Damon Beesley is primarily a TV producer but when he does write, it's gold... and in this case - White Gold! The brains behind 'The Inbetweeners' hits the mark again with this comedy-drama (emphasis on comedy) about the lives of three Essex double-glazing salesmen.
Ed Westwick plays fast-talking Vincent who narrates directly to the camera to keep us in tune with what's going on in his world. It's an excellent rip-off of Michael Caine's 1966 'Alfie' device (and character... which Jude Law failed to pull off in 2004.)
The opening gag from the first episode sets the tone for the series... it's crude, tacky, rude... and very, very funny. If you liked 'The Inbetweeners' then you'll feel right at home here. The only difference is that the swearing here is real and not a made up language to beat the watershed.
Just drooling over a rare sighting of the drop-dead gorgeous Linzey Cocker playing ''er indoors' is another good reason to stick around. She's great fun as Vincent's sassy, foul-mouthed missus.
James Buckley and Joe Thomas team up again, and fill the screen with remarkable chemistry while they spar off each other effortlessly. Beesley should re-write 'The Odd Couple' for these two!
The musical inserts are spot on and a fantastic reminder of an unremarkable time in the UK where wide boys drank Stella from sleeve glasses and thick hair and thin ties were de rigueur!
I'd love to see the show renewed but I'm not sure it could be. Things seemed to tie up nicely at the end and maybe there's only so much eighties nostalgia any one man can tolerate!
I loved this program and it made a fantastic change from the insipid rubbish churned out masquerading as comedy over the last few years. The BBC doesn't do comedy very well anymore but on this occasion, they have hit the mark!
