Our take
A Christmas night farce stuffed with plots: a tarot warning, a disastrous house clearance, a jealous boyfriend and a very large spider. Few sitcoms could keep this many plates spinning for an hour, and the snowbound night in a dead cousin's house is a superb set piece. Phil Daniels heads a strong guest cast, and the feud next door has never paid off better.
What happens
A tarot reading prophesies disaster for Victor, who has a new job as an odd-job man, though the odd job turns out to be acting as a walking scarecrow while he sifts through a farmer's field for a long-lost engagement ring. Next door, Pippa is jealous of Patrick's personal secretary, who has told her boyfriend she is having an affair with Patrick to make him jealous, and the boyfriend now wants revenge. Meanwhile Cousin Ursula has died, and the Meldrews have to clear out her house, while the Trenches are happily packing to move into a new home of their own. Victor accidentally sends the house clearance men next door, and the Trenches' furniture is destroyed. In a bizarre mix-up the jealous boyfriend locks Patrick in the boot of Victor's car, and Patrick ends up stranded with Victor at the house due for clearing, snowed in, with a large poisonous spider that Victor tries to tempt out of the toilet with a banana. A night in a hotel goes wrong for Patrick and Pippa, so they end up staying with the Meldrews instead, and the boyfriend fights Patrick and Victor while Pippa sits frozen with fear in the car with the spider.
Can the kids watch it?
Rated 12 by the BBFC, with a menacing jealous boyfriend and adult jokes, so best for 12 and over.
Cast and crew
Starring
- Richard Wilson as Victor Meldrew
- Annette Crosbie as Margaret Meldrew
- Angus Deayton as Patrick Trench
- Janine Duvitski as Pippa Trench
Guest stars
- Phil Daniels as Melvin
- Rachel Bell as Lorna
- Bruce Byron as Tunstall
- Tony Sibbald as American
Writer
- David Renwick
Director
- Susan Belbin