Roger and Val Have Just Got In
Beth Kilcoyne writes...Nearly three years ago a card dropped through my door and when I had read it I started running round my house, screaming. This is because the card was from Dawn French, who had seen a comedy written by me and my sister Emma and it invited us to go to a meeting with her. Having grown up as a passionate fan of French and Saunders it's interesting how words come out of you at such a moment. Mine were the standard, "I can't believe it!" but suddenly, and at a very high pitch.
It was at that meeting, at Pinewood Studios, that Roger and Val Have Just Got In was born. Dawn is an amazing artist and working closely with her has been a three year master-class. She wanted a show about the half hour when you've just got in from work, in real time, with just two characters - oh, and the characters needed to be happily married. That is a very difficult thing to write. After three scripts, we secured the brilliant Hugo Blick as Executive Producer and he started encouraging us to dig much deeper. On script, I would say Hugo sees things that other people don't see. What has emerged is a show that is all of itself; it isn't really a sitcom. It is a narrative comedy drama and, when it unfolds, it is about the biggest thing in life.
It now needed a fantastic actor, who could do both comedy and tragedy. Dawn's first choice was Alfred Molina. Here are the emails between me and Pete, the Producer, about that:
"The scripts are now with Alfred Molina. We won't sign him, he's a Hollywood star, so while that pipe dream bubbles along I'll look at more realistic choices."
"Pete? I'm prepared to fly to LA on my own Barclaycard to persuade him if it would help?"
"No Beth. Don't think that would help."
Then we signed him. I got such a shock. I got the news as I was getting on a train to Sunderland (where I'm from) and I kept trying to picture where he would've read the scripts: on a lounger by his swimming pool with a cigar? I imagined Fred would come into the rehearsal room in a baseball cap and dark glasses drawling things like, "is my car here yet?" But no! Fred is shockingly un-moviestar-like and unassuming. So much so that when you do meet him and say things like, "Hello Alfred Molina, I've been told not to be star struck but please can I just say I can't believe you're in my show?" he really doesn't mind. He doesn't have a swimming pool though, because his wife likes a garden...
Being the writer of a new series that is about to go out is not relaxing. You feel a bit like you should go and get your hair done (why?) and a bit like you're going to the dentist and will definitely get a filling all at the same time. We hope you'll love 'Roger & Val' as much as the cast and crew did. It's different.
Beth Kilcoyne co-wrote Roger and Val Have Just Got In with her sister Emma. Watch the first episode on Friday 6th August at 10pm on BBC Two.
~RS~q~RS~~RS~z~RS~46~RS~)
© 2012
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All the best Beth and Emma. I can't imagine the anticipation and angst you must be feeling and am unlikely to experience it firsthand, that's for sure! But with strivers such as me in mind, and the rest of us who live vicariously through long-striders such as your good selves, I wish you every success and hope you enjoy the ride.
Was that the doorbell? Toodle pip. xx
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Dawn French was once funny. This is awful. Nobody is listening.
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Self indulgent dross - what is going on? - who thought this was entertainment. The cameraman can't even hold a camera still - I'm starting to feel sea sick. Someone needs to tell these actors that they are missing the mark. I do hope Dawn hasn't surrounded herself with people that tell her that her product is fabulous darling! I think I just heard Dawn utter the words - "We're hopless", well said!
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I've just switched off this programme, having waited in vain for anything that might qualify as witty, humorous, comic, amusing or any other word that that nice Mr Roget might associate with the word comedy. I try to imagine a BBC executive watching this and saying "By gum, that's a lot of licence fees well spent," and can't. I long for a BBC sitcom I can look forward to of an autumn evening, and just feel saddened.
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"Never going to let this happen again" .... good, well said Dawn
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My husband and I watched this first episode and we were both completely glued ... it was sheer brilliance. Both Alfred Molina and Dawn French were completely believable. If you want Terry and June you won't find find it here - thank goodness. The comedy is subtle - it's comedy drama. Some of these reviews are at complete odds with what we thought - keep going there will be many who think it's groundbreaking and unmissable like us!
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Absolutely loved this. The script is the right side of quotidean and everyday whilst being witty and avoiding the triteness that others have mentioned. I thought the characterisation was spot on, as were the performances. Incredibly assured.
The camerwork was not at all wonky, and I'm not sure exactly what was self indulgent about this. It's a comedy drama with the emphasis on the dialogue. Absolutely the sort of thing BBC should be making.
I say this as a fan of US shows such as In Treatment, and I have no problem recommending this in the same breath - which is high praise in my book.
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This happened to be on while I was washing up. Within a minute I'd finished, but found myself standing in the kitchen for the whole episode, transfixed.
I've registered just to say I'm saddened by the absurdly over the top negative comments on here, because this episode featured the best writing I've seen on tv for absolutely ages. Wonderfully subtle and perceptive, and you couldn't ask for better performances. Everyone involved should be proud. I'll be glad to watch the rest of the series.
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I absolutely loved this episode, emphasis on dialouge and when done well... frankly comedy doesn't need anything more. I agree, I enjoyed the subtle nuances between the two characters and you could totally believe they were a happily married couple. The scene at the end when Val tore up the garauntee after spending half an hour looking for it was laugh out loud funny for me :).
Something different, something brave, something pulled off well in my opinion :).
Thanks Emma, Beth, everyone involved and the BBC!
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Totally ignore the negative comments,- instead Congratulations on a brilliantly observed comedy drama/sitcom. Amazingly it was like watching ourselves, so much so I was sure it was a long, (but happily) married couple who had written it (not sisters). The comments in the first episode, guarantees, stuff in the drawer and on top of the wardrobe, the mundane stuff of everyday life, were so accurately observed and naturally acted that I suspect you have been bugging us. I look forward to the rest of the series.
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The Radio Times online description of this episode was spot on.
And I quote:
'It's not funny' and 'Nothing happens'.
'Without Dawn French and Alfred Molina this would just fizzle out.'
Not my words but the words of BBC RT online TV reviewer.
I happen to agree.
In sheer desperation I turned over to 'the other side' and watched 'Pete vs. Life' which was laugh out loud funny.
If it hadn't been marketed as a sitcom maybe expectations wouldn't have been raised so high.
I'll tune in again though; the words book and cover spring to mind, but I'm not going to hold my breath.
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Dawn tries to take her Dibley audience a few steps towards Samual Beckett - good luck with that Dawn, BBC1 audiences have trouble enough with BBC2, never mind something that encourages them to reflect a little on the content.
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It was lovely and substantial. A mini stage play. Why, just the other day I was looking through my filing cabinet (same as big box) and having similar thoughts. More please!
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Brilliant, I loved it. Funny, touching, insightful. Can't wait for the next episode.
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Great actors, fantastic and novel idea for a drama, but wasted on a DULL script. I felt impatient with the dialogue. I was not hooked by either words or character. For me identifying with the characters is not enough to make me interested. It seems to appeal to a very narrow audience. However, that was the first in the series. I hope the next one is better.
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The scripting, delivery and interplay between D and A was near flawless. Thoroughly engaging - the mundanity had no bearing on this. It was like a more thoughtful relative of Outnumbered in respect of it's domestic treatment and contemporary feel/newness. I found it to be a considerably richer viewing experience (theatrical) than average and imagine this is what puts some off. I've since watched the 'Esther phonecall' scene again and was laughing convulsively. Thanks for this and I genuinely hope you get the credit you and colleagues deserve.
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Neither of the characters were interesting enough to make me want to watch again.
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I loved it. Thirty minutes went by in a flash.
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@ #11
"The Radio Times online description of this episode was spot on.
And I quote:
'It's not funny' and 'Nothing happens'.
'Without Dawn French and Alfred Molina this would just fizzle out.'
Not my words but the words of BBC RT online TV reviewer."
I'm never usually Alison Graham's biggest fan but having read that mini-review of it, I think that actually she rather liked it. The 'it's not funny' is a rather accurate description of its style, as in, it's not trying to be in your face about how funny it is (although I did find it hilarious), and about it 'fizzling out', I can only see that as a compliment, she is in a sense saying that it hangs together on the back of their quality performances and is pretty ethereal and intangible, like all the best drama and comedy is.
..that's giving her the benefit of the doubt, which I am never prone to do.
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As a fan of Alfred Molina it was a surprise to see him in a comedy with Dawn French so I was excited on Thursday evening. I must say that I was glued to the TV. A great script around a Vacuum cleaner Guarantee!! Totaly believable characters and well acted as you would expect.
Can't wait until next Tursday.
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@ #19
How can you have a sitcom that's not in-your-face-funny?
Oh I forgot...Lab Rats!
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the comedy in this was so fantastic, and me and my mum where glued at from start to end, and where literaly crying with laughter at vals plan to 'burn everything at the very last moment', 'awww'-ing at Rogers frustration at his phone call, and 'you do that'-ing at almost every thing else. my sister was so annoyed at us raving about it, that she decided to watch it herself, with exactly the same results. Im 13, my sister is 16, and my mum is 50, and it is one comedy we can all watch and enjoy together. Bravo Beth and Emma.
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This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the House Rules.
I'm sure there are plenty of up and coming comedy writers in need of a break spitting feathers right now. How dross like this got commissioned I'll never know.
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This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the House Rules.
@ #21
Haven't seen that, but there are plenty of different types of comedy and this is comedy with a backbone of well observed human drama behind it, it seemed to me.
The comments on here are a bit baffling; I accept that comedy can be an incredibly subjective experience but I just saw this as a show about two people in a intimate relationship who are happy to share their foibles and flaws with each other. Some people like myself find the way they express themselves alongside the actor's performances to be witty and charming on top of that.
I don't know if it relies on the audience having seen elements of those people in others, or themselves. I guess that was my experience when I watched it, even though I am much younger than Roger and Val, I've still had drawers filled with receipts and 'things', have had those kind of phone calls borne out of a moment of not-thinking-it-through, and like to share in the playful banter that they have with each other.
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Like Harmonica and others I am baffled as to why some people use such vitriolic language and have been so negative. I'm convinced it's going to be a grower.
I watched, not knowing what to expect. I will admit to being nonplussed at first at the lack of belly laughs but, before I knew it, the half hour had gone and I was surprised. And I have a seriously reduced attention span due to toddleritis x 2.
There's an enormous connection between the couple and I am amazed that some commenters could not see this. Astonished, even. Shared memories, learned patterns of behaviour, petty squabbles, silences and hints at what else is happening and has happened in their married life together. It's not difficult to see how much they rely on each other - indeed, cling to each other. Some couples do call each other by their names, do have places where they shove all unwanted but necessary paperwork and do force each other to speak on the phone when they don't want to.
But that is not what this drama is about. It's about what you don't see, what these signs represent to a couple such as Roger and Val. I'm very much afraid we will be laughing through a tear or two by the end of the series.
And I'm also rather afraid that many viewers will turn over and lose out because they're not being battered over the head either by a one-liner (though these are in evidence) or by an obvious plot. I wish they wouldn't.
I will be watching, with my wife, to find out more.
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I am totally flummoxed at the negative comments as I loved the first episode. It's splendidly subtle, cleverly written, and I could totally relate to the guarantee palavar. Both D and A's characters were believable and lovable and I really can't wait for Friday!
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Two wonderful actors and a dreadful, dreadful script. It could be so good with Dawn French and Alfred Molina, but instead was so bad. I had to watch to the end to see if it improved, but it didn't. Things can hardly get worse, so I'm hoping the next episode will be better.
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Total rubbish and completely boring.
How can anybody make positive comments? A total mystery?
The BBC have now churned out numerous unfunny programs classed as comedies for some years now. The BBC no longer recognises what constitutes a comedy.
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This is the first time I've ever posted a comment on a blog. I watched this show last night, and I have had to post a comment before I go to work. This is about the most brilliant piece of telly I have seen in a long long time. I have too many memorable moments from it to list, but the end when she says she's going to use the ball they played with as the guarantee - BRILLIANT. I was absolutely mesmerised from start to finish. Brilliant brilliant performances and script. Can't wait for the next one. Don't understand the negative comments AT ALL. Except it's so refreshingly different it will probably confuse some people at first. Top marks BBC - this is what you SHOULD be doing.
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I found this SO boring, it was consigned to the Life of Riley category "things I wouldn't watch even if I was duct taped to a wall and had no other alternatives on offer."
These people are so stupid it is a surprise that they could ever maintain a household at all. How is it amusing or entertaining to watch? I found it painful, boring, worse than watching nothing at all. Just hate it.
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But this is the point. If something is truely original some people love it and some people hate it. This show is really different than anything I've ever seen on tv. How many shows can you say that about? Even people who don't get it feel passionately. I love it. I never felt like this after My Family. I've never commented on a blog before. It's new and it's brilliant. Don't you get it? The focus on the child's chair at the end. It's all about what's going on underneath. Read the writer's next blog - I just have. She tells us as much.
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Sorry I feel like I watched an entirely different programme. I found it tediously dull, can't see any of the good stuff you see in it at all. It just seemed stupid, a brain-numbing exercise. The characters didn't seem real to me either, just caricatures of the terminally dull.
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I read the positive comments so thought I'd give it another go... Unfortunately, I'm right, they are wrong... this is not good. There is no comedy in this so called sit com. It's observation maybe... but neither are good enough actors to convince or bring the characters to life. It's a bunch of words delivered one after another. If I were to find this humerous i would also need to accept I am dull and have zero expectation of quality.
I want to suddenly recognise art but can't see past the chaff. Dawn, this is not what you're good at... sorry.
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This is brilliant. Touching, funny, and very real. It's like watching myself and my partner on a bad day, or a good day, or an average day... Inspired, beautifully acted and just the right side of bitter sweet. Looking forward to next Friday.
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Possibly billing this as a sit com is throwing people. It's not a laugh out loud comedy, but comedy in its true sense from the Greek - drama with a happy ending. If you get past the fact that it's not hilarious, then you can sit back and enjoy the understated acting, and genius script. It really is lovely.
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We commented last week - this is not a sicom - it is a comedy drama about real life - for a lot of people (maybe not all) but most people will recognise themselves or someone they know. The BBC surely exists for this - perhaps not commercial for everyone (the country seems to be divided by Roger and Val!)
The joy of this is precisely that it does not fit well established moulds - it is different - and for us at least it is one of the best things we've seen for ages. We will continue to watch and look forward to the next episode,
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This is the best thing I have seen on television for a long time. The comedy is subtle and shines forth from the interaction of these two characters. Their conversations are dual streams of consciousness that interweave so tightly its a delight to watch, but aside from all that, what I find most intriguing is that hint of mystery. What is it that has made Roger and Val the way they are? What happened? I'm completely hooked, on the comedy, the brilliance of these two superb actors, and that sense of something just under the surface.
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I saw Roger and Val for the first time last night just out of pure curiosity as my name happens to be Roger and my wife Valerie and as the show we live together generally just us two as the kids have now all left home. I must say that it was like watching a image of ourselves and it was both well written, researched and acted. I would call it a tougne-in-cheek drama with a generous splatting of humor. I think I was laughing at my own lifestyle
Very clever and well done to all involved.
RogerSW
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What a gem ,a snapshot of humanity ,mundane endearing subtle and humerous.The cast of two is perfection,the writing sublime,a side of life that we can all understand.
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I don't often post comments on sites, but as good comedy writing is so rare at the moment, I feel obliged to add my appreciation.
Great, great script - and great acting, directing (and photography and design also).
The negative comments made so far do not seem to show much depth of analysis, so I think they can be disregarded - plus this is obviously going to be a bit of a slow burner, as so many great comedy classics can be.
One thing it lacks (which personally I am grateful about) is the inevitable 'stooge' character who seems to turn up in every sitcom these days. The imbecile on the screen, who the imbeciles in front of the screen can laugh at and thereby use to divert attention from their own shortcomings. Think any dross by e.g. Richard Curtis (I loathe 'The Vicar of Dibley', and PTL that Dawn Franch has had the foresight to arrange and plan this far better testament to her acting abilities).
Without the 'stooge' character, it may not gain a mass audience share (even 'One Foot in the Grave' had Mrs Warboys) but I'm sure the figures should be decent even if it takes a second series.
Thanks again.
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This series is one of the best things I have seen in a long time. Only two episodes so far but have both been deeply charming and very funny.
Thank you to all involved.
The love-it/hate-it divide in these comments is striking. Chalk another one up to the 'love-it' side.
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I caught the second episode half way through on Friday, just as I was trying to walk out of the living room. I sat transfixed, and then watched the first episode on iplayer and am totally hooked. I've told everyone about it and have now joined the facebook page as well. It is so wonderful to see something of this quality on TV in a half an hour slot. Both actors are wonderful, and the script is heavenly. Thank you, thank you, more more please.
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Roger and Val have just got in and i am glad - it is brilliantly written brilliantly played and i am captivated and can't wait for the next episode.
Dawn and Alfred and just like a normal married couple - each rambling on in their own way but totally together - keep it up.
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Superb, laughed out loud from start to finish, and my husband did too. I've only just seen the second episode and will hopefully get the first on i-player. Refreshing, insightful and gentle comedy, I'm very glad to have had my licence money spent on this. I sensed a tragic undertone and guess there might be some tears at the end but with such fantastic acting and brilliant writing I'm in for the duration, well done to all concerned.
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Bravo - I am hooked, what a good show. I watched Roger and Val the other night, like it so much I caught the first episode on iplayer the next evening. Had to post a comment to say how much I enjoyed the funny but mundane, the acting and the writing are brilliant. Thank yous
for making me smile.
Cannot wait for the next episode.
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A comedy? - must look up the dictionary as I thought a comedy programme was meant to be funny. And the lighting?! - why is everything so dark and gloomy? People desperately looking for a receipt - in near darkness? I could get the same "comedy" or "drama" by eavesdropping on my neighbour. Does that make this programme good, or BB-type garbage? I get the impression people are trying hard to justify a forgettable over-wrought waste of 30 mins just because of the well-known actors. Had they been unknowns, it would be totally panned.
Someone or some committee has been trying too hard in the production of this thing - and failed utterly. If I want mundane, observation, etc - I have real life on my doorstep. This programme is not funny, interesting or entertaining in any way. It is depressing.
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This is the best new sit com my parnter and I have seen in years!! The negative comments have all missed the point of Roger and Val, do they not remember the kind of pathos that shows like The Good Life and One Foot in the Grave had? This is the first time I've commented on a website as Roger and Val MUST have a second series! Friday cannot come fast enough, Dawn and Alfred are perfect for the roles and they make becoming a middle aged couple look quite sexy....
Plaese we must have more... if not the fish fingers will become "A symptom of my malaise!"
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I just watched the second episode on BBCiPlayer. Really enjoyed it, both characters were instantly likeable and I believed them. The humour was there, but was natural so that it fitted into the dialogue without seeming clunky and ""sitcom"". Don't think I've watched anything in realtime before, I like the idea, it seemed as though I was a fly on the wall of a next-door neighbour- so my attention was held throughout! Everybody loves a good nosy!!
Very amusing, inventive and well acted, I will be tuning in for the next show :-) This is the sort of programme that TV money should be spent on!
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Beth, Dawn & Alfred, thank you! I've just watched the second episode, re the Unglamorous Row - even better than the last!!! Do you ever experience that wonderfully satisfied/sated feeling when you see a good piece of theatre? That's how I feel right now. I have dined on a wonderful feast of Roger and Val and feel pleasantly plump. TRULY INSPIRING!
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This is without doubt the best thing I've seen on television in a long, long time. I've never ever even thought of posting any comments online before, so I suppose that just goes to show how utterly brilliant I think this is.
It's subtle and gentle and real. And after it ends you feel better. I think that's about the fact that the programme really and honsetly shows what it's like to be a human being - that we are all in the midst of stuggling and muddling through life. And it also get's straight to the heart of the matter - relationships. And that it's the little, sometimes unspoken, things that happen between two people that really matter and make us what we are .
The writers deserve many prizes. But a little word of warning - if there's a second series, please don't spoil it!
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Love the show! Dawn and Alfred make normality funny, it's just like listening to my parents.
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I find this lovely and understated. Very engaging, I've only watched one episode and I want to see how those evenings in progress.
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Just watched the 3rd episode, wish I hadn't.
It was great until the end now I can't bring myself to iplayer the 1st two.
I just don't think the tradegedy is needed, we are just like them and we have two happy children.
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I simply don't understand the negative comments. This show is the best thing I've seen on tv for ages because it's honest.
Thank you for this subtle comedy that I guess is a lot like marmite.
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I have watched all the episodes of Roger and Val. The first episode, I must confess, I did think "What is going on?". I watched it because of the cast, being a fan of both actors.
Having watched subsequent episodes I have recognized the brilliance of the writing and the portrayal of Roger and Val. The obvious comfort with themselves and of each other shine through with the performances,. The topics are wonderful representation of what would, and does, affect 'real' couples.
Congratulations to all concerned in this wonderful production.
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Just watched the 20th August episode and read some of the above posts. Sadly I use real humour as my benchmark when judging new material. Humour like Only Fools and Horses, Fawlty Towers, Hello Hello and so on. Those programmes were funny, you know laugh at funny lines, situations and actions, presented by comedy actors that no one doubts are masters of their art. Clearly whoever brought this series to the screen has never read a really funny script because if they had this load of unfunny tosh would never have seen the light of day. Some of the other comments indicate that I am not alone in this view. However most of you are suffering from "The Emperor's New Clothes" syndrome I believe the current phrase is "Get Real". The both the actors are known to be capable of raising a mid range script to an acceptable level. This series requires a Lazarus to raise it from the dead. I didn't like it, can you tell?
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So far I am loving the world of Roger & Val "just getting in" and hope there is a second series in the pipeline. One of those wonderfully down to earth comedies in the same daily life ilk as The Royle Family but without (as someone else has already noted) the "stooge" who is the butt of all jokes and sets up some obvious plot or one liner. Nothing about this show is obvious, it is subtle and warm with thoroughly likeable characters. Give me this over My Family or Life Of Riley type comedies with wobbly sets and canned laughter anyday!!
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I love this it isn't laugh out loud but subtle and real. I don't want them to be in trouble at work and such like. I want them to be happy. It is comforting comedy. Well done
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Brilliant. Very witty and superbly understated.
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I wasn't sure about this to start off with but thought it may be a grower and I am more impressed every week. This week was more like my husband and I than most tv programmes and after watching the ending I think we may be able to relate more over the next few episodes. This programme makes me sit and smile and I think we'll be shedding a few tears before the series ends. Beautifully written and looking forward to seeing more of Beth and Emma's work.
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Any idea where Dawn's characters reading glasses are from?
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I have seen all episodes so far & I am enthralled with this series! Me & hubby both love it. Can't wait for next week! It's very well written & the actors are great. I think some people don't think it's comedy because there is no inane laughter telling them when to laugh. Well done.
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quirky, uncommercial, unputdownable - I don't mind my licence fee going on this
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I am thoroughly enjoying this new show, the acting is truly wonderful I have laughed at the obsurdity of everyday life and can appreciate the first 30 minutes of getting home with a partner. It is possible to see the deep down tragedy that has touched their lives and I think there will be some tears before the end.
Please keep writing this type of quality comedy/drama and the casting is a gift. Well done!!
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wanted to know more after watching the end of tonights episode, and feel i need to comment after being suprised to read negative comments. I thought it was wonderfully written, I am repeating some of the praise on here but it was beautifully subtle and so real, yes it didn't make me belly laugh out loud but it made me smile, chuckle and feel emotional. It reminded me of 'talking heads' and that in my opinion is great praise. It also didn't feel too arty or clever just genuine.
Maybe the negative comments are from people who just haven't experienced the love of the mundane, those moments when as a couple you are aware of how dull your conversation is but it just doesn't matter because you are happy!! It has that awkward comedy running through it that the office had, I think this appeals to anyone who enjoys people watching!!
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I'm sorry but some of the comments on here are just so annoying...not all comedy has to be in your face or even laugh out loud, wee your pants, slip on the banana skin...
Roger and Val, is subtle, perceptive, clever and whilst you watch it you think...actually how funny life is and the silly things we all do behind closed doors with our loved one.
I can relate to me and my partner doing some on the silly, sweet, funny, a bit crazy and mundane things that they show in Roger and Val, things that you only do in the comfort of the person you really trust, who will always have a good opinion of you in the end no matter what. If you don't see that then you must be lacking imagination, just some of the facial expressions of both of the characters say so much.
In this instant gratification obsessed world, it's nice to see something that requires a bit of thought to understand and appreciate for a change.
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I couldn't watch the first episode of this, I just didn't get it and turned over.
I was drawn back to the second episode and began to understand the relationship between Roger and Val.
Now I am completely hooked. It completely relects, though in a comedic/dramatic way, the reality of a long-term happy marriage. I even shed a tear at the end tonight, with the photo. More, please.
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Wonderfully written, brilliantly acted - but I think calling it a 'sit-com' is under-selling it! This is in a 'comedy' genre all of its own: beautifully observed, full of pathos and compelling to watch it provokes rueful chuckles rather than belly-laughs and all the better for it. And there's something so sad about it all, even when we're chuckling! Compulsive viewing! Congratulations!
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This is sheer brilliance. Well done all concerned.
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I registered specifically to add another voice of praise, against the negative comments I've read here. RAVHJGI is one of the most exciting pieces of television I've seen on the BBC in recent years - not exciting in having lots of explosions, but in trusting to excellent writing and wonderful actors with a charismatic relationship to hold an audience's attention for half an hour.
I'm recommending Roger and Val to everyone I know: I've been comparing its gentle acceptance of human foibles and quirky comedy to Northern Exposure, another classic that's easy to underestimate. The writing is so smart: gently drawing out its themes - The Guarantee was brilliantly written, moving from the search for a Hoover guarantee to the more tenuous kinds of guarantee we ask from other human beings: to be there for us, to remember our shared pasts...
Roger and Val isn't flashy, and it's all the better for that. Unlike some more formulaic TV I've been watching every episode twice or three times to catch every nuance. Sorry to offend but I suspect some people just aren't quite smart enough to understand what's going on in it.
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Wow this really polarised people didn't it. For me roger and Val is absolutely brilliant. It won't make me laugh out loud, it's more subtle than that - but it is a neat observation and certainly made me smile big regularly.
Congratulations to the BBC, I think this was a risk but for me it worked. Captivating television.
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My boyfriend and I are really enjoying this series which is gentle, heart-warming, at times very true to life but also constructed enough to be thought-provoking. The final close-up of the photo at the end of yesterday's programme indicated some very poignant scenes ahead. Having watched both programmes, I cannot believe that ANYONE is enjoying the pedestrian sub 'Two Pints of Lager...' dross that is Pete Vs Life. But each to their own.
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What a joy this new programme is. Wonderfully intuitive writing and top grade acting. I was hooked from the first episode. I thoroughly enjoyed it. The two young writers have excelled themselves with the script and the the natural acting talents of Dawn and Alfred have resulted in a timeless little gem. I love the way that each little story can stand on it's own. Well done to all involved!
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At last! A little programme hidden away late at night for us few little people who do not need the endless mindless fly on the wall programmes about real people e.g. big brother, come dine with me, can fat teens hunt OMG. Yes this is fly on the wall but what the writers have done is created two more real people than all these other programmes put together. The interaction and seemly mediocre lives of these two lovely people is marvellous. More real than the real people. Brilliant!
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This is the one of the best programmes on the BBC for many years; the only criticism would be that it has been called a comedy.
As half of a middle-aged couple its observation of a middle-aged couple are accurate to the point where it becomes almost disturbing to watch!
The hints of such a detailed back-story are intriguing (and we have only had three episodes), yes there is a hint of tragedy in their past but we will have to wait and see.
The revelation of the series has been Dawn French - anything she has done outside F&S has always seemed to be her exaggerated jolly fat persona, we now have it confirmed that she can act!
To see Alfred Molina as an ordinary person is something of a revelation too, having seen him in many roles from Prick Up Your Ears onwards I should not really have been surprised.
Comedy is of course subjective - for everyone who thinks Only Fools And Horses is brilliant there are people like me who think it is over-rated rubbish. It is interesting that all the negative comments here are from people who either were expecting some kind of visual comedy (probably from the Jeremy Beadle comedy of cruelty school) or those who must live lives like Big Brother contestants as they complain they can't identify with the characters and their life.
One final plaudit - the set, is it a real house or an outstanding example of the set dressers art? Either way they, along with everyone else, deserve a BAFTA!
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Love it. Love it. Love it.
Having tuned in for the 3rd episode first (I tend to arrive at these shows at least 3 episodes behind everyone else), choosing to pre-record it on the old Sky+, i took to Roger and Val with a mug of tea and a chocolate biscuit and found myself more drawn in with each passing moment.
There is an element of, 'This couple aren't actually all that interesting' and it does creep up on you about half way through, but it it's that element exactly which warmed me so much to them. The need for people to be exceptionally, 'in your face'all the time, in their own homes, during the day-to-day moments of life is unrealistic and actually somewhat gaudy.
I felt Roger and Val were wonderfully like real people, displaying exactly what we love in our dearest friends. In the honesty and familiarity of the writing you find what is really lovely and wonderful in everyday life. Well done to the writers, producers, and actors who have come together to create this lovely half hour, once a week.
I'll look forward to my little dose each week and find lots of relief in the absence of a laughter track, cartoon colours and over-the-top innuendo.
Like I said - Love it. Love it. Love it.
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I love the way this drama portrays the reality of life of a long-time married couple. There are times when nothing much happens and in real life, we do talk in a shorthand because we know our shared history.
It is really refreshing not to be spoon-fed every detail, but actually to be permitted to unravel some of this couple's history for ourselves. I was not surprised when the photograph was finally revealed - the pathos and shared sadness was there for any who chose to see it.
Dawn French and Alfred Molina are sensational in their portrayal of this ordinary couple.
I think some of the criticism has been levelled because Dawn French is such a tremendous comedienne some may forget that she is also an amazing actress.
What a treat! Thank you for giving us a grown-up comedy.
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I cannot understand why some people are so negative about this wonderful series. Intelligent script and superb acting. Funny, real and moving. I love it and have told everyone I know who hasn't seen it what a gem this is. Please don't let the writers, crew and performers be discouraged by all those viewers who have completely missed the point. We need more programmes like this.
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Anthing new and different always divides people as seen by the comments for 'Roger and Val'. People who think it's boring, dull and unfunny obviously don't understand it! It is a brilliant study of a relationship, beautifully and sensitively written with a deep understanding of how people communicate. It's dark and funny and has deep undercurrents of pathos - just like most people's lives, seemingly boring but there's no such thing as an 'ordinary person'. I think it's quite the best thing on TV at the moment, congratualtions to Beth, Emma, Dawn and Alfred - a gold nugget amongst the dross!
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I do hope that there will be a second series. I started watching it because I like both Alfred Molina and Dawn French. I think it is acutely observed, realistic and as with most comedies/comedy dramas there is an undercurrent of personal and private tragedy that is being revealed as the weeks go by. I think it's a shame that it wasn't mentioned when Alfred Molina was a guest on The One Show recently. As others have commented, it's probably a slow-burner and I hope that the writers and actors (et al) are encouraged by the positive feedback. Each to his own I suppose but this is so much more believable and realistic than Life of Riley (much as I like Neil Dudgeon)or My Family. 'Val and Roger have just got in' and 'Outnumbered' are two of the best 'comedy' offerings of recent years.
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I watched the first episode going up to London on the Brighton Express. Sadly I became distracted by the same scenery I always see and this bland, conversational, weak idea just fizzled out and became background noise. Some writers make the inconsequential interesting (The Royle Family) but looking for a vacuum cleaner receipt doesn't rate amongst them. Roll on the full series of Getting On, I say.
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I'm really sorry for those who don't get this - it's totally he best thing on TV. Superbly touching, so bittersweet, funny and real. Woke up last night laughing about it. Can't wait until the next episode.
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It is obvious from the posts here that the audience for this show is very polarised. I have to say I come down firmly on the side of the "Love it" camp! Having just watched the last episode and that very poignant shot of the photograph I can't wait for more of the back story to be revealed.
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It's because you have to really listen that some people don't "get it". You really have to concentrate - like watching a movie. In other words it's not moving wallpaer. Hallefreakinlujah for Roger and Val! More more more!
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Absolutely brilliant!! It is not easy to say so much in such an understated way. Anyone who thinks this series is not good, probably does not understand 'subtle'. Maybe also one has to have experienced life a little to see the deeper side to this series.
So much said in such bland conversation.
Genius!!!!!!!
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Fresh and sharp at last.
Roger and Val is inspired.
thanks BBC!
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I love this comedy drama. It is subtle, quietly funny, and is very real [so much so, I can hear my husband and I making some of the remarks]. It is building their story gently - no ghastly East Enders shrieking and violence - and I wait for each episode now with anticipation. It has the feeling of Alan Ayckbourn's Talking Heads, and should also get a special mention for not having music all the time. I would like to see it get a prize, but because not many people will understand or bother with the delicate writing.
Congratulations to all concerned with this, the comedy drama of the year!
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Great show, love it and can't wait for the next episode. I don't usually go on blogs ect but felt the need to comment after seeing some of the negative comments. More shows like this please.Well done all involved
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Like many others, I was so irritated by the negative feedback for 'Roger & Val' that I just had to register immediately to say; this is a GEM of a programme.
We're all too used to instant gratification and are spoilt by 'dumbed-down' viewing - which this programme is not.
Dawn French and Alfred Molina are just brilliant - as is the writing. I can't wait for the second series.
Well Done all concerned!
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Back again.
i am sad to say i have found one thing wrong with roger and val :O!
(pause for dramatic affect)
the clasification as a 'sit-com'
sit-com's unrealistic,in your face trash that has to tell you when to laugh. In fact a situation is,and i quote:
'a set of circumstances in which one finds oneself; a state of affairs'.
would one find oneself, and again, i quote 'an accidental time traveller who leads a double life after discovering a time portal allowing one to travel between the London of the 1990s and the same area during the Second World War.'? or Quote
'an on-board radiation leak of cadmium II kills everyone except for you, a low-ranking technician , who is in suspended animation at the time, and your pregnant cat, who is safely sealed in the cargo hold.Following the accident, the ship's computer keeps you in stasis until the background radiation dies down—a process that takes three million years.[ you therefore emerges as the last human being in the universe—but not alone on-board the ship. your former bunkmate and immediate superior is resurrected by the ships computer as a hologram to keep you sane.'?
so, infact the whole sit-com status wrong, not roger and val (hoora!)
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Drivel. What is happening to BBC comedy?
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Count me in the "Love it!" camp as well. What a beautiful show!
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Just seen the latest episode of this beautiful show and was really moved. The writers have got the sadness and humour of real life just right. Thank you.
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This is a really brilliant experiment in delayed gratification. Stick with it you impatient lot and the rewards are there and better for the waiting. You saw the Wire, right? Tonight's show was just brilliant and the hints of where it was going have been there under the surface.
So if you had anything to do with commissioning, producing, writing or acting, catering, making tea, pr etc etc - good on you.
BBC, please give me MORE of this kind of slow burning, high quality, original, life affirming/questioning, challenging brilliance.
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I'm only 16 and I'm not sure I get most of the comedy. But I think that this was by far the funniest episode. The cagoules made me laugh. And I was in tears by the end of the show. I think Alfred and Dawn have done a great job. I wasn't sure that the show was good until this episode but I'm completely swayed now. It's an amazing and I can't wait until next Friday.
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I've been really enjoying this programme, and tonight I watched it with my partner for the first time and now he's hooked as well. I love the realism and everydayness of the programme, it's refreshing and easy to watch without being a 'throw-away' programme. Roger and Val are likeable and believable, and my goodness, the first time their loss was hinted at I just felt for them- and I feel that the progression of information about that loss has been delicate, realistic, and heartbreaking. I will be glued to this series, and hope that there will be another after the current run ends. If it makes any difference, myself and my partner are in our mid-20's.
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I love Rodger and Val it is very clever I find it really deep but it also makes me smile. Well done
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I love it - intelligent, poignant, observant, gentle. beautifully acted - superbly written. Highlight of my week. Tonight's episode when Dawn cried at the table made me cry – thank you so much for writing this
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There are a mix of reviews on this site and I think Bookid has hit the nail on the head. If people are expecting this to be a sitcom, ie. laugh out loud funny then no, it is not and I can see why some do not like it. Perhaps it has been wrongly categorised.
However, what Roger and Val is, is a touching insight into two very believable characters. Through each episode, I feel this series has got better and better as you get to know each character more every episode. The writing, in my view, is superb in the way that it captures what being human is about. It makes you smile and feel warm inside, and that's what makes it so good. The characters are believable and genuine and the acting is just amazing-episode 4 was so touching, congratulations to all.
So to sum up, I think it is wrong to be called a sitcom, and I think this is where it has set itself up for a fall, which is such a shame as it is just the most terrific piece of drama-A snapshot of someone's day-to-day life. I really hope that the BBC commissions another series.
Well done again and thank you!
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BRILLIANT, i wasn't going to watch it then i saw Dawn French and thought i'd give it five min's of my time, didn't move an inch for the whole programme, so sad but so funny. I love it when something bites u in the bum and wakes u up like this, and it's only a tv programme.
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This week's episode has just ended and both my husband and I had eyes flooded with tears. This comedy drama is without doubt the best thing we have ever seen on television let alone the BBC. We blog each week but this week we cannot say any more except that we are totally captivated.
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Truly terrific! I find myself riveted to it in the same way that I was riveted to Waiting for Godot. Beautifully acted and totally refreshing.
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I only just saw this for the first time tonight, I found it mildly amusing and different (similar in style to Early Doors and Smoking Room, but more subdued and obviously more dramatic). I found the performances compelling, especially towards the end. As soon as Val mentioned the wallpaper, it was obvious what had happened to them and that they still grieved the loss. She had me in tears at the end as she sat at the table. Beautifully acted by Ms French and Mr Molina!
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What a brilliant programme this is. It is so unique that sit-com does not really describe it well, it is so different in it's approach that it almost needs a new classification. I absolutely love it.Tonights episode was just incredible, so moving-I cried the entire second half of the programme, such clever, clever writing and brilliant acting- Thankyou so much.
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As a long term married couple who live with 'sadness', I can only say this series is inspired. As I saw Roger and Val sit at the table and Val's tears and Roger's concern portrayed with such brilliant and gentle acting skills I wonder at how two actors can invoke such emotion in members of it's audience. I say again, genius :)
Dawn and Alfred you are both brilliant, please give us more of this gentle and intelligent viewing.
Thankyou.
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I have finished watching this weeks episode with tears running down my face, where as the guarantee had me and laughing out loud. It is so well observed and written, Dawn and Alfred as so believable I can recognise myself and my husband. We too have been lovingly married for 20+ years and have lost a child. The negative comments are undeserved as it is intelligent, emotional and captivating. Please please let there be another series.
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This was no doubt one of the best and most moving TV I have seen in a long time. I am new to the series and I would like to complement all involved, as it is intelligent, involving and very real.
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I am saddened by the negative comments about Roger and Val - which I think is a great and original programme beautifully written and performed - but I am also mystified. Why are so many people amazed at the idea of comedy which isn't an endless stream of belly laughs? Just last week, the Mitchell and Webb 'Old Sherlock Holmes' sketch had a poignant ending. Before that there was the end of 'Blackadder goes Forth'and before that M.A.S.H. There is a long tradition of TV which mixes comedy with pathos, tragedy etc. Get less fixated on the label, folks, and enjoy the contents!
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Bravo, BBC! I've seen all of Roger and Val so far and love it, for the acting, the characterisation, the subtlety and intelligence of the writing, and the way the back story is unfolding so gradually. Wonderful. Have just watched the "spare room" episode and found it incredibly moving - that moment when Val looks up at the child's lightshade is just *so* eloquent.
I'm not sure this is a comedy at all: it's about the way two people are coping every day with a huge personal tragedy, keeping themselves and their marriage together against all the odds, when every tiny mundane detail of their everyday life is loaded with significance for them. For example, the way they could both still see the Peter Rabbit wallpaper even 17 years after it was painted over; or the way the idea of escaping from their house, that room, came so easily and powerfully to both of them, and the absurdity of them both (as a result) ending up in their cagoules indoors is extraordinary. This is powerful stuff, incredibly well observed.
It's astonishing to read on this blog how people can be so oblivious to its subtleties, although I do think it's really unhelpful to label it a comedy or a sitcom, since it's a far more unusual and complex creature than that. The writing and acting are brilliant - bravo and encore!
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During the close up shots of the conversation between Roger and Val in the last 10 minutes, I was totally distracted by the camera which went up and down like a boat in a storm.
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If this doesn't go down as a comic drama classic, then there really is something very wrong somewhere. Absolutely wonderful, beautifully acted. Tonight's episode reminded me of the One Foot in the Grave episode where Victor and Margaret mention their late son Andrew, who up to then has not been mentioned.
Roger and Val is of the same high standard. It's a gem.
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Roger and Val... Ahh... love it. Three views of the show today: 1. looking forward to this eves show, 2. this morn some doofus on wright stuff (which I don't mind) slagged off the show, rather blandly, then saw same on this blogsot, 3. so sad at tonights episode - what happened to their son; either I've missed something or it's to come - I don't like/don't want to see them upset.
I love to see Roger and Val just be : just be themselves, love eachother.
I've loved and lost and cherish the small things they mention - the stone (vaccum guarantee - same week my hoover bit the dust, unfortunately, not literally); keeping bits and bobs you should really chuck out but don't and keep them in the draw, what to do when someone passes away, Rogers dads pending death.
Alot of it close to home for me, but, I was refreshed by Alfred as the most cuddly, soft man with a heart of gold, instead of the the (often played) tough guy in alot of movies I've watched with my kids.
That said, baddies aside, was the first lasagne reference in tonights episode meant as a 'nod' to Chocolat? I took it as such, give in to the temptation (be it choc or lasagne based).
Ahh, much love to roger & val x
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Just watched tonights Roger & Val. It occured to my husband & I that some people might not 'get-it'. So I have googled BBC for reviews/comments & found myself on this web page. I do not usually write my thoughts on things like this, but for some reason I feel the need to put my two-pennth in .. Our opinion is that whilst at first you think 'what on earth ??' after a while you do actually think 'hold on - this is like, what we do & say & how we feel sometimes'. Tonights episode has once agian held us in a strange mix of comedy/drama. I think that maybe,say 35years old & above couples(?),are more likely to be able to relate to it. The more you watch it - the more you get it- and the more it leaves you - wanting more .
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I've watched this since the first episode, and it's just got better and better. Two very believable characters leading a 'real' life.
An equal mix of comic tragedy and pathos; whose life isn't, once you get past 40?
I think I've cried during each episode, and no...it's nothing like my life.
Best of all, the acting. It's really good to see Alfred Molina on British tv. Dawn French, goes without saying.
Can't miss it each Friday.
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Wrote my comment before reading the above blogs... The lightshade/wallpaper hit home and scared me of what was to come - like I said, couldn't bare having lovely people upset.
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A huge credit to the actors that I could sense their tragedy before the first words were spoken.
I cried tonight, for their sorrow and my own long buried one too. Brilliantly acted, brilliantly written, it is one of the most moving series I have seen for many years.
Yet when trying to explain the series to someone else, I found myself laughing too. A true example of how comedy and tragedy are interlinked.
It is a classic, it is genius...congratulations to all involved. And thank you!!
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I signed up here so I could post about this series. Roger and Val is some of the best dramatic writing I have experienced for a long time. The development, dialogue and pace is excellent; the subject matter truly inspired.
However, I suspect that you may need to be over a certain age to truly recognise the merits of this comedy drama. From my perspective, it is an incredibly accurate portrayal of a loving, long-standing relationship where the mundane and the profound simultaneously shape daily life. I recognise so many of the situations, and it is, to be honest, both uncanny and, strangely, personally reassuring to see them on screen -- to be blunt, Roger and Val has made me realise my husband and I are not aliens.
In a way, I do not think there should be a second series. I think it could possibly dilute the potency and resonance of what there is here: drama that exquisitely weaves together humorous moments with very real sorrow.
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I have watched the fourth episode of Roger and Val tonight, and i must admit at first i wasn't sure i liked it, i did find it very slow and quite boring, and i thought i should watch the others on iplayer to see if it proved my first impressions wrong and it did.
I realised it was in the same vein as The Royale Family, (but less obviously comedic in a good way) and written with great detail and observation. I am now beginning to love it.
It draws you in; with little music, or tired old cues or obvious jokes that most comedies resort to, and this is what makes this programme special. It's exactly the kind of thought provoking and interesting programme that i want to watch.
I shall be recommending this to my friends. So hush all the disparagers of Roger and Val, the BBC make the best comedy even if this isn't the usual sort of comedy you would expect. -Matt.
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Roger and Val! Absolutely brilliant! All great comedy has an element of tragedy and pathos and this show most certainly achieves this. I don't think I have ever seen Dawn French like this before, in tonight's episode I truly saw the depth of her acting ability. It was stripped down and real.
This script is profound and clever, it clearly portrays the nature of long standing relationships and how pain can be felt and understood without having to be completely transparent. The dialogue and the unspoken are both funny and fragile.
Great stuff
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Familiar ground - I've also signed onto this to write about the show, do you hit a certain age (I'm 36) & it all seems relevant, or lovely, as I feel - but I do have to talk about the show, to pass on its funnies & feel heavy at its sorrows. Although I don't think it is an age thing, its a people thing , the kind of stuff that makes you smile/cry, best if you don't know what is going to tick those boxes to make it work & this does.
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Just watched the 'No Smoking'episode and cried for half of it. The acting is so powerful. You could feel Dawn Franch welling up after they fixed up the spare room. My emotions mirrored hers. A family member of mine went through the loss of a child and I think the writers have really captured the sense of the dependence of a couple who only have each other to help them through. I also think its very funny in the daft way that mundane life is and get how women nag men to fix things when all they want to do is eat biscuits.
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I Have never written before on a site like this but feel I had to regarding this show, I totally get it and loved it, I have just watched episode the with spare room and simply started to cry with no warning Im not usually reduced to tears through a show, Its amazingly acted and I watch it again on I Player , People like this in life rarely find each other The negative stuff on here is bull I also love and watch Granma,s house but it is a totally different style of show .
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On the point about labelling it a sit-com... That may give an expectation of a certain type of comedy but I can't agree that this isn't laugh-out-loud funny. In fact, I've laughed more watching this than I have other comedies in a more traditional vein, e.g. Outnumbered and My Family, and I wish there was more of this kind of stuff that teeters between drama & comedy programmed.
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I agree with the people who say it isn't a sitcom-because it is a comedy drama, but I am astonished by the people who still say that this is rubbish and the BBC are foolish for having commissioned it. Alan Bennett's Talking Heads were in a very similar vein--one actor narrating a tale generally with a darker side--and they are still referred to constantly as one of the best modern drama series. I can only imagine that those who dismiss this show have poor concentration span, because it does take effort to think through what is happening, but when you have such an incredible pair of performances--I'm thinking of the moment when Val just silently looked at the lampshade--and a clever script and crew, surely any effort is worth it, especially if you're going to be thinking about it the next day. How many times does that happen with My Family or other such laugh-out-loud comedies?
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We've enjoyed this as a family from the first episode. After the last our 12 year old said. "that is so sad... I really want to know what happens to them!" We often laugh out loud, but with only two episodes to go I worry what the writers and actors will do with me now they have my heart in the palm of their hands!!! Wouldn't miss it for the world!
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I too have been compelled to register so that I can add my comments, something I would not normally do. My husband and I love this series as do our 2 adult daughters. They grew up with French & Saunders but appreciate the more subtle comedy and poignancy of Roger & Val. Can't wait for the next episode, indeed next series!
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I love this programme to bits. I have just turned 50 and have been (happily) married for over 30 years, and find that there is so much in the Roger and Val relationship that I can recognise as being 'spot on'. The fish finger argument was very funny but also very real, My husband and I had a similar argument once about cheese, which is ridiculous but true! The underlying sadness here is very touching. Roger is finding it hard to come to terms with his Father dying, and they both clearly feel the loss of a child from many years ago, yet they soldier on with their daily lives, dealing with mundane things and difficulties at work. It seems that they still really love, (and fancy) each other, so It's a joy to watch. Alfred and Dawn are wonderful actors and totally believable as Roger and Val. Thank you Beth and Emma, great writing, Lots more please. I don't understand the negative comments at all, but perhaps this programme is like Marmite, you really love it or really hate it?
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Oops- sorry PINYET, I stole your Marmite reference,but so glad you liked this programme too.
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I've never 'blogged' before but reading these comments has provoked me to do so! It's so depressing to find that so many people misunderstand this thoughful, insightful, subtle, poignant and funny production. It's also very British with a quirky sense of humour and intelligence that so many programmes lack these days. The characters are brilliantly played and developed. More like this!
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I too am shocked by the number of negative comments. This is beautifully written and performed. No it's not like most of the sitcoms out there in the UK or US at the moment, it's in a genre of its own and unless you see it as genre defying you just aren't getting it. It's a touching portrayal of married life, of that 'nothing' part of day before the evening proper begins. I've just watched episode four and was moved to tears it was so convincing. Overall a good balance of pathos and subtle comedy. An excellent commentary on private love and loss.
I do enjoy the slap stick sitcoms too, most of which involve barely any good acting but are still funny, but I think it is important to recognise that every programme should be judged on its own merits rather than be compared to a generic standard. If every programme was made to the same formula we'd all be very bored.
Well done to everyone involved with this project.
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Like so many others I love this programme and I am 'blogging' for the first time too because I want to show my support for this wonderful programme. The script and actors are superb - thank you for an emotionally satisfying experience. It may sound trite but my husband and I have lived through difficult times in the past. Watching this programme has made me realise this is all behind us now. We are very lucky to love one another as Roger and Val clearly do.
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don't be sily staffy - you are showing your ignorance
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Absolutely glued to "Roger and Val", an original, quirky, top-drawer piece of drama. The layers of emotion are very cleverly achieved, taking you through a range in 30 minutes most feature-length films never manage, and the acting is sublime. Should it really be on the comedy blog page, though?!
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I would like to say how much i LOVE this show, it is bittersweet and i had a few tears tonight. well done a wonderful piece of telly viewing. i dont mind paying my licence if we have programmes of this calibre.
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I have to say, this isn't the 'roll around on the floor laughing' type of comedy I thought it would be - especially with Dawn French on board. It is, however, one of the best pieces of television I have watched for a long time. It is beautifully written and so true to life.
Dawn French and Alfred Molina play their parts brilliantly with such great timing and the chemistry between them makes their relationship very believeable and so touching.
Everyone has a right to their own opinions and obviously some people aren't impressed with the programme, although all the negative comments make me wonder if these people don't appreciate the subtle, 'real life' humour because they have never experienced a relationship like Roger & Val's in their own lives?
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I can't get into this - maybe I'm just not sure where it is going or what the point of the dialogue is....perhaps I'm missing the point...x
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I am delighted that this calibre of television is still being supported by the BBC and rather sad but not surprised that it has left a few viewers feeling untouched by the acting and writing.
This is not a comedy in the same vein as full on “laugh a minute” shows but a softer more poignant programme well worthy of my licence fee and I’d pay more if it would help attract a similar class of production. Don’t get me wrong - my taste is varied and often resides with far more edgy stuff a la BBC 3 but Rodger and Val have touched a very bittersweet note with me in much the same way as Sensitive Skin once did and the programming is better for it. The BBC provides plenty for the main stream audience – so why not provide something different. More power to your experimental elbow BBC.
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I have just had to register so I could post a comment. When I watched the first episode I have to say I wasn't convinced but then I hadn't seen any of the trailers advertising this new series.
I have been watching this show on iplayer and I have to say Im glad I have stuck with it.
This has to be one of the best things I seen on tv in ages and I have to say Dawn is as good in this as she was in Vicar of Dibley. I have never heard of Emma and Beth but for me this is fantastic writing. It is extremely subtle and very funny. It is also very realisitic what a brilliant concept for a comedy.
I have just watched the most recent episode and was crying along with Val at the end, it is insightful, realistic, funny and very touching.
Great job to everyone involved and especially to Dawn and Alfred for making the characters so believable.
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An absolutely beautiful and subtly heartbreaking programme. Such truth and insight into a wonderful couple. Dawn French and Alfred Molina are perfect together and I have already had numerous "laugh my socks off till I cry" moments thanks to their delightful performances. I can't recommend this show enough. 'Roger and Val Have Just Got In' has joined the creme de la creme of BBC Productions in my estimation. Subtle, intelligent, soulful, funny and quirky as you'll find - simply exquisite, but mostly, it is just very very human. I am only in my early 20's and this show has blown me away enough to write this!
Please give this show a chance. Go to it with no expectations; as it is like nothing you'll have seen; calm your modern mind in preparation, and embrace it.
I hope others enjoy this as much as I have.
Many thanks and regards to all who have been involved in its creation.
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Alfred Molina is incredible in the last episode. What a national treasure he is. I have to watch each episode twice as I find I miss the some of the subtleties first time around. Well done BBC for putting this on it is truly groundbreaking. I am so sick and tired of the 'Eastenders' mentality in this country ie everyone being totally vile and mean to each other. The relationship portrayed in this programme is complex and mesmerising to watch. Well done Dawn as it seems it was your idea.
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I love this show, watching Roger stuff 3 custard creams in his mouth at one time was classic (my husband does the same!!). Watching Val realise that they hadn't changed the light shade in their sons room pulled at the heart strings then finished me off when she cried at the end. Fantastic script. Fantastic acting. love it!
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The very touching final minute of the other night's episode was completely wrecked by a logo on the top right telling us that Mark Watson was on next. And then there was the inevitable voice over the credits telling us AGAIN what was coming up - just when we wanted to muse on what we'd just seen.
Whoever is responsible for this insulting carry on should be thrown in a wheelie-bin and left there.
I didn't watch Mark Watson.
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This works because you become involved with the characters, unlike Grandmas House where you couldn't care less.
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Oh what joy! An intelligent, beautifully written, perfectly casted and acted half and hour, makes up for all the other dross on tv. Thank you, thank you, thank you, to all concerned. npwat66bp
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I have been watching 'Roger & Val Just Got In', and I think it's a masterful piece of Drama. The interplay between characters is completely naturalistic, I am surprised at how attached I have become to these two fictional characters. Roger and Val and the new Sherlock Holmes are easily worth my entire license fee. I shall have to look out for any more work by Beth or Emma as they write engrossing quality drams
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Well I guess it's the nature of these forums to form such polarised opinions - those who don't really care simply don't post!
However, like so many other people here I've found myself enraged by the flurry of negative posts, so much so that I've registered to post my own views!
No it's not going to be Only Fools and Horses (thank goodness). No it doesn't have canned laughter telling the audience when something funny has happened. What it does have is an excellent script, fantastic acting, a reality to it where I find myself looking at my other half, and her looking at me knowing and understanding quite mundane situations! Not to mention a quite deep and unfortunately tragic story developing.
Excellent work, thank you.
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What can I say...absolutely brilliant with a poignancy that is so understated it takes my breath away. The episodes get better and better. Dawn French looking at the lamp in the bedroom made me cry it was so moving. If people do not understand where this programme is going it is their problem. This suffers from the same sort of negative comments which Rev has had which is a terrible shame as they are both excellent, I hope the Tristrams ignore the negativity and give us more.
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I think Roger and Val have just got in is absolutely brilliant. Genius script! Thank you - TV worth watching.
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This should never have been listed as a comedy - that's what I was originally looking for and it is waaay more. We have Hugo Blick here so it's going to be Marion and Geoff and some - this is beyond poignant - pleease can we find a new name for mini dramas such as these. Anyone who has a dependent parent, anyone who has lost a child, anyone who has unnecessary relatives, or has a partner/spouse/job/life will relate to this - surely one of the best lines ever 'I don't know if this is how you be a person'. Please. watch this. watch it again.
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Just seen the wonderful Guests episode and am dreading the end of the series now we've passed the half way point.. This is what iPlayer was invented for, you need to watch each one at least twice, they're so dense, dark and deep.
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This series is fab!! Ignore all the negative comments, laugh out loud instead. The phrase ' you can only come in here if you're going to be NORMAL' is now firmly established in our lexicon of family sayings!! Love it, love it love it!
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This progarmme is actually brilliant work. Clever, well observed. The latest episode where they prepare the spare room for visitors. Ouch. That really hurt. I needed tissues, and I'm a bloke for goodness' sake.
Thank you writers and cast. Thank you. :-)
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Thank You Dawn and Alfred, I totally got it! I chuckled my way through each episode even going to the iplayer when I missed episode 3. Well done you two for making the painful, dark, mondane areas of life laughable. I should know I have had plenty of those.
Jag
P.s. Brilliant writing
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Stunning award winning stuff from both Molina and French! Prob the best drama on telly at the min, it is so multi layered, dipping between light banter and pathos effortlessy. Last Friday nights heartrending episode was genius the way it started so mundane…….will go down as a classic eventually
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I have eageerly followed Roger and Val from the first episode and I have just watched the 'Guests' episode which brought me to tears! This is the best thing on TV at the moment.
It really pains me to read the negative comments on this page! As others have said, though, there is a real problem with labelling it as a sitcom which may have set some people's expepectations in the wrong direction... this promgramme is in a new genre which does not yet have a convienent label. "Sitcom" comes from the Terry and June era! I guess if you were expecting Only Fools and Horses or even Black Books you may have been disappointed.... but as a poignant, subtle, beatufully written and above all fantastically acted set of mini-dramas with bits of real humour this is second to none.
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Roger and Val Have Just Got In doesn't work and wastes the talents of two excellent actors.
Boring, lacklustre and pointless.
I'm the age of the characters and hope my life doesn't seem as predictable and mundane as theirs !
As for hidden depths or multi-layering ????????????????
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Just caught up with Episode 4 and this series just gets better and better.A superb mix of pathos and humour, beautifully observed and written, and watching Dawn French and Alfred Molina is a masterclass for any aspiring actors. The few seconds when the camera lingered on the lampshade was heart rending( that looks odd in print but if you watch it you'll know what I mean) and to be able to watch a programme which doesn't just slap you in the face with a series of one liners backed up by canned laughter is an absolute joy.
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I really love it! I've just watched the 4th episode and it made me cry. All 4 episodes have moved me so much with laughter and sadness. I saw the trailer and thought 'not another rubbish bbc comedy' but this is wonderful. Has tapped into all the things that make me happy and sad to be alive. I've never posted anything about a TV programme on a blog before, but love it so much I wanted to write this.
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I absolutely adore the show - it's subtle, clever and acted so brilliantly that I have to remind myself that I'm not a fly on the wall in a real home. Sheer perfection.
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Hilarious, touching, brilliantly written and unforgetable - THE GOLDEN GIRLS that is! - just watched an old episode on YouTube.
Had to get me some comedy after watching Roger & Val.
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ROGER & VAL HAVE JUST GOT INSIPID STORYLINES: SERIES II
Ep.1 Roger & Val Have Just Got Inundated With Spam Emails
Ep.2 Roger & Val Have Just Got Insurance Quotes for their Loft Conversion
Ep.3 Roger & Val Have Just Got Inexcusable Flatulence
Ep.4 Roger & Val Have Just Got Inebriated
Ep.5 Roger & Val Have Just Got Invoiced for a New Roof
Ep.6 Roger & Val Have Just Got Infectious Diseases
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Without doubt the best work Dawn French has ever done. The people who have posted negative comments have obviously had their intelligance melted by 'My Family' or endless repeats of 'Friends'. I only hope that the beeb keep this gem going on bbc2 where the best comedy used to be.
Brilliant stuff :) Found myself laughing out loud and totally gripped by its dark edge, I cant wait for the next helping!
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Don't understand the vehemently negative comments; but each to their own. Love the show, it's funny but oh so sad, unbearably so. Yes, our emotions are being manipulated but doesn't all good drama do that? "Be Our Guests" had me in tears.
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This series is subtle, charming and witty; the two characters are believable and closely observed. Episode 4 was particularly poignant as we grow to learn more about Roger and Val in their previous life.
Ignore the heavy critics, they just can't wean themselves off soaps and kitchen sink dramas !
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Absolutely brilliant! Never felt like commenting on a programme before .Dawn and Alfred are so believable in this poignant,witty comedy/drama.I was hooked by the simple yet entirely accurate dialogue from episode 1.After episode 4 when Val starts to cry I just could not hold back my tears the acting was so subtle and clever.Can't wait for next episode. Anyone critising this just doesn't get it?Hope the writers,Dawn and Alfred get all the recognition they deserve suspect they won't in a market dominated by reality TV,sport and soaps
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This is wonderful. For me this is reality tv, real life at it's most beautiful and most painful. Having lost a child myself two years ago, I have been moved to tears at some point during each episode by Roger and Val's happiness and sadness. Life doesn't need to be one long frenzy of excitement, greed and obsession with possessions - simple pleasures and the simple interaction of a loving couple is great to see. I was sad to read so many negative comments but also pleased that so many people seem to be appreciating such a clever and touching piece of writing.
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I saw the trailers for this and was excited about a comedy with Dawn French and Alfred Molina. Watching the first episode I wasn't quite sure if I liked it but I was interested enough to come back for more. I am so relieved I did. This show is truly one of the best I have seen in years. It is not a sitcom. It IS funny in a very touching way. Each episode we learn a little more about Roger and Val and their very deep love and understanding of one another. It has had its laugh out loud moments. But the beauty and comedy really comes from the realism of the writing and the charming fantasy moments in the characters lives.
I love this programme and it's characters. I relate to them, they make me laugh and cry. I've grown extremely fond of Roger and Val and I'm going to miss them terribly when the series ends!
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Absolute genius - both acting and writing. Haven't been so enraptured by something for a long time... Even the cagoule toggles were perfectly timed!
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This series is absolutely superb - and Friday's, 'Be Our Guest', was excellent. I would hate the naysayers to have the last word on this; no, it isn't very funny. But it's intelligent and moving and utterly involving. It seems to be about us, somehow. If Beckett had ever written for the middle classes, this is what he'd have written. It's about the human condition.
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I really enjoy this quirky show, it's different to anything else, but last night when they were in the spare room it was heartbreaking. It's the first time I think I've cried at a comedy but it's so sensitive and well acted, and at the end when that tear splashed down off Dawn's face who could help but join her? Genius.
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This show is a brilliant observation of married life. Tonights episode was very poignant. Not all comedy has to be "laugh out loud". I hope there is a second series
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I was immediately hooked, amazing acting and echo the positive comments. But it has just got too too sad. The occasional pause to look at the photo with new baby in arms was enough to make me feel their never-ending pain and sadness. It was obvious how these characters had been defined by this early on. But Episode 4 just delved too far into the sadness of this tragic couple. Maybe I am over sensitised by my own life events.
Not sure I can face another episode when I grapple with similar feelings in my own life, I need comedy to take away the blues
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I think this is one of the best programmes on tv at the moment. It is very endearing. I absolutely love it. Brilliant writing with two brilliant actors.
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Thanks to all concerned with producing the very best observation of the ordinary, tedious, hilarious, boring, tragic, loving, devoted, and wonderful in human existence - dare I say English existence too.
I can see it's a case of 'Marmite' opinions, but surely awards will come for this.
It's refreshing to have something so beautifully quiet. It's so deeply silent, too, in those spaces - the house a bit too big for two, a picture of a tree without leaves, invisible wallpaper...
Elegant, humourful and moving.
As acute as Austen - with more warmth and generosity.
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I absolutely love this programme.
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Superb. What a subtle delight. The entire programme has unfolded and peeled layers of personality and the dynamic of a relationship. We have had very subtle clues as to the tragedy that has happened between them and this was fantastically revealed. It would appear to be a subject about nothing in particular but it was speaking volumes. The programme tonight realised the sadness of losing their child and I found it very very emotional. It was written and delivered with such skill. Thank you for such an excellent and very real programme. It was a joy to watch and the characters have stayed with me long after the programme finished.
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I found this strangely gripping - what isn't being said is as interesting as the dialogue itself. On the surface not a lot happenes but part of the pleasure is painting the picture of their lives, jobs and colleagues from what we hear them say. A bit like radio, where the audience participates with its own imagination rather than being spoon fed. It requires concentration and thought to get the most of of the writing and each week the picture is filled out with colour and detail.
The screen chemistry is convincing too, especially the parts where they talk over one another and the whole relationship is beautifully observed.
Right from the start it was obvious that they shared something deeply sad and the photo of them with their baby was a master stroke that brought tears to my eyes. Yet there is a message of hope here, in the deep and unsentimental love they share and the mutual understanding that their little daily rituals, though sometimes annoying, have kept them afloat through the grief of losing their baby son.
I just hope that the writers aren't persuaded to run it for too long though as something of this quality is hard to maintain and there is a perfection in brevity.
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Roger and Val have just got in is not a comedy,but it does make you laugh out loud or give a wry smile at times.It's not a tragedy,but it can provoke sadness and tears at times--with everything else in-between.Simply brilliant and unmissable TV.
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This is certainly unmissable domestic theatre. Roger and Val are so deeply and intimately involved with each other, and the underlying affection is plain to see. I love the minutiae of daily life, and how seriously they observe everything. But from the beginning I have felt the tension of a looming tragedy somewhere in the background, the minutiae taking the place of meaningful daily issues, an avoidance of so many areas. And the house, it appears locked in a time scale, and shows no signs of having progressed or altered over many years.
This poor desparate couple are locked in a stage of their lives, out of which they cannot seem to escape.
I do find it very funny, but also very moving.
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When I read the first review in Radio Times - which wasn't promising - on Roger and Val my husband and I thought we'd still watch it as Dawn French and Alfred Molina are statuesque in my view as actors. The first episode was a little bit about nothing but there were hints in it that drew us to the programme. The subsequent episodes have been like an onion, layer after layer being peeled off to reveal many funny moments and deeper darker ones imerging. Its brilliant and for us both, yes we could see a lot of ourselves in it and probably many others do, and laughing at oneself is wonderfully theraputic. The amazing Hugo Blick has added his own mix into this, who could forget Skin Deep. Ive just watched the 5th episode and am greatly saddened that we are at the end of a very enjoyable and insightful 6 episodes. I suppose it would be too much to ask if there will be any more!! A great tribute to the two sisters that have written this. CARRY ON.
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I was thrilled to see so many comments on Roger and Val. It is a joy, and makes up for the tragic loss of REV. The scripts are so strange, and touching and funny; and I truly love the characters. I have so much admiration for the sisters.
The acting is peerless; both actors are sensitive, hilarious, honest and brave.
Another precious little jewel from the Beeb - still got it
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Here! Here! Diana B!!
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Great writing, acting and directing. Just caught up by watching episodes 4 and 5 back to back and can't wait for the final episode.
Although we the viewers think we know what's coming (I think), it's the anticipation of the story finally unfolding that has us gripped. If the ending of the last 2 episodes are anything to go by I think that lump in my throat might just crack.
Having just read through some of the initial comments after eps. 1 it's a shame that some people do not have the patience to allow a programme more than 10 minutes to develop. "It's Dawn French and we haven't had a joke about her eating choclate yet...... this programme must be crap" Get some imagination you idiots! Well done The Kilcoynes :-)
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This quickly became my favourite tv programme ever. It seems so real and recognisable in many real married couples. It's so funny but tragic. In the fourth episode I was in fits of laughter from 'death boomerang' onwards even though it was one of the more forlorn episodes. I love roger and val and hope for more series to come.
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Ok, Ok, I must be missing something, or perhaps I have better things to do than watch this un-funny, un-dramatic and un-gripping programme. BUT - please - when is the episode when they explain why they can't afford to switch on the lights? The gloomy half-darkness that they inhabit is the most depressing part of the whole thing! I think the idea is that it is more realistic, but, look round the room you are in. Is it _that_ dark? Thought not. I don't get it.
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My wife and I have just spent an enjoyable time, over a bottle of Pinot Grigio, discussing the merits of Roger and Val. At first we found the programme slow and difficult to fathom as a comedy but have to say that the level of insight into everyday life has grown and we now see it as a reflection of some of our own evenings. May we congratulate Dawn French and the writers for their clarity of vision which is on a par with the early Tony Hancock observations of the mundane.Sometimes in this age of constant sarcasm and irony it is refreshing to watch a programme which simply celebrates the humour of life.
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Okay, I have been missing all of this. Have just watched my second episode and want to congratulate the writer/s on this brilliant work. The underlying pathos is fantastic, the writing is economic and subtle. Something you should be proud of. Well chosen BBC & Dawn
Wish I'd written it!
When does it all get repeated?
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I must commend the writers for capturing something so difficult and intangible. I was hooked immediatley and 'got it' straight away.
Roger and Val are trying their best to live 'normally' whilst at the same time continually dodging the 'elephant in the room' but occasionally getting crushed by its very presence. Each episode has not failed to make me cry over my own 'elephant'.
I suppose to me the stories strike a very personal chord and I'm sure there are many people like me who perhaps feel the same.
Dawn French and Alfred Molina give brilliant performances and I look forward to my Friday evening fix with tissues and glass of wine in hand.
Well done Beth and Emma!
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i have never registered to make commentary on any programme before, but after episode 5 i just have to say how beautiful this is- the acting is just sublime and my goodness the writers just "get it" don't they? i want them to adopt the boy in her class!
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This wonderful series has moved me to tears many times. It is so poignant and moving. I particularly love the way Val explains her day to Roger, the way she imitates peoples expressions to demonstrate her point. That is so many of us women, who's evenings are spent ding-donging back and forth with our partners, about the day we have had, how the little slights are quietly filed in our minds to re-tell later, how we measure what has happened in our day, to what has happened in his day, to see whose day was worse. You could always see, i think, the looming "event" that was bubbling underneath, that event that however they wished would not, has defined them and their whole relationship.
The script-writing is superb, i hope they write more. I have a few ideas, as i am sure many of us family-led mature ladies will have, no doubt.
And the acting. I love Dawn French, not being Dawn French, in this programme. She brings just the right amount of pathos and understated humour, and underlying tensions and emotions.
As for Alfred Molina- god, he is legend, such genius casting for them both.
Just wanted to put my views on here, in case the writers or actors read it. I thank you, i have loved every minute of the show.xxx
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I think this has been an outstanding piece of dramatic work. The beautifully balanced elements, within script and performance, have made it a joy to watch. Five episodes in, it feels to me like a drama in six acts, rather than a sitcom that can continue rolling along. It would be lovely to see more, and I'm glad that so many people have supported it, but "small and perfectly formed" could be an option. Very well done.
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This series has got better and better with every episode. How it got labelled a comedy is a mystery, it is an observational drama.
The penultimate episode showing the aftermath of the death of Roger's father contained in its last five minutes an explanation of various types of grief, putting across ideas and feelings that many writers would struggle to put across in a two hour drama.
The issues explored were ones that many people are fortunate enough not to have experienced, but many of us have and so could immediately identify with both characters.
Brilliantly written, brilliantly acted, brilliantly produced. For those who 'don't get it' go back to ITV1 and watch whatever dumb down dross they are showing.
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I have just watched on iplayer the last episode about the email. It was absolutely brilliant and so well observed. I must admit I was moved to tears in the end. The episodes just get better. Hope Beth and Emma continue to write a lot more for TV.
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I wish I had written this. Utterly british, unashamedly real.
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I have just finished watching Roger and Val have just got in and i just wanted to say how wonderful I thought it was. Amazing writing, My husband and I lost our baby at 3 weeks old and the portrayal of this loss was so spot on. The way it showed how all roads lead to that significant missing loved individual, was just brilliant. I LOVE Alfred Molina I think he is one of the best actors around. Thank you BBC fantastic brave telly.
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This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the House Rules.
What a fantastic roller coaster of a series. It starts with an eccentric odd-ball couple carrying out a daily dialogue of useless chatter, to the moment where you realise they had lost their child, to the moment where you suddenly realise why they are the way they are. It's the people they have become since losing their baby, as a way of coping. As they finally acknowledge each other's grief, they raise their glasses and return to their daily chatter. Brilliant script writing and acting and such a powerful story. Would be a great stage play!
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watched episode one purely for the actors.
thought it was an excruciatingly unnecessary and utterly irrelevant and charmless.
i have no idea why i bothered to watch episode two, i truly don't know what possessed me to bother, but it is now 4:08a.m and i've just watched the whole series front to back in one sitting and i thank the lord above that the BBC have FINALLY produced something really quite exquisite. Despite the draw of the cast this is hands down the bravest thing the BBC has made in this genre in YEARS. Bloody brilliant. About time the beeb got some balls and stopped throwing our money at reality shows and magazine style gumpf. It's not a revolutionary programme, it's very quaint and highly manipulative in a way, but somehow it was genuinely refreshing, engaging, unpredictable and, largely, satisfying.
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I simply loved this show and really hope the negative posts on here don't influence the beeb into not commissioning another series.
The casting and script writing is perfect. Please please listen to the people on here who've loved it and don't want their comedy 'in your face obvious' all the time.
The beeb seem to be dipping their toes in the water with quality like Roger and Val and Getting On - but oh, the series are sooo short - 'Getting On' was only 3 episodes. Roger and Val got 6. Take some risks beeb and give us a decent run .....
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Watched the last episode earlier and have now recovered enough fron the roller coaster of a ride it gave to me to comment. Utterly utterly superb. As a mother, wife and complete fan of Dawn French I totally 'got' it. It was the best thing I have seen on TV for a very long time. I hope the BBC give us more from these writers and this production team. I have never blogged about a programme before - this is my second comment about Roger & Val. Sheer brilliance.
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A series which I thoroughly enjoyed, unusual, poignant, different and very, very watchable. I can't put my finger on why I liked it so much, I loved the simplicity of only 2 characters but was always so riveted that the credits took me by surprise. Bravo Dawn, Alfred and all who made this happen. I am stumped by the negative comments, after all if you don't like something turn over.
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Roger And Val Have Just Got A Second Series?
I hope so.
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The last episode, just beautiful. Quiet genius. Thank you Beth Kilcoyne and Emma Kilcoyne
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I've read other comments with interest and fall into the category of those completely hooked (once the initial shock of the unexpected brilliance of the first episode had filtered through). For me, though, a major theme of the series has been eating disorders and the complex link between emotional baggage and self-esteem in women. Try revisiting each programme with this in mind - and let me know if you think I have a valid point.
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I loved this from start to finish, although episode five really struck a chord and made me cry. The death of a parent, the death of a child and problems at work caused by carelessness. There is so much left unsaid in a relationship.
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Me and my partner loved this programme so much. So subtle and yet so true. Loved all the mundane routines and the endless cups of tea. Beautifully written and excellently acted! Can't wait for the DVD to watch them all again.
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This has been the most engaging programme I have watched in a long time. The writing was insightful and the acting perfect. Oh, and is it at all wrong that I found Alfred Molina attractive as Roger?! One to add to 'famous people you shouldn't fancy, but do' lists!
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I wish to complain about the writing and Alfred Molina's performance - he is just too good to be real !
I was going to reccommend this brilliant programme to my wife, but she will say "Why are you not as loving and supportive as Roger ?" I suppose a 2 day no-talking sulk doesn't make good TV.
I have to admit that I didn't get it first off and only realised when I saw it on iPlayer - there's an endorsement for you !
A second series would have been good but surely this is a perfect 3 hour drama as it is, where can it go ? To the theatre, as someone else said, is a real option.
Well done Beth and Emma, just so impressive.
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I finally caught the last episode on iplayer, and will repeat what several people have said - what a great emotional roller coaster. I've enjoyed every episode - the acting and the mundane setting have made me feel so normal. Well done everyone involved this has been very enjoyable and made great entertainment over the last six weeks.
Do all good things have to come to an end? Encore, she cried!!!
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I would just like to add my voice to those on this blog who loved this series. I've just watched the last episode on iplayer and have been left with the same feeling you get at the end of a very good book: the characters have almost become a part of you and you just don't want it to end. Please commission a second series. Beth and Emma Kilcoyne have written a fabulous script and Dawn French and Alfred Molina play their parts so tenderly. Please don't listen to the vacuous (professional) reviewers and blog contributors who did not (or could not) appreciate the subtlety of this show.
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Earlier on, I reviewed the first episode as dull. (Where would we be if every review was cloned - for those who want everyone to write positive reviews - boring! However, since my first review, I watched the entire series and like others, was glued to the box. Not because I over identified with the characters and not because the characters became part of me and not because they became "my family" But because the script is unique, very well written and brilliantly acted. FANTASTIC. More please.
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FANTASTIC! It's new, subtle and extremely well observed. You need good actors to make this kind of show work and it works. Many sitcoms don't necessarily have good actors, but it's the extreme or unusual circumstances which hold the show up. 'Roger and Val' requires a good script and good actors and this was superb on both counts. I did laugh out loud (especially at the fishfinger scenes) and I did cry as I felt the pain that Val and Roger felt as they remembered their son. Please please please BBC commission another series.
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I am quick to complain and moan, so I think I should be just as quick to praise this programme. I consider it the most imaginative, feeling programmes in a long time.
Two brilliant actors who give of their best.
More BBC, More!
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Just watched the last perfect episode of this brilliant series.
Thanks to all involved in it's production. Inspiring.
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I watched first episode and i was far from impressed.It was billed as a comedy drama,nothing funny was said,nothing funny happened.I watched some more episodes thinking it may get better.It didn't.They are an unconvincing married couple with boring scripts.I'll put my tv remote into action next time there on.
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I am just catching up with this series on i-player. The BBC did mis-promote it as comedy. If it is comedy, perhaps its a mix of Pooter and Woody Allen. It is a dialogue drama exploring two people, with funny, painful, insightful and interesting moments along the way, as all people have. Very well scripted and well acted by the two leads. Well done!
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This was some of the best writing and acting I've seen in years.
A slow burn but builds to a beautiful crescendo. I was sobbing at the end, so sad but totally heartwarming.
I have the writers ignore the negative comments, and carry on writing.
Thank you Dawn and Fred and everyone behind this for creating Roger and Val!
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Finally got round to posting my comments. This is something that I have never done before, however, after reading some of the negative comments, I feel the need to do so!
I whole heartedly agree with postings 219 & 220 along with many others. My wife & I thoroughly enjoyed the series for the quality of the writing with its often amusing observations of the mundane & the underlying sadness of the characters loss which still had an affect on their lives many years later. As with the writing, the acting by the pair of them was excellent.
I do feel that it was wrong to label it as sitcom. Perhaps a black comedy or drama would be more appropriate. This may be why many people seem to have missed the point.
One disappointment was that my wife & I missed the last one & cannot find it anywhere as a catch up!! So can anyone help?
For all those involved, a big WELL DONE!
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Thank you, thank you for a great sitcom/comedy. I've not enjoyed anything as much since One Foot in the Grave. The acting was excellent, infact the show really worked. I found myself having great laughs and really looking forward to seeing it.
Both characters are so realistic. I've been a school librarian for some time and what Val says reminds me of things I hear.
Hope more of this is planned?
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This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the House Rules.
It made me smile to see that somone who didn't like this gave it another try after reading positive comments here and then came back and said;
"Unfortunately, I'm right, they are wrong"
Anyone who thinks there's a right and wrong in appreciating comedy and drama would not like 'Roger and Val"....it's for people who understand the deep comedy in sharing your life and history with another person...the mental acrobatics of accomodating someone else's point of view, the unspoken pitfalls in everday conversation, the tuning and and tuning out, the simmering hysteria.
I love it...and so do my boys of 12 and 15!
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I think that this is, as one poster put it, utterly transfixing; I found myself drawn to it not because I was looking for laughs, but because it was almost other-worldly in its concept and execution.
I think the closest thing to which I can compare it is when, at Sunday lunch, you prod a bit of roast potato with your fork and, a mere instant later, realise it's actually a parsnip.
In the milliseconds before your senses realise it's parsnip and not potato, you just have a curious notion of newness, of something being different to that which you expected.
In every heartbreaking moment, in all the minutiae of those sometimes frustrating but always precious thirty minutes following the return home to the wonderfully familiar spouse, I think Roger and Val provided raw accuracy, intimacy and sensitivity.
Like the parsnip, I loved it.
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Thoroughly enjoyed this work. Loved everything about it. Not sure where to begin with praising this. Production Design: brilliant. Writing: Brilliant. The (and I hesitate to use the word) "Acting": brilliant. What I mean is the performances are so believable that I can hardly believe that I am watching actors at work, but then the material and the setting do everything to assist both French and Molina in delivering very naturalistic and believable performances. I felt as if I somehow had gained illicit access to spy on a couple in their own home.
There is a layering of constraint within each episode. Most of the action happens off set, prior to Roger and Val getting home, with the notable exception of a temporary hostage situation involving a pair of potted plants. We do not get to meet the multitude of players in Roger and Val's life, we never see outside their home and in spite of all this it is a gripping and hilarious series of one act plays.
Well done to all involved.
By way of a posted comment keyboard inserted ovation requesting further output from the same team, I respectfully type ...
More!
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loved val and rog have just got in. please let me know if there are going to be another series.
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A Bit Late, but i loved Roger and Val just came in, it was reale life comedy about what happens when you get in, all episodes had funny monents and a couple had sad but thats part n parcle of it i serpose, i almost fell off my bed with Laughter when Roger triped over the wier to try n stop Val from leaving it was sooo funny, i told all my friends and they laught too. i do hope there is another serise xx
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I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this programme, its lovely, it pulls your attention gently, then thats it, time means nothing and you don't want the programme to end....I can't wait to see the next episode.
Well done all of you, super writing, fab acting.
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