Bodily Harm

Being shown as a late-night re-run on local TV, I just had to watch it again to remind myself of how good this mini-series is. And it is good. No, it's great! There's something in it for everyone - from a 40's husband-father who doesn't want to grow up, to a wife who gives head to the local sleaze-bag, to a 13-year-old girl who has to be the grown-up in the family, to the husband's parents who just want to die together, and the sooner the better. It's all just happy families, really.

If the script is excellent, then the casting is even better. Spall and Manville are blisteringly good, but then they both almost always are. In the company of clever and successful people, Spall and his teen-aged daughter feel like glaring misfits, and yet I couldn't help but believe that they are the normal ones.

This series reminds me of why it is I watch TV in the first place. If I have to watch 100 hours of dross to then find this gem, then it's worth the effort!!