Engelsk tv-spil ?

En gang midt i 1980érne sendte DR flere år i træk et engelsk tv-spil. Det blev vist lige omkring jul, hver gang, og handlede også om jul. Det var noget med en fyr, der skulle præsentere sin nye kæreste for familien, der mildt sagt var underlig. Noget med en, der satte alt ind på at opføre et dukketeater for familien, der bare ikke gad se det igen, en meget beruset kone som man ikke så, i køkkenet,en fjernsynsnarkoman osv, osv. Meget morsomt. En eller flere fra Javel Hr. minister var med. Har nogen set denne udsendelse ?
Det undrer mig vi ikke har set den siden 80érne, med alt det l... vi ellers skal se igen og igen

jeg kom til at læse dit indlæg om den engelske film. Den har jeg godt nok ikke set, men jeg har altid været helt forelsket i javel, hr. minister og javel, hr. statsminister. Det er de ultimativt bedste komedieserier, der nogensinde er blevet lavet.

Season's Greetings, by Alan Ayckbourne

Bernard (Tim Eyres) gets into the festive spirit.
Old Fire Station Theatre until Saturday 9th
If you are not yet in the festive spirit for a (rapidly looming) Christmas, then this play from Alan Ayckbourne will remind you of what this seasonal celebration is all about: gruelling family reunions and strained friendships, it seems. Thankfully, though, Ayckbourne treats this familiar and depressing topic with a general levity that makes the subject more than bearable, creating a farce laced with a dose of grimness that nobody can fail to relate to.
In this production by the City of Oxford Theatre Guild (Oxford's largest company of non-professional players) we are witness to the three-day Christmas from hell at the home of the not-so-young couple Belinda and Neville. This is just the first of many depressingly accurate depictions of a classic stale relationship - Neville's grunts in response to his wife's nagging are those of a true married man. Each successive character seems more desperate than the last, from the pathetic mouse-secretary sister down to the gin-sodden, purple-clad, bottle-blonde sister-in-law, Phyllis; all are stuck in a mire of sexual boredom, desperate flirtation and overdue revelations of self-inadequacy. The acting is consistent, with occasional flair (Colin Davidsons was remarkable as the dead-weight loser, Eddie), and the sparkling one-liners are delivered with gusto. The rosy-warm set, too, is perfectly pitched - it builds an atmosphere of a contented, Ella Fitzgerald-soaked, ideal Christmas, that is systematically shattered as the play progresses.
The slightly stilted pace of the production, and its rather limping flow, might perhaps have been rectified by some malicious editing; for, as in all plays that deal with the deadliness of strained relationships and the excruciating tedium of a family reunion, there is a risk of so convincing the audience of its horror that they, too, want to escape. Thankfully, however, the farcical edge strikes back to raise us from the brink and keep the audience in their seats. This is the last vestiges of your childhood white Christmas laid bare - the myth of warm cheer and seasonal goodwill finally condemned to its grave. And if you can't spot at least three of your own extended family members here, then you are a very, very lucky person indeed