Manchester pub, frequented by a handful of loveable locals. A pub where more goes on than meets the eye, probably.

This has to be the most underrated and forgotten 'MASTERPIECE' that has ever come out of the BBC. Writers Craig Cash and Phil Mealey created something absolutely wonderful with this one.

Why on Earth did this not get more coverage and no further series? Criminal: so funny, beautifully written and meaningful events, the characters were all thoroughly believable and lovable!

I was lucky enough to see the live stage show, none of the magic has gone, this show is begging to be brought back to our screens, comedy is pretty much dead, this could bring it back to life!

Jean and Winnie's dialogues are just the funniest thing I have ever seen; incredible! But the line of Eddie and Tommy speaking about Joan's driving test - what sign would you expect to see on a narrow country lane? The answer: 'fresh farm eggs for sale.' Absolute genius!

I can see the same fate happening to the current series 'The Visit,' which is very similar and again wonderfully fantastic. Why aren't these on BBC in prime spots instead of rubbish like 'After You've Gone' and 'Green Green Grass'? Please, someone read this and take note.

To the regiment! I wish I was there; a real gem of comedy with a hint of heartwarming drama running through it as well.

10/10.

Early Doors is laugh-out-loud funny, tender, heartwarming, exasperating, fascinating, at times even a little disgusting, this television series has everything anybody could want, and more. From the very first episode of the first series you take the cast to your hearts and want to know more about what the community, collectively and individually, get up to next. The main takes place in Ken's pub (the landlord) and the comings and goings of this 'small world' (the theme tune taken from Roddy Frame's debut album Surf) are not to be missed. The characters are all so very real and this snapshot of working class northern life is a real gem...you can't fail to fall in love with it! Enjoy! :)

Caught this by chance when first on BBC2 ages ago and now have become Eddiesque with my non stop quotes. The beauty is its simplicity, a pub full of half wits and cretins talking rubbish about things of no consequence i.e exactly what a good pub should be! Ken topping the branded spirits up with cheap tat, Duffy with his Polaroids, Eddie and his jury service and perhaps my favourite Tommy during Melanies 21st birthday with his table in the toilets, Ken; Are you coming out when she cuts the cake, or do you want her to bring it in here? Tommy; P*** off!Possibly only modern comedy (Gervais being a possible exception) that can make me cry laughing. Heard rumours of a third series with the second being shown on BBC1 in August 06, I wait for more tales of temporary traffic lights at the junction of Burdall Lane, by McVities. Sheer 100% genius

Why is it that every comedy now has to either have some "incredibly original" gimmick, or be extremely vulgar, or both, to hit it big? This consigns near-masterpieces like Early Doors to the slops bucket of TV history. Yes, as many observe, little happens in the course of the half hour, but you certainly don't even think about that when you're watching it. Cash and Mealey's genius is to realise that everybody's lives are generally repetitive, and so they are likely to have the same discussion in the same refuge every day. This is never treated with a hint of irony, but genuine warmth for the old school pubs that Ken and his lost bretheren run. Lacklustre shows like The Smoking Room and Little Britain, so pleased with themselves and determined to run down the losers, halfwits and layabouts of this world, would do well to learn from this and find that happiness is in whatever routine you, not society, carves out for you.

Set solely in a Northern Boozer in Manchester, Early Doors is a sitcom with a small selection of witty characters. It is a fly on the wall type show which is packed full with realism, witty dialogue and lovable, complete characters who all add something special to the show. It is one of the most relaxing shows I have ever seen and at 3 hours per season, time will fly by without you noticing whatsoever.

The assemble of characters is what makes this show so memorable as they are all perfectly created and the actors/actresses are selected with faultless precision. You have the barman Ken with his adopted daughter Mel and his Mother, his Mothers cleaner and friend, the old miserable man who doesn't like conversation or to be involved in anything and who is angry at the world. The best friend men in dead end jobs who have marriage problems, the table of gossiping women, out for free drinks, looking to cop off and the oddball couple who have a heart of gold but are ultimately social outcasts, although they are still loved by everybody! There are also a couple of on- duty bent coppers who regularly appear for free drinks in return for 'law enforcement'. Other characters come and go but that is your main group and it works perfectly!

Early Doors taps in to the concept that the average person who is working class, visits the boozer night after night to drink the cheapest beer they can find and smoke their nights away, is more than happy to see the same people every night and talk about unimportant things, often repeated daily. Runnings jokes are common in this show and they make it all the funnier, it doesn't get boring or repetitive, it's simply realistic and hilarious. The temporary traffic light joke is a prime example of this!

Craig Cash writes and stars in this and he does it in complete comedy gold. Not much happens in each episode, nothing needs to happen really. All you need is good dialogue, witty sarcastic banter and a sense of working class realism to make it feel authentic and special. Craig Cash masters this perfectly. You could say it's the Royle Family in a pub, or Phoenix Nights without Peter Kay. I would say it's neither as it has its own style and is strong enough to stand on its own as a British Classic, an overlooked gem which sadly doesn't get the recognition that it truly deserves.

10/10

This show is just about as good as TV gets. To watch it and suddenly realize 30 minutes have elapsed invariably surprises me. It is just about the most relaxing TV I have ever seen.

The Grapes is typical of the back street pub close to extinction in the north west of England. Especially one that serves cask conditioned beer. It's a celebration of it's gentle goings on and a sad obituary to their passing.

The latest series has just started and Ken realises the men in suits from the PubCo are round the corner, waiting to do what men in suits are consistently good at. Close the pub.

In the second episode, Ken soldiers on stoically, he has a cold, his bone idle fat arsed mother asks how the kettle works, the degenerate bobby's Phil and Nige are passing the dutchie in the back room and in the front room, the sparse customers expose their lives unashamedly because that's what you do in The Grapes.

After an episode packed with one liners, Ken finds himself propositioned by his barmaid. I only hope we don't have a storyline coming on. God forbid it. Early Doors is The Grapes not The Rovers Return.

I watched both series on the BBC and now own the DVD's. A well crafted comedy with what I would consider instantly likable characters. To pick out one character, would be a dis-service, as all shine. I believe the key to good comedy is the relationship on and off camera between the actors and it's a delight to watch the out-takes on the DVD, must have been a joy to go to work everyday.

Shame it's not too well known, people either shake their head or shrug their shoulders when I ask them if they've seen it. I prefer this to the Royle Family, probably cause I know what it's like to walk into a pub where the regulars are regular. Hoping for more.

Given this is back on the BBC Iplayer I thought it worth a review. TBF it's always been worth a review. Firstly it's amazing to think there were only 12 episodes of this show. It seems much more however that has to go down the the great writing and acting. Set in a tiny English pub the stories of the various characters intermingle to great comic effect. Every character has their part to play however the interplay between Ken the bar owner and his Mum is comedy gold. There is also a great deal of pathos in the human situations displayed in this setting. So much to bring a "tear tae a gless ee" as the saying goes. It really is an undiscovered gem and great to see the BBC giving some recognition to one of their best products in the last 25 years. To the Regiment! I wish I was there.

Two series were produced of ' Early Doors ' and each episode is a gem of dialogue and wit.

Set in a back street pub of the type that have been replaced by faceless convenience shops or even worse flats.

Ken is the landlord of a failing brewery public house with a cross section of locals chattering away about life and the mundane lives they all lead.

Every scene throughout this series was memorable and each episode generally had a pay off which was always wonderfully set up.

Very hard to pick a favourite scene but if I have to pick one it's the one when they all go to the races and as they leave the camera leaves the pub in daylight for a slow camera to pan around the empty silent pub as night starts to fall in just a few moments.

They then all return to the pub after the day out, beautiful scene and in a strange sort of way very moving.

They don't get any better than this .

Yet another from the "say it in a northern accent and it must be funny" school. Offensive garbage, Cash riding on the coat-tails of the Royle Family (which I found equally obnoxious). From the gentle acoustic theme tune to the vacant, dull witted speech pattern of the young girl, it's a Royle Family tribute act, and not a very good one at that. The two police officers who have a pint in the kitchen - we get it, they don't like doing any work. The miserable old guy - we get it, he's a miserable old guy. And so it goes on. The women folk upstairs (one of whom actually has a Yorkshire accent) are occasionally inserted to make their asinine observations - "Ee, I thought he were one o' them gays" - which, because they are recited in the voice of Ena Sharples, have us falling about and saying "Just like our house! Our Nan was just like that!" The likes of Cash, and Aherne before him, would have the rest of the country believe that northerners act and speak like they have been stunned with a baseball bat.

I blame Peter Kay.

I had the fortune of catching season one before I returned to the states. I told my friends about it "oh it's the uk version of cheers then?" well no, I don't remember sam talking a pee with the door open or norm and cliff talking about having bit on the side. Some might find it a bit boring but me I could have watched until closing time. 10/10 pure (working) class

One of my absolute favourites, funny from start to finish with excellent story lines, unrated in my opinion

First off, it's not set in Yorkshire or Manchester. All the roads, the pubs, the clubs mentioned: All Stockport, Cheshire.

This show harks back to a time forever lost: before the bloody internet and smoking bans. When people would meet after work for one or two drinks then usually go home. Sadly, places like this were becoming very few and far between even before Covid due to beer prices skyrocketing and gentrification.

Anyway...This is a great, great show with much love and humour, and I roll it out whenever I'm a bit homesick. I'd say it's as good as The Royle Family.

This has to be one of the greatest comedies ever written. Sharp northern English wit tied in with flawed but beautiful characters, gives this series (of which there are 2) a charm above most. In a similar style to the Royle family and written by part of the same team it takes a couple of episodes to get into - but is well worth the watch. You can hear or spot something new every time you watch it. Coming from Stockport many of the points that the comedy touches on as well as the character styles resonate so close to home.

What a great show this is! Massively underrated - and a shame it's only 2 seasons. More real life here than any other comedy I've ever seen. Crime won't crack itself!

Written by Phil Medley and Craig Cash of the Royle family. Early Doors is very much in the same vein a look at drool northern humour this time in a pub as opposed to the front room. The main difference being Royle Family was never this good. The pub setting gives a wider scope for different character's each with there own individual trait.

Having spent time in pubs in Manchester it's not hard to see we're the writers got there material from. It always amazed me how few people ever watched this show. I have this on DVD and every one I lend it to binge watches the whole series then lend it someone else and I eventually get it back six months later!

The whole cast are wonderful including a young James Mcavoy in season one. It's no surprise that the cast have all gone on to do quality work in other shows. In particular James Quin And Peter Wight who play Phil and Nige the two hapless coppers who could quite frankly have a TV show themselves such is there comedy chemistry. 10/10 pure comedy gold.

This show epitomises the calculated use of British restraint. Not one moment is wasted. Each character, in almost a sentence is drawn with detail and care. Quite rightly this has 'cult classic' written all over it. But it deserves full masterpiece. Like pulling on your favourite old overcoat. The comfort. You'll wish you were there.

The most underrated comedy ever written. I loved the coppers in this, especially their line "I ain't going up that end of town, Ken. It's bloody dangerous up there!"

The other day I went to my special little video shop again to get some nice DVD for the evening in and found Early Doors sitting on the shelf. I had never heard about it, I didn't know the actors and feared I wouldn't be able to understand the northern dialect. But I rented it nevertheless (there were subtitles, they convinced me, because the mere sound of a Yorkshire dialect is beautiful, but I also want to know what they say) and was interest what Early Doors would be.

In the first episode I got to know the characters, in the second their habits and moods, in the third you got used to them, in the fourth you started to like them, in the fifth you did like them and the sixth... was the last, unfortunately, although by now you loved the pub and its people and wanted to know more about them. But then it was already over. Three hours had passed without me noticing it! I hope there will be more episodes out on DVD soon, I really would love to watch them.

And I can't get this catchy tune from the credits out of my head. For days now I'm humming it. This really is a beautiful little gem of a series. Typically British, I'd say. Let me tell you, if you love Britain and the British, watch Early Doors. You won't be disappointed. Time for more, gentlemen, please!

Step into The Grapes to view one of the greatest British comedies of the last 20 years. John Henshaw is perfect as Mancunian landlord Ken and he leads a universally excellent cast, with Rita May in particular delivering a wonderful performance as his mother Jean, a retired lady of leisure with a penchant for the well timed use of an inhaler. Craig Cash and Phil Mealey created a modern masterpiece here - there are many laugh out loud moments but there's also plenty of subtle observational humour too, together with real heart and soul, particularly around the relationship between Ken and his daughter Melanie (a lovely performance from Christine Bottomley). Susan Cookson as flirty barmaid Tanya and Rodney Litchfield as the misanthropic Tommy are also great fun. It's such a shame that there are only 12 episodes to savour. There's also a great theme song to throw into the mix as well!

This is an absolute priceless Gem of a comedy. Absolutely brilliant ... For me Eddy steals the show. So so funny

This is my first ever review on here and this show is the reason why. It's basically about a little pub in Manchester with loads of local characters. Think of it like The Royale Family warm up. It's genuinely lovely and hilarious. Absolutely love it.

If you've never seen this program you are in for a treat. If you don't get it just watch the episode again you'll soon be hooked. It may not be laugh out loud every other minute but it leaves you with a warm happiness and a love of the cleverly written characters. The only downside is that there are only 12 episodes and that leaves you wanting more.