Nighty Night

(The following review was originally published 20 Jan 2004 as the first review of this title to appear here. Deleted after a user request, it has been edited and re-submitted.)

"Nighty Night" details the life and loves of the most self-absorbed woman on earth, Jill Farrell, played by series creator Julia Davis. In the first scene she sits in the hospital with her husband Terry (the surprisingly normal Kevin Eldon) and they have just been told the test results. She bewails her fate, crying "Why does everything have to happen to *me*!" Her husband turns to her, comfortingly, and says, "Look love, it'll be OK. It's really not that bad. It is ME who's got the cancer!" In the second scene she is at a computer dating service. Not content with whoever they may come up with for Jill to go out with between hospital visits, she also sets her sights on neighbour Don, (Angus Deayton), a doctor whose wife, Cathy (Rebecca Front), is a victim of Multiple Sclerosis.

Davis has specialised in playing these kinds of women in recent years, most notably in Rob Brydon's "Human Remains" and Chris Morris's "Jam". Jill is all entirely her own work and she has really plumbed the depths of the human psyche to create a woman who cares for nothing and nobody but herself, to a psychotic degree. Instead of "Nighty Night" perhaps the programme should have been called "Nicely Nice", because it is people's niceness, or at least their desire that things remain nice, that allows Jill to get away with the most appalling insensitivity and self-regard.

The characterisation of Jill is perfectly done, as are the characterisations of the other people, from poor confused Terry (not realising that he isn't getting any visitors because Jill told everyone he'd already died), Don who is caring for Cathy, but obviously doesn't really "care" for her any more. Particularly brilliant is Rebecca Front's performance as Cathy, caught between dissatisfaction with her straying husband, outrage at Jill's antics but paralysed - not just physically - by her inability to make a fuss. These are fantastically well observed. Other characters, such as Stefan, Jill's putative blind date, and Linda the asthmatic girl in Jill's beauty salon who loves to massage feet, are more exaggerated but well performed.

This is not laugh-a-minute hysterical comedy by any means, but continues the uncomfortable black comedy trend hinted at by Steve Coogan's characters, and more wilfully pursued by Chris Morris and Rob Brydon (with all of whom Julia Davis has previously acted.)

What do you say about a female character who is utterly selfish and has absolutely no redeeming features? The Guardian newspaper described her as a "t*rd in leather trousers" which is along the right lines.

Julia Davis both as a writer and an actress has gone where many men would fear to tread and has brought us a comedy so black it's positively shiny. A hilariously politically incorrect comedy this series examines the winners and losers in life and suggests that those out for themselves can succeed over the decent and altruistic.

This series is definitely NOT for those of a nervous disposition or who do not wish to enter the belly of the beast that is modern society.

The rest of the cast are excellent and special mention must go to Angus Deayton for playing a doctor with a private life far less interesting than his own and to Ruth Jones for enthusiastically playing a character who is constantly humiliated.

One has to categorise this show as as satirical comedy, and indeed the first season begins humorously and playfully enough. After just a short time however, the personality disorders portrayed must inevitably lead to a rather more uncomfortable experience. Jill is nothing other than a psychopath, blatantly unaware of the extremity of her behaviour. The other characters all incredibly tolerant and unbelievably sympathetic to Jill's activities. Whilst the humour is maintained throughout, it is hard not to feel that genuine personality disorders such as these surely do exist around us in the real world. Of course the events are all extremely exaggerated, and that forms the basis for the humour. Were the show a little more subtle, then it would probably be billed as a psycho-thriller. I personally enjoyed it very much, as I find extreme humour quite entertaining. However, I would not recommend it for the squeamish, or prudish, or the particularly emotional. The second season even surpasses the first in extremity, if not in humour. I have knocked off points for plot, repetition, and incredibility.

I watched the first series of Nighty Night straight through over an evening and an afternoon. It was addictive. I laughed out loud on several occasions, smiled more often than not and couldn't wait for the next episode. Aside from the humour the show ropes you in just to see how things turn out. It has a brilliant premise, which is how a selfish, yet very attractive, woman can play havoc by threading the needle between her own assumed 'good intentioned' authority and others' political correctness. Night Night is a brilliant satire on British manners. A must see for fans of British humour.

This programme is actually a very twisted horror film Jill is the most evel woman on TV extremely funny extremely dark Julia Davis is amazing in this.