Review of Bonkers

Introduction

This six-part series aired earlier this year promising to be a saucy comedy drama about darkest suburbia. Starring Liza Tarbuck (`Linda Green`) as a forty-something teacher, Helen, who is blissfully married to a successful soap writer Tony, played by the irrepressible Mark Addy (`The Full Monty` and every other British film and TV show since).

Of course, no self-respecting soap style comedy-drama would be complete without Lynda Bellingham (At Home With The Braithwaites, The Bill etc) and sure enough, she turns up here, albeit briefly.
Episode 1 kicks the series off at a frenetic rate, implying that, whilst not perfect, Helen and husband Tony are blissfully happy. In the splendour of their sizable home and garden, they invite friends, relatives and neighbours round to celebrate their 20th wedding anniversary.
However, when an ex-pupil shows up with her baby and announces that Tony is the Father, Helen`s life is thrown into a tailspin.

If the opening bombshell isn`t bonkers enough for you, the fact that Helen then finds herself with an opportunity to share a home with a favourite film star, Felix Nash, though the adulation is far from mutual.

It soon becomes apparent that nearly everyone in the programme has a dysfunctional relationship in some way, and the programme is a fairly crushing indictment of marriage as an institution, missing no chance to deliver another deathblow to its credibility.

The show is written by Sally Wainwright (At Home With The Braithwhaites, The Amazing Mrs Pritchard), though unlike her previous successes, `Bonkers` just goes a little too far out of the ordinary to strike a chord with its intended audience. It`s a common enough mistake, when writers are used to drawing from their own lives, but then become successful and that part of their lives is far less interesting to their audience.

There are some nice touches in the show (excuse the pun) such as the wittily played out fantasies that Helen has about a series of younger lovers, but even these are not enough to save the day.

The series moves along at a fairly frenetic pace, so the audience never has time to become overly critical, though its also difficult to become overly involved either. In the end, I couldn`t care less about any of the characters.

The disc contains all 6 hour-long episodes, as well as a reasonable `making of` documentary, so it`s difficult to argue about the value of the package if you liked the series.

Video

This is terribly well shot, probably on HD though it`s becoming difficult to tell with the high-quality grading possible now on all digital video formats. It could even be 35MM though I doubt that the economics would have made sense. The transfer is a good one, with little artefacting evident as well as great colour, good contrast, and deep dark blacks. Presented in 16:9.

Audio

A top notch Digital Dolby stereo soundtrack. All audio is first class, including elaborate exterior scenes, which must have enjoyed a modicum of post-production dubbing. Nice.

Features

Cast and Crew Filmographies.

The Making of Bonkers Documentary - It may well be worth watching this before you watch the series as it paints a very upbeat and positive portrayal. You also get to see and hear the series writer (Sally Wainwright) who certainly doesn`t look like the kind of character you would have expected to write such a saucy sitcom. `Sex` seems to be the most used verb throughout the interviews, with Mark Addy saying that what he liked most about the series was that `Any character could be having sex with any other character throughout the series`. Well, I`m glad he felt that was such a plus point. Brian Rix farce this aint

Conclusion

I like Liza Tarbuck. She seems to balance an incredibly infectious wit with a self-deprecating modesty, and yet seems supremely confident too. In other words, she`s very much her own person and whatever her roles, you always get the sense that she seems authentic, the kind of person who would be a `good mate`.

That said, despite her sterling efforts in `Bonkers`, with an equally fine supporting cast, the whole thing just falls slightly flat. It just seems to be trying too hard, and despite the realism of the performances, the whole narrative is so far removed from the average Joe`s reality that it doesn`t quite work.

How many people are married to working class people who are well-known soap writers and are wealthy as a result? How many people get to live with their film star idol? It`s all curiously at odds with the down to earth grit of the performances. Maybe Liza T didn`t recognise the dichotomy at all. After all, she was brought up by a working class lad made good, with a life surrounded by celebrity.

But apart from the less than likely narrative, the real problem for me is the horribly cynical view on long-term relationships. In truth, it`s all a bit sad and bitter really, which is no real basis for comedy.

That said, the show does have its moments of pure upper class suburban farce, though in my view too few to invest in a DVD. Acceptable but not brilliant; clearly a view shared by the backers of the programme which failed to get a second series.