Reviews

I usually find Ron Howard's work a tad self-indulgent - you only have to watch Apollo 13 to know what I mean. However, with this, Ron really delivers a fully watchable film.

There are classic comedy moments - the Glenn Close "I light a cigarette..." line is just brilliant - while also providing true pathos with an excellent performance from Marissa Tomei (a disappointingly under-rated actress in anything she is in - witness her performance in Mel Gibson's otherwise rubbish "Whast Women Want").

I saw this in the cinema, and own it on DVD - it features in my regular rotation, and it doesn't matter how many times I watch it, it is still good viewing. A sign of a classic film is how often one can view it without finding scope for criticism - nothing yet!

This series was representative of some of the best that the BBC offered in the mid-1990s. Ronald Pickup is fantastic in his role as the titular head of the family, and a great comic foil for the rest of the cast. Celia Imrie has gone on to other things (hurrah for Acorn Antiques!), and some of the unsung heroes of British telly were all involved.

So why have I never seen this repeated on TV, or for sale on video/DVD? I have only my own (very warm) memories of the programme, and would love to re-live those memories - I just hope that it hasn't fallen victim to the BBC's unexplained policy of simply deleting some programmes from its records.

BBC - Let me pay you to buy it...!!