Christmas at the Riviera

Christmas at the Riviera was one of ITV's offerings over the Christmas season for 2007. In recent years, ITV has failed to offer little enjoyment from this type of programming. It is rare for a two hour comedy to sustain your interest and you quickly realise why episodes of other comedy is limited to one hour.

The programme centred about the Riviera, a seaside hotel with faults designed to create some comedy moments. The dis-functionality of the guests was also designed to add more comedy.

In summary, the whole thing was rather weak. The laugh out loud moments were non-existent and the farce which a comedy of this nature should portray was simply lacking.

Many expected a Christmas turkey, and ITV shocked us by serving up a luxury treat, Christmas at the Riviera managed to be funny, moving and gave us some rather lovable characters. The premise seemed a little old fashioned, somewhat of a cliché, a run down Eastbourne Hotel with calamitous staff and tough customers. However, the laughs are plentiful, especially those from Alexander Armstrong and Pam Ferris, her Welsh floozy was hilarious, but managed to tug at the heart strings when needed. A superb cast were assembled for this production, Shearsmith did a fine job leading as hapless Ashley Dodds, sad to see that both Sam Kelly and Warren Clarke are no longer with us, two excellent actors.

Comedy at Christmas seems so impossible, this show is the shining light in recent years, come on ITV and BBC this is what we want at Christmas. 8/10

I remember when it was first aired at Christmas time in 2007, when I wasn't sure I wanted to see it. I was attracted to it because of the cast, but I also remember a bit of negativity towards it, including Radio Times dismissing it as clichéd I believe.

If my memory is correct, I will say this. Those who say Christmas at the Riviera is clichéd are in a way correct. The characters and story lines hardly break any new ground, though when it comes to the characters some are more so than others.

However, being clichéd is not necessarily a bad thing, I think it depends on how the programme/film and characters are written. If they are written not very well, that is something to criticise, if they are then not so much, again that's just my opinion. The characters in terms of how they're developed are a mixed bag, Miles, Diane and Maurice are developed quite nicely, but there are others like Reece Shearsmith's character that suffer from being under developed or a story that isn't as interesting as the rest.

That said, Christmas at the Riviera is beautifully filmed, with skilled photography and striking location work. The pace is fine as well, it is neither too fast or too slow, considering how many characters and stories there are that's an achievement. The script has strong moments where it is funny and poignant, and out of the stories Miles/Diane's, Maurice/Rita's and Tim/Dennis's, the latter being the most touching, are the best realised. The cast do very well, Alexander Armstrong, Anna Chancellor and Warren Clarke are particularly excellent, and Pam Ferris is quite good as well with the reveal of her secret having some surprising pathos to it.

All in all, perhaps not must-see television, but I found it surprisingly good. 8/10 Bethany Cox