Roger & Val Have Just Got In - BBC2 Fridays 10pm

R

Reilly

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I just had a look on iplayer and yes they say the niece and nephew would have to clear the house. Its growing on me slowly now i'm getting used to the style of it.
 
It's growing on me as well. The first week I didn't know what to make of it. Last week I enjoyed it and this week I thought it was great and quite sad at the end. I am now really looking forward to the story unfolding.
 
Maybe so, but TV is supposed to be entertaining. If I wanted to watch humdrum people doing mundane things I'd just look in a mirror. I've only watched a fleeting glimpse of this (I turned on for Newsnight a bit too early). What I saw was two tired and burned out old farts shuffling around, trying to persuade each other into eating lasange - not something that made me think "this is brilliant comedy / tragedy / reality / docu-drama / investigative journalism", or whatever it was supposed to be.
It wasn't particularly well done (the programme, not the lasagne[1]), it didn't have any "stop what you're doing and pay attention" insights and it certainly didn't have any comic touches - which is not surprising, since Dawn French was in it[2].
I can't see any reason why I'd want to waste any more of my life watching any more of this stuff. It seemed like the dregs of couch-potato television.

[1] that's one more joke than the show had
[2] make that 2!
 
This series is a lot better than the "reviews" offered on the first page of this thread. The lack of a laughter track just confuses some people who are probably better entertained by watching repeats of Will & Grace. There was a time when Alan Bennet-type observations weren't criticised for not making you belly-laugh every 14 seconRAB.
It's hard to write comedy/drama that isn't just a string of 'alternative gags'. and it does seem that some people have become too used watching things that pretend to be more complicated than they are, or probably should be.
 
What a gem this show has turned out to be.

Some of the lines tonight really had me blinking back the tears, especially Val's 'I don't want to have to think about the pans.' :cry:
 
watched the first three episodes and decided to give up! however curiosity got the better of me and I have just watched episode four on iplayer and have to say it moved me to tears...changing my opinion on this and realising it just reflects every day life and is actually quite clever! I'll carry on watching.
 
It's such a shame that the series isn't getting much wider recognition. Part of the problem is that we live in a 'quick fix' culture where people will give something a go for one episode and then switch off if they don't like it. Every episode of R&V neeRAB to be watched to get the full value, and that's asking a lot of modern audiences.
 
I feel, like Zippy00, that it's growing on me. Unfortunately Dawn French is not the world's best actress but at least we're not the getting the maniacal gurning she usually goes in for. This would have been better cast with someone of Sheila Hancock's calibre.

If they re-commission it how about having the same set and props but with different families/couples/singles each week? The same subtle humour about that limbo period between getting home and settling in for the evening? Bagsy Hancock and Timothy West for the first one.
 
If they had avoided any deliberate attempts at humour, and included a few long silences, it might have been almost "Pinteresque". :)
They could have made it darker and allowed us to eavesdrop on the play of domination and submission hidden in the most mundane of conversations.
But as it stanRAB, it's not particularly funny or interesting.
 
Without trying to sound disrespectful, but what you saw was the cumulation of 4 weeks (so far) building on these characters.

It would be like me picking up a book, turning to page 203 and reading it then declaring "it's rubbish."
 
Just to warn anyone in Wales it doesn't appear to be showing on Frday next week so i've sky+ for BBC England.

I watched episode 4 last night and it also moved me to tears, I thought they both acted it very well. Its nice to watch something a bit different.
 
Most definitely, but that's how channel surfing works. And browsing books in bookstores, too. It's the normal way of deciding if you like something or not. I gave it a few minutes, saw it had no redeeming qualities and made a mental note not to bother with it in the future.
As Burns once asked Hawkeye "why do people take an instant dislike to me?", which got the response: "because it saves a lot of time".
So it is with TV programmes, life's too short.
 
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