As part of BBC’s Grey Expectations – you see what they did there? Class – season of programmes about aging, the second part of Getting On was every bit as brilliant as the first episode.

On the geriatric ward, chaos is barely contained by Den and Kim – Joanna Scanlon and Jo Brand respectively – but last night, they had a male on their all female ward and Dr Pippa Moore – played by Vicki Pepperdine with utter believability – wasn’t happy…

“There’s the masturbation factor…” she told Sister Den, but Den pointed out the fact that as the young man had both arms in plaster attached to a frame, that probably wasn’t going to be an issue.

The writing of this show is awesome; dark, funny, satirical and incredibly relatable, it absolutely deserves a shed full of awards for Brand, Pepperdine and Scanlon who wrote it and of course, act the main parts.

All three of them are totally convincing in their roles and rib achingly funny. For instance, when manic depressive Ivy was brought onto the ward following a head injury, she soon displayed a plethora of unpleasant characteristics. She called Kim a “fat lezzer” to which she replied, “Well I’m fat but I’m not a lezzer”. Read more & comment »

Unlike Taking The Flak – last night’s BBC2 comedic offering – BBC4’s Getting On was truly hilarious and for once, I didn’t feel like one of Dick Turpin’s victims where my license fee was concerned.

Filmed documentary style and directed by Oscar winner Peter Capaldi, it completely embraced and faultlessly put across the PC, paper strewn world of the modern hospital ward, and the characters were utterly believable.

From put-upon nurse Kim Wilde, played in wonderfully dead pan mode by Jo Brand – who of course used to be a nurse so she may well have drawn on her own experiences for this show – to the pedantic and patronising Consultant, Dr Moore, again played to perfection by Vicki Pepperdine, it was a real treat for anyone who truly appreciates dark humour. Read more & comment »