What an utterly inane pile of old-fashioned shite this is! I was so looking forward to this, given the thespian resources that have gone into it and the build-up to the series by the actors themselves. Unfortunately, despite the stellar cast, nothing can save this continuous onslaught in the form of endlessly repeated digs about bad acting, fading looks, ageing bodies and annoying friends and relatives. I think comedy about old people can be wonderful, especially with trenchant characters (think Victor Meldrew, Madge (Benidorm) or the residents in Waiting for God), but this just reduces everyone to sex-starved saddoes who live and socialize together out of pure desperation, with seemingly nothing to live for except the almost-dead dog, the nightly cup of cocoa and the odd salacious glance at the male totty from upstairs (Ash). The two female characters are good (particularly the old dear with dementia), but not even the magnificent Frances de la Tour (of Rising Damp etc.) can save this one, and she in turn has been minimally characterized as a neurotic, hypochondriac old vamp ready to pounce on anything in trousers. Yes, Josh is cute, but he is a device, not a person. A foil for the crinklies' jokes, yes, but little else, at least so far. And he seems to be wearing a different leather jacket on every appearance. I thought the episode in the department store at the gents' clothing department was absolutely dire - reminiscent of Are You Being Served, admittedly, but with none of that show's effortless humour or bawdy innuendo to redeem it. I do wish our finest actors could resort to something more genuinely comic than hamming up the classic old queen role with a lot of lovey-dovey theatrical padding that has been done so much better in the past. I simply cannot stomach all the teapot-handle posturing and pursing of lips between every line, as they stand there, poised and ready to pounce, like the cast of Acorn Antiques, all eager with anticipation and beautifully timed, but to no avail, sadly. And incidentally, anyone who has been down the Cock & Balls of a Friday night to see the most amateurish drag show in all London will find this decidedly second-rate by acerbic gay standards. The show's bitchiness is to gay humour what Vestas is to curry or Double Diamond is to real ale drinkers - vapid, flaccid and tasteless.
Review of Vicious
