Normal hilarious service resumed
FROM Sue Johnston fussing over spare pillows to Bobby Ball glued to The Chase, The Cockfields was the injection of big-hearted comedy I didn’t even realise I’d
been waiting for. other. No big twists, no levered-in slapstick, just people being people.
Joe plays Simon, heading back to his family home on the Isle of Wight with his girlfriend Donna, Motherland’s Diane Morgan, to spend a long weekend with his overbearing relatives for his 40th.
Doting mum Sue, played by Royles veteran Johnston, is a delight, obsessing, as mums do, over pointless details.
Twitchy
believed was Alan Titchmarsh’s home. “We saw him in Morrisons down one of the aisles,” said Sue proudly.
Mundane conversations about the neighbour’s hedge and the price of an organic sausage roll made for a sparkling script. There were tender moments too. Sue taking a moment to tell Simon how as a four-year-old he’d promised her he’d stay four for ever.
And of course, the relatives everyone loves to hate. Simon’s dad Larry, played by Nigel Havers, who produced a revolting red leather jacket as his birthday gift.
Sarah Parish as Larry’s obnoxious snob girlfriend Melissa, who “doesn’t want to make a fuss”. And the neighbour always lurking, getting smashed on white wine.
Just three parts, this wasn’t enough for me. But with a couple of neat plot moves at the end – a possible proposal and Ray’s dodgy heart – the writers must be busy scribbling a full series.
We all need a new classic.
EX-SOLDIER Ant Middleton was
with Liam Straight Talking
Round a Payne on Sky One.
up about campfire, Liam opened
fame, a run-in with the pressures of
bullied at Simon Cowell, being
“weird mid-life school, having a
break-up. crisis” and the Cheryl
he’s lonely He said sometimes
seemed and uncertain. He
this vulnerable during
frank insight.