Chance in a Million

I never saw this first time round, and don't think I ever remembered that it existed until recently.... I saw the first episode a few weeks back and I only did so to remind myself if I had seen it before..... I hadn't, but I am glad I did....!

I never really enjoyed the typical U. K. sit-com especially at the time of its height in the 70s and 80s...... I found them to be unfunny and ham acted....

But this show was different to the typical sit-coms of the day.... it was very well written, in terms of the clever way those acts of chance that Tom Chance suffered were set up and paid off.... and the two main characters were very well played....

I found of the episodes I have watched so far that although this show has a typical sit-com feel.... but the characters and situations are just very surreal and sometimes very dark......

I enjoyed this in the same way I enjoyed Get Some In, for example, although it might appear to be a typical 80s sit-com it is worth watching to find out for yourself just how different it is from the shows of the time...

I can't think of any one else who could play the main role as well as Simon Callow... either at the time or indeed if there was a remake today..... The lazier programme makers today would likely pick a comedian of some type, whereas this show works better with a good dramatic actor rather than a comedian....

Quirky isn't really the word for this excellent, if dated, sitcom (I say dated because I'd forgotten how often Brenda Blethyn gets her it off, it was the 80's after all). Brilliant performances from the two leads, Simon Callow & Brenda Blethyn. You can really see the roots of other programmes like One Foot In The Grave etc in this. Currently (May 2022) being shown on BritBox, worth the price alone for this masterpiece.

One of the quirkiest and funniest sitcoms of the 1980s, this series captivates me. The very English middle class awkwardness of the relationship between the two central characters, the array of coincidences which dog poor Tom's life, Tom's bizarre way of speaking,the acting, the music - it's absolute perfection. How I wish they made TV like this nowadays! Captivating telly programmes - including the Beiderbecke Trilogy, Edge Of Darkness, Spitting Image and, of course, Chance In A Million - seemed far more prevalent back in the decade of shoulder pads and brick phones. So glad this is now on DVD, I waited for years!

"Chance in a Million" was a gem and it is sad that it has never been repeated.Tom Chance (Simon Callow) accepted the twists fate threw at him with unflinching cheerfulness and it was a pleasure trying to anticipate what could go wrong next.

His long suffering fiancé Alison (Brenda Blethyn) always meekly hoped for the best, enduring the most ludicrous of mishaps.

I often wondered if it wasn't rerun because its principal actors went on to greater things and having joined the ranks of "luvvies" they didn't want reminders of where they started from.

If true, this would be a shame because it was an excellent series.

It's a testament to the talent of Callow & Blethyn that this is not unwatchable but in fact still bloody funny and charming.

All the clichés of early 80's sitcoms in abundance - awful lighting, wooden sets, even more wooden acting from the other characters and extras, past-it's-sell-by-date canned laughter.

I only have memories of this as a child when it was originally aired. I can see why C4 haven't showed it again as it's just too dated.

But if you do have a spare few quid get the DVD set and marvel at Blethyn's hilarious, sweet and barely repressed sexual librarian and Callow's bumptious but likable bad luck lightning-rod.

Mention must go to the writers - incredibly convoluted and humorous plots. Maintains the great Brtitish tradition of the farce.