After Henry

I enjoyed this show very much and only wish it would be running again. Very humorous with a good mix of characters. The lives of a grandmother, mother and daughter all living in a 3 storey flat. One of the Britian's BEST comedies ever made.

After Henry is a show I loved as a youngster, and have enjoyed rewatching over the years. As a sitcom it isn't one you could say is loaded with belly laughs, it contains no slapstick, but what it does have is a very strong sense of realism. The humour is very dry, very witty, a brand of humour that seems to have vanished off our screens. For me the enjoyment of the show comes from the often moving moments when Henry is remembered.

Prunella Scales and Joan Sanderson are both superb, both have great timing, superb actresses, they make the show. Janine Wood is good also, but the character of Clare is just a little less interesting then her more mature family members. The best laughs come from Eleanor, and her caustic comments, her delivery was always perfect.

Series one is very good, but in this case I feel that it gets into its stride in the second and third series. The forth is a little pale in comparison. Sad that Joan Sanderson died before it's transmission in 1992.

At times it feels a bit middle class only, but the eighties were a different time altogether. The awful fashion and hideous decor prove that. A lot of quality comedy also came from that era.

After Henry goes to show that when a radio show is made into TV, it can work. 8/10

Television chiefs in Britain, desperate for new comedy ideas, seize on any successful radio series. When it first appeared, the idea of three generations of women under the same roof, and the sympathetic depiction of a gay man not in the first flush of youth were quite fresh. "After Henry" lost something in the transfer to TV, possibly because on TV it made fewer demands on the imagination. The cast, principally Joan Sanderson (qv) as Prunella Scales's mother and Benjamin Whitrow (qv) as the bookshop owner, were fresher, too.

After the first few sentences of each episode you can see how it's going to unfold,more amusing than laugh out loud funny and I doubt you will remember any highlights but as in the 70s and 80s women in British comedies were little more than eye candy this must have been a major departure with 3 leading ladies.

Prunella Scales plays a recently widowed woman living with her 18 year old daughter in the flat above and her 70 something mother in the flat below. Sarah's husband's death (the titular Henry) has somewhat destabilized life for these women and while they most definitely care for one another, they also get on each other's nerves on a regular basis. Joan Sanderson is absolutely hilarious playing Scales' interfering mother with an incredible ability to either blissfully ignore personal criticism directed at her (usually from "Sarah dear") or tartly respond to it. Scales is also funny as she trods angrily down to her mother's flat or tentatively and carefully up to her daughter's. She often finds herself torn between maternal concern for her flighty daughter (nicely played by Janine Wood) and fear of turning into her own mother. She creates a very human character in Sarah who makes as many mistakes as she does wise choices in restructuring her life without her husband. And despite the grim subject matter, the series is much more funny than sad.