The show is called Lizzie and Sarah, and it is truly, truly wonderful. It is a beautiful example of what British comedy does best: it is dark, funny, biting social satire, in turns horrific, profound, hilarious, and captured in the best tradition of British kitchen-sink realism. It is about two fifty-something housewives in middle-class suburban hell, living lives of obsequious drudgery, almost invisible to their cheating husbands and trapped in the humdrum of their local community.
The characters, Lizzie and Sarah, are beautifully observed. There is something almost heroic in their quiet acceptance of their miserable lot - Julia Davis' character is an archetypal middle-aged housewife, an amiable doormat, masking the years of pain and thankless giving with a stoic smile and a shrug. It is a far subtler performance than her other self-written character, Nighty Night's Jill Tyrell, and here Davis gets to prove what a wonderful actress she really is - every nuance of her performance, every eyebrow gesture and every little sigh brings to life a rich, deep character struggling to emerge screaming through the mundane roles and rituals where she is stuck.
Jessica Hynes also gives a bravura performance, easily her best since Spaced. As Sarah, she is always turning a blind eye to the constant degradations of her despicable and distant husband (played by Mark Heap, oh yes), and yet she is a genuinely charming, funny and likeable, often heroically buoyant in the face of her pitiful existence. In a brilliant scene where Lizzie and Sarah confess their misery to each other, Hynes delivers a piece of dialogue that is both the funniest on TV in years and at the same time a tragic and very sad indictment of men who subject women to years of mental abuse, and the women who silently suffer.
The plot turns in this pilot episode when Lizzie and Sarah reach breaking point and take back their lives, in a marvellous twist that I won't ruin for you.
That the BBC has so far only produced a pilot is a crime. That the pilot aired so late at night, with so little fanfare, shows how toothless and cowardly the BBC has become. Their failure to recognise the combination of peerless comedy brilliance and profound, timely social satire is highly disturbing to say the least.
Update: Lizzie and Sarah is no longer on iPlayer. From Tuesday 30th March, you can buy it on iTunes for less than a couple of quid, which might even help it get commissioned. Or you can download a torrent here if you're a cheap bastard.
The BBC are asking for feedback on the pilot here. If you care about good television, I insist that you go there and add your voice to those who want to see this show made into (at least) a full series.
You can join the Facebook campaign here.
In the meantime, thank you to Jessica and Julia, you have proven that British comedy is still a shining beacon in a world of shit. You have made a challenging TV programme that carries the best of what art can be, it is illuminating and deep, it peers into the abyss of our lives and laughs, it is subversive and edgy, with a steely moral centre and an outlook that is ultimately humane and empowering. In any sane world you would be lauded as heroes.
Just registered on the beeb to tell them to commission it. It really is bloody good.
ReplyDeleteIt is not on iTunes. Link?
ReplyDelete