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Alison Rowat reviews the best and the rest of the TV week, starting with the revival of a golden oldie or two.
“Bring back Play for Today” — how often has that cry gone up among those of us of a certain age?
Probably not that often, seeing as most of you have a life, but now and again, someone despairing of standards in television drama makes the suggestion.
Memories of Play for Today invariably turn out to be rose-tinted. Certainly, some outstanding works broke the mould — Abigail’s Party, Scum, Nuts in May, pick your own. But let’s be honest, there was a lot that was the drama equivalent of knitted porridge, the kind of worthy, miserablist fare that then transferred seamlessly to the afternoon play on Radio 4.
If you were looking for the next Blue Remembered Hills, you would not have found it in Play for Today: Never Too Late (5, Thursday). Written by Simon Warne (Doctors) and Lydia Marchant (EastEnders), it had a cracking cast in Anita Dobson, Nigel Havers and Tracy-Ann Oberman and a decent enough if rather tired storyline.
Cynthia (Dobson) has spent the last few years growing old disgracefully and plans to carry on that way. Unfortunately, gravity was not playing ball. After a couple of falls, daughter Amanda (Oberman) placed mum in a retirement village/old folks’ home, the kind of place where you can paint your room any colour you like as long as it is white, and no noise is allowed after 9 pm.
Life becomes more interesting when Cyn discovers an old flame, Frank (Havers), living next door. Cue buried feelings and secrets resurfacing as the pair, who used to sing together on the club circuit until Cyn opted for marriage and motherhood, slow dance down memory lane.
Comedy-wise, we are strictly in Benidorm country from the off, with jokes that don’t whisper in your ear so much as punch you in the stomach. “You wouldn’t believe the gorgeous pair of tits I saw today,” says one resident, a birdwatcher by the name of Brian (also the name of Dobson’s partner, Brian May, in real life; I trust he was in on the joke).
Havers hardly had to stretch himself to play an old smoothie chops, having most recently done the same turn on Coronation Street, but who’s complaining? I’d watch Oberman (Friday Night Dinner) in anything. It was Dobson who was the eye-opener here, though. At first, her character was a broad-brush, comedy version of Ange in EastEnders, all shoulder pads and sharp edges, but she soon moved towards something far softer and more interesting.