No place like home
JOHNNY Vegas and Emilia Fox. Not two people you would automatically envisage sharing the same stage. One is the straight-talking northern comedian, known for his angry rants and surreal humour, the other an elegant film star from the thespian Fox family – the woman who made forensic pathology sexy.
Yet here they are, perfectly cast in this class-clash comedy.
Johnny plays motorway services newsagent Neil, excited to have finally scraped together enough savings to buy a lodge in the Lake District.
It may look like something the DIY: SOS team would bulldoze, but he and wife Fiona (Niky Wardley) and their two sons couldn’t be happier.
Across the road, and not impressed with the eyesore that is the Hackett family’s lopsided shack, is snooty Penny (Fox) and husband Robert (Dr Foster’s Adam James). Or Barbie and Ken, as Neil likes to call them.
They are all sunglasses and hot tubs, with Penny wishing she was in Ibiza.This is all set up quite quickly for some classic culture-clash jokes. Robert talks about architecture and rowing, while Neil boasts: “It was me who introduced the 3 for 2 on the Get Well Soons.”
Vegas is charming as the lovable loser, who finds himself in endless awkward and embarrassing situations.
There are some surprising additions to the cast too, including Susan Calman as a neighbour and musical theatre legend Elaine Paige.
And every now and again, there’s a stunning view of the Lake District that is worthy of any nature doc, let alone a Friday night sitcom.