I enjoyed this series and would like to make it clear that it is far above par for the ITV course of recent years. It has its problems perhaps, but I would endorse the series as very worthwhile overall. It is a mid-1990s ITV 'comedy-drama' tackling middle-aged, middle-class suburbia and that most absurdly English of pastimes, the great sport of cricket. It does a great job of portraying the disastrous marriage of Roger and Miriam Dervish and obsession with cricket - specifically Roger's.
The series is perhaps let down by a lack of depth at times, a sense of repetition and overuse of catch-phrases. These are great at first, but become a bit stale by the later series'. I would disagree with Chris Loach that Brenda Blethyn gives the best performances. She is a very important part of the show, but the character of Mim is not as comically effective as Roger Dervish is. Maybe this view is slightly coloured by my having watched the second and third series' more recently than I did the first.
It is indeed the case that, from what I have seen of the second and third series' (2 episodes from the second, 4 from the third), there is a marked fall off in quality from the first series. The first series is far fresher and more incisive. There are few bits of comedic business that don't work; middle England and its characters are mercilessly, if affectionately skewered by the good scripting. It is social satire, perhaps not always tremendously subtle, but well observed and played as a humour of recognition. Kevin particularly, is wonderfully played by one of our finest actors, Timothy Spall, as a languid, likeable man. He is an audience identification point against which we view the obsessions and absurdities of Roger. His wife, the gangling, insatiable Maggie, is a very good screwball of a character; the couple's relationship comes across as a fine if unsubtle contrast to Roger and Mim. This line of contrast is central to the first series. Denis Lill's Dennis ought to be mentioned; a great comic creation of this absurd, slippery chap - a would-be lothario of advancing years, with a hapless glint in his eye.
Robert Daws is steadfastly convincing as Roger; creating a comic monster comparable perhaps to Basil Fawlty, Alan Partridge and other examples of British misanthropes on television. I love it how they never reveal what on earth he does in life outside of cricket; we presume a dull, office-bound routine-led job, but it is nice that we are never told, though it detracts from any realism people may want to read into the series.
It's a real shame that the conflict between him and Mim is so toned down, and his character softened in the second series. The very odd episode, "Funeral", where one of the team dies and Roger makes a speech at the funeral, falls rather flat as the series tries for drama over comedy. The depth in the writing wasn't there for this to work, by this stage. After the second series, there was a Corfu special, which is a little better, providing an enjoyable if inconsequential diversion. The last series' seemed to suffer from at times a broader approach and at times an indecisive, flat seeming approach. Too often perhaps, cricket has no role at all in proceedings, in later episodes. Certain supporting characters are not especially interesting; Tracy Brabin as Bob's wife, Roy Holder as Fred and Nigel Pegram as Nigel. It is a problem that actors had to be replaced between series; Alex for instance becomes a less effective inadequate substitute.
I should point out that having not seen all of the last two series', I do not claim to be in a position to entirely judge the series. Perhaps its finest moment is the episode at the hotel, in the first series; a giddy escalation of comedic error. Also, the earlier episode where Roger tries to hold a team meeting. Trying to view the thing as much as a whole I can, I would argue it is a very likeable, viewable ITV series, if not as special as something like the 'Beiderbecke' series or 'Rumpole of the Bailey'. However, when one considers the first series apart; it is truly a very fine achievement of sporadically broad, leisurely comedy.
Rating:- ****/*****
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