I went with the former. My next pick is something completely new to me.
Despite reading that it was nominated for numerous BAFTAs and aired in a peak slot I don't remember it being aired - even in repeats. Nor do I recall hearing anyone mention it. Ever. It only came onto my radar through the ever-reliable Network On Air and was an impulse buy during one of their sales.
With one of the two leading actors being one of Broadway's leading ladies I did wonder if it counts as a Britcom, but just a few minutes in there's no mistaking that this is a vintage ITV sitcom.
So on I press with
Two's Company:
Familiar as her name is to me (and I'm not 100% sure why), Elaine Stritch is not an actor I'm hugely familiar with. A brief look at her screen CV suggests there may be some things I've seen her in. I dare say I've happened across
Cocoon: The Return at least once. Perhaps I've viewed one of her
Tales Of The Unexpected appearances. Seeing that she performed in
Charlie And The Chocolate Factory on
Jackanory has a very familiar ring to it. I feel pretty confident I saw that. Indeed, the prospect of Stritch appearing on the show, no doubt sandwiched between stories read by the very proper and very British Kenneth Williams and Bernard Cribbins
*, seems so unlikely I imagine that must surely be my lingering memory of her, unclear as it is.
* Having just looked on IMDb, it seems Charlie was actually shown after The Unsuitable Suits, narrated by none other than Kenneth Williams. Following on from Charlie was The Hobbit. Included in its cast was Bernard Cribbins. The chances of me being at least half right were probably quite good. All the same I'm quite amused.
A little more reading tells me that Stritch was in the running to play Dorothy on
The Golden Girls, and I'm sure I would have read her name in that context. So that may also explain the familiarity of the name. Before being reminded of this I had thought when watching last night that she has some of that wonderful Bea Arthur attitude. The person she reminds me of most so far is Sharon Gless. There's something about her sparky East Coast delivery; the way almost every line sounds a little angry, confrontational and accusatory - like she's trying to start an argument.
All of which, of course, makes her the perfect foil for tireless British gentleman Donald Sinden, with a polite but cutting comeback for each line. The sparks are really flying between these two. I love how stagey the whole setup is. All three episodes so far have been set entirely in Dorothy's home. It's all set based with no location work whatsoever so far. And the cast is minimal. The second and third episodes had three additional actors between them. The first episode was a proper two-hander with no other characters at all (just a few extras playing removal men as the end credits rolled). It feels like a very bold move for a sitcom to have an entire half hour with just two people onscreen in dialogue heavy scenes. No wacky neighbours or interfering mothers. Just two great stage actors holding the audience's attention and not letting it go for a moment. And what better way to get to know the characters' idiosyncrasies and see the chemistry at work?
Sinden was the draw for me here. I most associate him with Eighties sitcom
Never The Twain where his elongated vowels paired with his character's fit-to-burst sense of propriety and self righteousness made him a hit with me. It was essentially a caricature performance, but an effective one - certainly to my young eyes (it's many, many years since I last watched it).
Recently I watched Sinden in a 1981 production of
Present Laughter, part of a Coward box set of mine. Unlike the other features in the set, which were made in TV studios,
Present Laughter was filmed live in a theatre with an audience and I saw him in a completely new light. I'm glad to have had the opportunity to see a full theatre performance of his - even if it was only on DVD. The energy throughout was very impressive indeed.
The theatrical pedigree of the two performers starring in this LWT sitcom made me think of the Knotsian Jacobs/Filerman philosophy of combining art and trash to make television. Perhaps that applies here. It certainly feels like
good television so far.