A series about two
old friends who aren't so young anymore, one of whom has just got out of
prison, Thick As Thieves sometimes feels like the precise midway point
between Whatever Happened To The Likely Lads? and Going Straight.
Only not nearly so good as either, and without the BBC's resources to make all
aspects of the programme of noticeable quality...
There's an odd sensation - even in occasional flashes of really good wring - that Clement and La Frenais are resting on their laurels. For example, Bob Hoskins' George gets a nostalgic speech about how he met his wife ten years ago in the Streatham Locarno and you think, 'That feels like a remix of something that you've already written'.
This week, Annie and Stan have booked a holiday on the Costa Brava behind George's back. The studio audience respond best to the sight of John Thaw trying on a pair of too-tight trunks, but the more interesting part is a jealous George complaining to Annie's best friend in the backroom of the dry cleaners that she manages. It isn't particularly funny, but it is dramatically and emotionally engaging, pointing ahead to the time when Clement and La Frenais will start writing comedy-dramas outside of the sitcom format.
There's an odd sensation - even in occasional flashes of really good wring - that Clement and La Frenais are resting on their laurels. For example, Bob Hoskins' George gets a nostalgic speech about how he met his wife ten years ago in the Streatham Locarno and you think, 'That feels like a remix of something that you've already written'.
This week, Annie and Stan have booked a holiday on the Costa Brava behind George's back. The studio audience respond best to the sight of John Thaw trying on a pair of too-tight trunks, but the more interesting part is a jealous George complaining to Annie's best friend in the backroom of the dry cleaners that she manages. It isn't particularly funny, but it is dramatically and emotionally engaging, pointing ahead to the time when Clement and La Frenais will start writing comedy-dramas outside of the sitcom format.
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