Given that I will fall asleep at (by) 10:30 regardless of what I’m supposedly “watching,” there is no point in signing up for any additional streaming services, nor in using whichever form of initiative at one point led me to learn about all that you can watch through the Toronto Public Library. This means Britbox. Topical for this newsletter, but I might just be running through its offerings. The current roundup follows:
“Death in Paradise”: It’s if “House” were a murder mystery set in the Caribbean. Would I like to be on a tropical island? Probably. (I have never been, but it looks lovely, apart from the mosquito netting, which implies a need for mosquito netting.) Did we choose “Caribbean Coast” as a bathroom paint color, inspired subliminally by this show? Perhaps. But the neurotic loner genius trope is meh, and certainly no more charming for being a white English interloper who solves all the crimes the local police simply aren’t clever enough to figure out. But, it’s a show, and lots happens in each episode, and there are a lot of seasons, and the scenery is nice, so.
“Bergerac”: For reasons known only to themselves, Britbox got rid of (nearly all) “Midsomer Murders.” This despite July being its “Mystery Month.” Instead, there are a whopping 9 seasons of a previous John Nettles-starring police drama. The first episode was so bad. So bad! A humorless Barnaby. A young Barnaby, if that’s your thing, but it’s not my thing, so I’m not quite sold. That said, there’s an imdb list of actors who appear in “Bergerac” and the John Nettles episodes of “Midsomer,” which is the sort of thing I find endlessly compelling so I will have to give it another go at some point.
“Inside No. 9”: Might as well shamelessly admit that I started watching this because of Steve Pemberton fandom. But in fairness, he is in/has written like half the shows on Britbox, so this did not altogether narrow things down. The show is classified as a comedy but I am too stupid/too American to grasp its humor (except for some eps, and maybe the others are meant more as drama?), if just with-it enough to find it clever and addictive. “Last Night of the Proms,” “La Couchette,” “Nana’s Party,” and “To Have and to Hold” are probably my favorites. I was too squeamish for “The Harrowing” and “The Riddle of the Sphinx,” but weirdly not for “Private View,” which wait might also have to go into favorites on account of the fabulous Felicity Kendal. Also, also! Did you know that co-creator Reece Shearsmith is the voice of Mr. Curry on “Paddington”? This fact completely blew my mind the other day, although it’s the sort of thing you might have to be in the right mindset to care about.
“One Foot in the Grave”: Rewatching and finding it funnier than I remembered from what, a few months ago? Maybe it helps to watch it while extremely pregnant, almost asleep, and, by consequence, a bit delirious. But it is just so good. Victor Meldrew is a better version of Larry David on “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” and wife Margaret is somehow more interesting than either of the characters you’d expect her to be (as in, a long-suffering but sensible wife ala “Curb” or a long-suffering pathetic spouse like Richard Bucket in “Keeping Up Appearances”). But the standout is Mrs. Warboys, played by Doreen Mantle, who gives off the impression of being the dotty if conventional late-middle-aged neighbor but turns out to be this master of surreal comedy. Speaking of Mantle, it is a crime that “Jam and Jerusalem”/”Clatterford”, which I’ve just read about, and which she’s apparently in, along with Joanna Lumley and Dawn French, and which was written by Jennifer Saunders, is not on Britbox, because it would sort of have to be amazing.
Jam and Jerusalem is FANTASTIC. I think I watched it on DVD borrowed from the library?? Also, Jennifer Saunders thing the Life and Times of Vivian Vyle I think is the best thing she's ever (co-)written, but remains little known, I think it ran one season only.