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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Mel O&#039;Drama" data-source="post: 165058" data-attributes="member: 23">My Brit trip continues. Last night I started to revisit a series that's now three decades old...<img src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/71%2BKHCMGrmL._SL1348_.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" />And adaption of a BBC radio series - the TV version produced by Thames, rather than the Beeb - I remember After Henry being an unassuming presence on TV. Back in the day I viewed it as safe and twee. It wasn't the sort of series that would get discussed the next day at school. I'm sure I must have watched it as every part of it feels familiar, from the opening credits (with a jazzy rendition of Gershwin's Three Quarter Blues) to the bookshop in which Sarah works. And I remembered the basic premise (forty-something widow whose domineering mother and laid back daughter live with her). But besides that it's pretty much a blank canvas. There are no specific scenes, episodes or storylines ingrained in my memory. Three episodes in, there's already a feeling of slipping on a comfortable pair of slippers. It may not be earth shattering, and after a while I may not even notice... but still everything about it feels right. The onscreen dynamics are great. There are four main players, and so far it seems that the chemistry is good with any combination of them. The setup at home - with Sarah's home being divided into three relatively self-contained flats over three floors - is both cosy and believable. Great care has been taken to show that all three women have taken steps to live independently, so it very successfully gets over the archetypal Dallas question: "why do they all live together?". Of course, Eleanor can't help butting into her daughter and granddaughter's business. And Sarah - for all her irritation at her own mother - can't help doing the same to her own daughter. But there's a sense that this is because the agreements over living arrangements aren't being adhered to. We never saw JR and Bobby rolling their eyes when they arrived home to be greeted by their mother. Sarah showing irritation when she finds Eleanor in her kitchen, muttering to herself about "the old bat" or reminding her mother that they're supposed to be living separately stops the audience from asking questions by acknowledging the elephant in the room. Besides, with two women widowed and one still young enough to have not left home yet, the arrangement makes perfect sense. There's a security in the arrangement. There is, too, an almost guilty sense of both filial and parental duty which has been cleverly utilised, such as with Eleanor's mischievous phone call pretending to have chest pains and then deliberately leaving her phone off the hook. There's a family pull that makes it difficult to get away. With the wonderful Joan Sanderson stealing every scene she's in, it would be easy to overlook the heart and subtlety that Prunella Scales brings to her performance as Sarah. So comfortable does she seem in the role I almost get the sense that she's playing herself. It never really feels as though she's acting. Which, depending how you view it, could either be doing her a huge disservice or paying a huge compliment. There was a touching little scene where she discovered that her home had been burgled and a picture of her late husband smashed, and she was note perfect. It wasn't break your heart, win a BAFTA, real snot and tears great. It was just a simple, honest, poignant moment. Sanderson's Eleanor is very similar to the other roles I know her from - primarily as Nell in Me And My Girl, which was still running when After Henry began. Her formidable battleaxe with a soft centre works every time for me and she delivers her acid drops with unerring accuracy. It's not just the lines, but the looks. There was a great scene with Sarah recording an answerphone message, aided by Clare and under the critical eye of Eleanor which is perhaps my favourite so far because of the wonderful chemistry. Sarah was overwhelmed by the new technology and Eleanor zoomed in on every flaw while knitting for England. When Sarah asked her mother to be quiet, the look of incredulous disgust on Sanderson's face spoke a thousand words. I thought Claire was going to be the weak link of the series. All I remembered of her was that she was young and trendy, so I imagined there would be a parade of terrible Eighties clothes and little else. Would this take away from the timelessness of the rest of the series, I wondered? In truth she's fine and perfectly cast for this ensemble. As Russell, Jonathan Newth has the same kind of air as Prunella Scales, insofar as it's perfectly underplayed. I believe Russell as a character and I believe his relationship with Sarah. When I bought the series on DVD, I read a brief synopsis to remind myself what it was I had to look forward to, and I was intrigued to see that Russell was gay. It's not something I remember noticing when I watched the series as a teenager. And indeed, the character is - by many standards - underwritten. So far there have been just a couple of very subtle allusions to Russell's sexuality (an appreciative comment from him in a discussion about a good looking man, and Sarah mentioning that she was off to a party that Russell and Bob were holding. At least I think it was Bob). I've found myself wondering if this is by design or dictate. There would have been a degree of risk including a gay man in an early evening family sitcom in 1988, and there must have been conversations around it. Whatever the case, I appreciate that Russell is simply a sitcom character. He's not defined by his sexuality. Neither is his sexuality a social issue. It's just a simple fact of his life. In many ways he's the evolution of Agony's Rob. And it's also worth noting that the series was created and written by a heterosexual man. It shouldn't be surprising, but I do find it to be at least a little so. The episode running order is a little curious. Or at least the placement on the DVD. What looked suspiciously like a pilot episode was the second episode on the disc, sandwiched between two "regular" episodes. In terms of writing continuity there's been little to disrupt, as there's no "origin" episode. But the production continuity did change for these episodes. The second episode had different set dressings and some of the most basic titles I've seen. A sub-par version of Three Quarter Blues was used for the titles, with credits in a standard font on a blue background. The bumpers for the adverts had the same blue background and basic text and no music at all. The content of the episode besides was great. It's easy to see why they'd approve a series based on it - if the radio series wasn't enough to convince them (incidentally, I've never experienced the radio version. Maybe I'll feel inclined to do so as I get towards the end of the run). So far, three consistently good episodes. It's a promising start.</blockquote>

Verification: Who played JR Ewing?