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Scarborough did have a couple of things against when I first heard about it: While I loved the first two series of Derren Litten‘s Benidorm – which were 30-minutes per episode and was packed with comedy, he then switched it to hour-long episodes which felt limp by comparison, and so, series 3 competely lost me.
So, can a new 30-minute comedy work for me?
The other problem is Jason Manford. I don’t find him funny. I’ve met his brother, Colin, who’s also a comedian, and I actually DO find him funny!
The plot’s a bit threadbare, since the only major thing that’s happened is that Mike (Manford) and Karen (Catherine Tyldesley) are a couple but aren’t quite on speaking terms various issues with their relationship.
One of the best in the cast is Stephanie Cole (Man Down, Radio 4’s Ed Reardon’s Week), who’s first seen commenting on daytime TV, and two men on a programme who are in a civil partnership. “They don’t look very civil to me – they’ve got beards!“, and later, she comments on a cat wandering in from outside into a neighbour’s house, and how it “shat on a pound-and-a-half of best steak mince” and added the conclusion, “He had to throw half of it away” Eww… 😀
Then in the hairdresser’s, reference is made to a fish pedicure, where a lot of them will eat away at dead and hardened skin from your feet, and how this used to be run by a man at the indoor market, “until he got arrested“. And if I can’t get it across the humour in this review, then rest assured that – and which surprised me, given the inclusion of Manford – there is a lot of chemistry between the characters, and they all bounce off each other well.
So, while this isn’t particularly original, it does make for a decent 30-minute watch and I’ll check out more episodes as they’re broadcast.
Finally, by complete coincidence, the broadcast date of this sitcom’s first episode coincides with the release of Scarborough, a movie also out on the same day. However, the plot for that is decidedly darker.
Scarborough begins tomorrow night on BBC1 at 9.30pm. It isn’t yet available to pre-order on Blu-ray or DVD. If you missed it, you can watch the each episode on the BBC iPlayer for 30 days after transmission.
Episode 1 Score: 7/10
Director: Derren Litten
Writer: Derren Litten
Producer: Gill Isles
Cast:
Karen: Catherine Tyldesley
Mike: Jason Manford
Geraldine: Maggie Ollerenshaw
Marion: Stephanie Cole
Yolanda: Rebekah Hinds
Bigsy: Steve Edge
Mrs Bookham: Veronica Roberts
Mrs Bell: Alice Barry
Lisa Marie: Harriet Webb
Jack: Derren Litten
Mandy: Gina Fillingham
Jess: Steff Todd
Hayley Cox: Claire Sweeney
Tony Peroni: Jake Canuso
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.