DNA: Series 1, Episode 3 (2006)

 

First off, I should mention that this series is listed as Donovan on IMDb, but the actual episode I watched uses DNA.  Not sure where the name change comes from, if the series was renamed or called different things in different markets or what.  Either way, I’ll give you both in case anyone’s interested in seeking it out.

 

DNA is yet another crime show, heavy on the forensics with a medical bent.  This episode finds the team, led by the sometimes-eponymous Donovan, investigating the sick crew and passengers of a plane recently returned from Sudan.  It’s up to them to determine if the sickness is due to a virus (known or unknown,) some sort of biological weapon, or another source.  That the plane was transporting a war criminal on an extremely hush-hush basis further complicates matters.

 

PC plays Dr. Angus Baldwin, one of the plane’s passengers.  He, his wife, and another colleague have spent the last six months doing Doctors-Without-Borders-like work.  At the start of the episode, Angus is the one feverishly trying to tend to the crew and other passengers.  Once Donovan’s team is brought in, Angus is the most uncooperative of the quarantined, demanding to know what’s going on and urging Donovan to let them convalesce in a hospital instead of being held in an airplane hangar.

 

I’ll file this one under “fine performance in an unremarkable part.”  PC’s had many of these.  There’s some interesting background stuff for Angus – he’s been genuinely haunted by what he’s seen as a doctor in Sudan, and his best scenes address that.  The plot gets rather over-the-top at times, though, and Angus isn’t immune to the eye-rolling nature of it.

 

Lastly, I can’t quite fathom how freaky it would be to be in a biohazard suit.  To think that it’s the only thing separating you from a possible unknown contagion… yeesh.  Talk about spooky.

 

Accent Watch

 

Come on – have you ever encountered a character named Angus who wasn’t Scottish?

 

Recommend?

 

In General – I wouldn’t.  Granted, that’s my distaste for deadly-illness plots coming through, but it’s also a fairly middling investigative drama.

 

PC-wise – A mild “possibly.”  A few good scenes, a little questionable writing, and lots of shots in the middle of PC sweating in a hospital bed.

 

Warnings

 

Thematic elements and sexual references.  Also, be advised of some vomiting.

Getting On: Series 2, Episode 6 (2010)

Last Getting On installment of Capaldi Winter!  As predicted, the conflicts bubbling up last episode boil over here.  There’s an excellent, very real argument between Kim and Pippa that’s great to watch, definitely a culmination of a lot of problems that have been brewing for a while.  As with last season, the finale mostly deals with plotlines that have been building – work issues, a patient on her last legs, romances and rivalries – but there’s a bit of new stuff as well.  

 

Interestingly, the newest face on the ward is a teenage girl, the utterly unimpressed Zoe.  Den has amusingly taken the young lass under her wing; why?  Because she feels sorry for the poor lamb?  Because she wants to cheer up a sick girl?  Because it’s a change of pace from elderly ladies?  None of the above – she’s trying to wrangle a Make-a-Wish trip to swim with dolphins, one that would oh-so-conveniently allow Den to come along and participate as well.

 

I should mention:  I noticed it a while back, but I like that many of the patients on the ward carry over from episode to episode.  It makes sense that quite a few older patients would be in for more long-term care, and the audience gets to know them alongside Kim and Den.  It’s nicer/more bittersweet when they recover and go home, and it’s sadder when things go the other way.

 

One final appearance by PC’s Peter Healy, a class act as always (I’ve noticed that I say this almost every time he pops up, but I can’t help it.  Peter is a piece of work.)  This time around, he doesn’t even wait for Pippa to leave the room before he starts making eyes at other doctors, and he does a terrific job of nonchalantly making her feel like crap.  I’d want to throttle him in real life, but he and his smarmy self are pretty entertaining on TV.

 

Some nice direction here, especially in some of the more dramatic moments.  “Unflinching” is the descriptor I used early on, and it’s still just as applicable.  The scenes that are dramatic or uncomfortable are so true to life, not backing down at all from the situations at hand, and PC’s direction captures that sense really effectively.

 

Accent Watch

 

I’m still thinking RP, but I keep hearing those Scottish OOs and other hints of Scottishness poking through.

 

Recommend?

 

In General – A provisional yes.  I don’t think it’s for everyone, but there’s a lot to like here.

 

PC-wise – Not necessarily.  PC does a fine job with the role, but he doesn’t have a huge amount to do.  If you just want a taste, series 2 episode 4 is his largest outing.  I actually might recommend the show more for the directing than the acting – series 2, episode 3 is my favorite on that front.

 

Warnings

 

Nothing new add.

 

Getting On: Series 2, Episode 5 (2010)

Myriad interpersonal issues are building to critical mass in the penultimate episode of the season.  A certain incident leads Den and Kim to be more assertive in their dealings with Pippa, going so far as to contradict her orders and give her attitude in front of patients.  You can tell something’s gotta give; penultimate episodes are generally good for that sort of tension, and this show delivers nicely in that regard.

 

A few more entries to the list of bizarre, counterproductive hospital policies.  A new nursing student on the ward rigidly does everything by the book, and that often means she’s unable to do anything that actually needs doing.  Also, there’s a new rule that prohibits nurses from informing family members that their loved one has died – only a doctor can do that.  There’s a great, awful sequence of Kim dancing around a relative’s questions while escorting him around the hospital in search of a doctor.  So good, so painful.

 

Not much to say about the direction in particular; the best moments come from the writing.  Still, PC has definitely captured the not-explicitly-a-mockumentary-but-totally-looks-like-a-mockumentary feel of the genre.

 

I know there’s a third, PC-free season of the show.  Though I was kind of iffy about it to start with, I’ve really grown to enjoy Getting On, and I might check out the third season if it’s not too hard to track down.

 

Warnings

 

Some rather pointed sexual references today. 

 

Getting On: Series 2, Episode 2 (2010)

 

I think this might be my favorite episode of the series so far.  It’s nicely plotted, with some good funny bits, and I can see the groundwork being laid for future developments.

 

The jumping-off point for our latest adventure is a cantankerous patient.  She’s obstinate, mouthy, and accusatory (though not downright reprehensible like the difficult patient from last season,) and watching the staff’s teeth-gritted dealings with her is pretty funny.  Furthermore, the episode opens on a meeting all about her, an assessment of her current living situation.  This brings all the major players into one room and lets them bounce off one another.

 

Including PC’s Peter Healy.  As part of the assessment, he has to determine her mental state, and to be honest, he hasn’t done too much to convince me of his psychologist prowess.  He isn’t shown to be incompetent or anything; the main senses I get from him are “distracted” and “self-important.”  He spends a fair chunk of the meeting reminding everyone how valuable his time is, and how quickly he has to dash off.  It’s possible that he’s good at what he does, but I could easily buy him missing something important because he’s too busy to take his time.

 

The best part of the episode, in my opinion, is the showcase for Kim.  The show has often painted her as the “slightly rubbish” nurse who’s a bit slow on the uptake, but when all the more senior staff are at a meeting, she runs the ward on her own quite deftly.  Her somewhat wearied, bemused reactions to the difficult patient’s ramblings strike me as the right tack, she has an easy give-and-take with other patients, and she’s the most likeable she’s been all series.  I have a theory that everyone’s competence level on this show is inversely proportional to the proximity of their immediate supervisor.  Getting On:  scathing indictment of helicopter oversight?  You be the judge.

 

Warnings

 

An elderly woman receives a bath.  You don’t see any of the, shall we say, “bathing suit area,” but fair warning all the same.

Getting On: Series 1, Episode 2 (2009)

 

With another episode under my belt, I feel like I’m getting to know the main characters, and I’m getting a better feel for the tone.  As Den and Kim slog through the myriad problems that crop up in a geriatric ward, you get the sense that they (especially Den) probably really cared at one time.  They still do care – Den has some sweet interactions with a patient in this episode – but after years of watching their patients suffer the indignities of failing bodies, of watching them die, I imagine it’s easier for them to harden themselves to it.

 

A lot of their more callous attitudes likely stem from hospital bureaucracy as well.  Here, we see the two nurses struggle to deal with an erratic, belligerent patient.  Despite repeated calls for a doctor, no help is forthcoming.  The patient obstinately refuses all assistance, verbally abuses everyone she encounters, and repeatedly tries to sneak out for cigarette breaks.  Unfortunately for Kim and Den, they have their work cut out for them in trying to reign her in.  A new hospital policy means that just tapping a patient’s shoulder could be construed as assault, so they can’t do much in the way of restraining her.

 

PC’s character makes his first appearance in this episode.  He plays Peter Healy, hospital psychologist.  It’s clear that Pippa, the ward administrator, has a thing for him, and it’s equally clear to everyone but her that he’s not interested.  While he plays nice with her in her presence, he’s hitting on another doctor the second she’s out of the room.  Classy stuff.

 

I don’t quite have a handle on him yet.  Based on his behavior with Pippa, he’s at least a little two-faced.  But how much, and how far does it extend?  He demonstrates a good rapport with patients, and he appears to be a fairly decent doctor, but is it just a show for his colleagues?  Hard to say; more information needed. 

 

To be fair, he’s only had a few minutes of screentime so far.  Even more significantly, we don’t yet have a clear picture of what Den and Kim think of them.  They’re obviously the main windows into the show, and I imagine their opinion of him will probably be more accurate than Pippa’s.

 

Accent

 

Sounds like RP to me.

 

Recommend?

 

PC-wise – As far as the performance goes, it’s still too early to say.

 

Warnings

 

The aforementioned uncooperative patient has a real mouth on her, and she has a certain fondness for homophobic slurs. 

 

Travelling Man: Series 2, Episode 6 – “Blow-Up” (1985)

 

Nothing too noteworthy about this one.  It’s not bad, like My Family or Rab C. Nesbitt, but it’s pretty darn unremarkable.  Though I watched the whole episode, my attention wandered during most of the PC-less scenes.

 

Max, our intrepid hero, is an Ex-Cop On a Mission.  At some point in the past, he was wrongfully imprisoned, and now that he’s out, he’s on a tear to figure out why things went down the way they did.  It seems to me that the overall series was pretty arc-based, and since “Blow-Up” is the penultimate episode, the wheels are pretty well in motion.  Max thinks he’s onto an important lead, and he pursues it with strong-arm tactics, clandestine meetings, and requisite car chases.

 

Brief appearance by PC as John, a potential source Max can press for information.  He’s somewhat shady – he indicates that his intel comes with a price tag firmly attached – but mostly harmless.  Apparently, his mother never told him that successful crooks have to be bright.

 

Not much to say.  Small role without too characterization.  His best scene is probably when he and Max have words in a pub, and he shows off his lack of criminal mastermindedness.

 

It’s interesting to see the types of bit roles famous actors had at the start of their careers.  I wonder if directors speculate as to which of their one-shot day-players are going to “make it.”  Did the director of “Blow-Up” have any inkling that this energetic, gangly kid had an Academy Award, a BAFTA, and a Who regeneration in his future?

 

Accent Watch

 

Okay, so I spent a good chunk of PC’s first scene trying to work out his accent.  Granted, I was thrown off the scent because a couple of Welsh characters appear shortly before his in a similar locale, but it’s still pretty uneven.  Eventually though, it settles into what basically sounds like RP.

 

Recommend?

 

In General – Naw.  Too generic, not especially interesting.

 

PC-wise – Not necessarily.  Not enough screentime or characterization.

 

Warnings

 

Some action violence and drinking.

Sea of Souls: Series 1, Episode 2 – “Seeing Double: Part 2” (2004)

 

I have to tell you – having a previously-unknown identical twin with whom you may or may not share a psychic link just isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.  Poor Carol is put through the ringer, in terms of her family, her emotional state, and her own personal well-being.  In a way, I suppose it’s understandable that the two sisters have problems.  When you’re brought face-to-face with someone who has the same DNA as you, it’s probably easy to starting asking why she has things that you don’t have.  It’s clear that Helen covets Carol’s life, how put-together she is and how idyllic her family seems. 

 

Yet, at the same time, Carol feels threatened by Helen’s easy manner.  It kills her to see Helen joking and having fun with Gordon when it seems that she (Carol) always has to work so hard with him.  She probably wishes that she didn’t always have to play the bad guy and tell her son what he is and isn’t allowed to do.  Carol is quieter, politer, and more tightly wound – she just can’t loosen up the way that Helen can (although, considering some of the mischief Helen gets up to, that’s probably a good thing!)

 

And what of Gordon, you ask?  He’s not quite as featured here as he is in part 1, but there’s still some goodness to be had.  The whole business with Helen is doing his head in, and he doesn’t know what to think.  He alternates clumsily between callousness and caring, scolding Carol for undo accusations in one scene and backing her suspicions in another.  Essentially, all he knows is that, despite everything, he really does love his wife, and he’s trying to accommodate her sister’s presence in their lives, but he’s not ready to face the fact that maybe he can’t do both together.

 

On a side note, it’s interesting to watch the goings-on of the parapsychology folks.  In the main cast, you have one doctor who’s a little obsessed with the idea of ESP and desperate to prove it, another who’s steadfastly skeptical in the face of all evidence, and one who at least endeavors to keep an open mind.  It’s a good dynamic.

 

And now, as we finish Sea of Souls:

 

Accent Watch

 

Scottish.

 

Recommend?

 

In General – Maybe.  Interesting premise, some good acting, and it’s a nice twist on a lot of the more typical procedurals out there.  But warned, though, of some hokey over-dramatics.

 

PC-wise – I might.  PC more than rises to the challenge of playing an ordinary man dealing with some pretty out-of-the-ordinary circumstances.

 

Warnings

 

Add some scary situations and an overall darkness running through the piece.

Sea of Souls: Series 1, Episode 1 – “Seeing Double: Part 1” (2004)

 

Here’s another addition to the growing list of BBC Scotland projects that I’ve seen.  PC is hardly the first Scottish actor whose work I’ve followed, yet I hadn’t seen any BBC Scotland shows prior to Capaldi Fall (what’s up with that, James McAvoy and Ewan McGregor?)  But I digress.  This procedural is a bit out of the ordinary – on Sea of Souls, the case of the week (or rather, weeks, since all the stories appear to be two-parters) delves into the world of parapsychology.

 

In the first part of “Seeing Double,” leading man Douglas and his colleagues have been studying telepathy in identical twins.  Luckily for them, it just so happens that Douglas’s friend Carol has recently had a chance encounter with Helen, the twin sister she didn’t know she had.  Since the two women were adopted by separate families and had no prior knowledge of each other, Douglas is keen to study them.  At first, Carol is thrilled to discover Helen and enjoys exploring their possible abilities, but as time goes on, she starts to suspect that Helen isn’t exactly the sort of sister she’s always dreamed of having.

 

PC plays Gordon Fleming, Carol’s husband.  They’ve been married long enough that they’ve fallen into an unfortunate rut, and they’ve both felt their relationship drifting.  Naturally, Helen’s arrival shakes everything up.  Gordon is intrigued by the vivacious Helen, which the more somber Carol isn’t crazy about.

 

The case-of-the-week players get a lot of focus, so there’s some halfway decent stuff for Gordon.  Though he’s an aspect of Carol’s story more than anything else, the interplay between the two – and between Gordon and Helen – is good.  Right from the start, the terse stalemate of Carol and Gordon’s relationship is established.  You get the idea that they’re two people who really cared about each once but have lost their way.

 

Bill Paterson (Prentice’s dad in The Crow Road, as well as Professor Bracewell from Who’s “Victory of the Daleks” in series 5) stars in Sea of Souls.  Also featured is Archie Panjabi, who I hadn’t actually known was British.  While I’ve seen very little of The Good Wife, I’ve heard excellent things about it, and I understand her Kalinda is a fan favorite.

 

Accent Watch

 

Tremendously Scottish.

 

Recommend?

 

In General – Possibly, depending on how it shakes out.  I find the premise interesting.

 

PC-wise – Could be.  I’ll pass further judgment when I see part 2 tomorrow, but PC is doing some nice work here.

 

Warnings

 

Some thematic elements, a little violence, and one fairly graphic sex scene.

High Stakes: Series 1, Episode 6 – “Dream Team” (2001)

 

Let’s all take a moment and be thankful for the unstoppable force of new Who; if the meteoric rise of mssrs. Tennant and Smith is any indication, PC will never be forced to take roles in cheesy Brit-coms like High Stakes ever again.  Thank goodness.

 

The show is centered around the work at a London bank, with the higher-ups and their satellites getting the main focus.  In “Dream Team,” head honchos Bruce and Nicholas attempt to recover a sizeable loan from a go-getting muckety-muck.  They are, by and large, wildly unsuccessful, seduced by his schmoozing and extravagant living.

 

PC plays Michael Calderwood, loanee and all-around snake.  He’s a slippery fellow, with a forceful conversation style that serves as a sleight-of-hand for everything he’s actually doing.  It’s not long before Bruce and Nicholas are asking how high when he tells them to jump, despite the obviously untrustworthy vibes clouding up his office.  Everything is big ventures and jet-setting and friends in high places, obscuring the evidently rotting foundation of his company underneath.

 

It’s not a good show or a good role, but PC admirably gives it his all.  The toothy grins, energy, and blatant oiliness remind me of Pilfrey from Fortysomething.  I’ll give him credit for not phoning it in.

 

A couple of familiar faces show up amongst the regular cast.  Elizabeth Marmur, in addition to appearing in Steven Moffat’s Coupling, had a supporting role in Neverwhere.  There’s also Richard Wilson, who was Dr. Constantine in the gas-mask zombie two-parter from series 1 of Who.

 

Accent Watch

 

Scottish, a bit light.

 

Recommend?

 

In General – Naw.  It’s the type of show that people who hate sitcoms use to justify their opinion.

 

PC-wise – Not necessarily.  Nothing worth PC’s talents.

 

Warnings

 

Nothing of note.

In Deep: Series 3, Episode 8 – “Character Assassins: Part 2” (2003)

 

Technically, this is yesterday's update.  It was all dressed up and ready to go, but my Internet deserted me, and I wasn't able to put it up until now.  You may find another post cropping up later today.

 

In all, I’d say In Deep is a decent if unremarkable crime drama.  The reveals are a bit too telegraphed, and both the cops spend let their personal lives interfere far too much with their work (if I’d been Jeremy, I’d wouldn’t have wanted my life in their hands,) but the set-up of the story is interesting.  Also, I like that the one-off characters feel fairly lived-in; it doesn’t seem like they’ve only sprung into existence for the sake of the regulars.

 

Jeremy gets a little more focus this time around.  Once again, we see how dedicated he is to his cause, subjecting legalized cannabis to government regulation rather than leaving it to dealers and street thugs.  His devotion to it blinds him to the very real danger he’s in, and it’s also clear that it’s put a strain on his relationship with his partner.  There are a few really well-done scenes between them.  I get the impression that Jeremy loves his partner, but though he’s aware that he’s not as attentive or sharing as he should be, he can’t pull himself away from work long enough to try to improve things.

 

There’s also his final scene in the episode.  I don’t want to get into it too much, since it deals with specific revelations in the story, but it’s a fine showcase for PC.  It’s a chance to see Jeremy perhaps as the politician he wants to be:  not the one who plays the game the right way, not the one who has the press wrapped around his little finger, but the one who has passion for a cause worth fighting for.  It’s a good scene, and PC is great in it.

 

I should mention that Dom, the potentially-blackmailing rent boy, is played by Jody Latham from the original U.K. version of Shameless.  I always enjoyed him as Lip and was delighted to see him return in the final season (goodness gracious, we needed at least one Gallagher kid around!)  Also featured is Ralph Ineson, perhaps best known for playing Finchy on the U.K. version of The Office (he was on Game of Thrones as well, part of Theon’s crowd in season 2.)

 

And as we bring In Deep to a close…

 

Accent Watch

 

I don’t know if PC’s RP is better in the roles I’ve been watching lately, or if I’ve just gotten used to his sometimes-shaky accent work.  Either way, there’s not much to complain about here.

 

Recommend?

 

In General – Not sure – maybe.  If you’re into crime procedurals, it might be up your alley.

 

PC-wise – Again, maybe.  Part 2 is definitely better than part 1 in the PC department, so possibly just check out that one?

 

Warnings

 

Nothing new.

In Deep: Series 3, Episode 7 – “Character Assassins: Part 1” (2003)

 

Since PC has nearly exhausted the list of British crime shows I’ve heard of, I’ve now moved on to one that’s new to me.  The title, it seems, refers to “deep cover.”  The show follows the personal and professional lives of Liam and Garth, a pair of officers.

 

This two-part story finds the coppers in question investigating an attempt on the life of a politician.  There’s some suspicion that it may have been an inside job, so their involvement is utterly secret.  Unfortunately for them, the investigation requires them to be armed and follow the man’s every move, so if anyone notices what they’re doing, they’ll look an awful lot like assassins themselves.

 

The endangered politician is Jeremy, played by PC.    Jeremy is an MP who appears to be gearing up to announce the legalization of cannabis.  As such, there are all sorts of potential shooters – an angry protester, a disillusioned copper, an entitled drug dealer – and it turns out his problems might not even end there.  A young rent boy has been rather insistently calling his hotel and may or may not be looking to blackmail him.  It never rains but it pours, eh?

 

Despite his importance to the plot, Jeremy doesn’t exactly have a surfeit of screentime or characterization.  He’s dedicated to his job; even after an unknown assailant tries to shoot him, his chief focus is on his career instead of his safety.  As his partner discusses increased security detail, his response is essentially, “Yeah, yeah, death threat, blah, blah, blah – but what’s the best move politically?”  Hopefully, his tunnel vision doesn’t get him killed.

 

It’s interesting to note how un-noteworthy Jeremy’s sexuality is.  From what I can see, he’s an out politician with a long-established partner, but no one actually mentions that fact – it just is.  I can’t even picture that scenario on an American TV show, especially not ten years ago.

 

Part 1 impressions:

 

Accent Watch

 

A decent RP.  A few Scottish vowels poking through, but nothing major.

 

Recommend?

 

In General – Possibly.  I like the angle of cops having to sneak around and avoid getting caught by the security guards of the man they’re protecting.  Not one you see too often!

 

PC-wise – Not so far.  I’ll give my final word tomorrow, but there’s just isn’t enough to Jeremy yet.  No chance for PC to show off.

 

Warnings

 

Drug references, obviously.  Violence and some sexual content, including discussion of solicitation.

Shadow of the Noose: Episode 7 - “The Camden Town Murder” (1989)

 

More crime, shocker of all shockers.  However, this miniseries eschews the more traditional detective-story format and places most of its action in the courtroom.  Each episode follows the legendary solicitor Edward Marshall Hall as he defends someone accused of a hanging offense.

 

In “The Camden Town Murder,” a harlot (it's 1907, I should mention - “harlot” isn't a word I throw around regularly) is discovered murdered in her bed.  Robert Wood, a young artist with connections to the deceased and no alibi, frantically tries to keep himself above suspicion but is soon on trial for murder.  It is up to Marshall Hall to save him from the gallows.

 

PC plays Robert.  He's a hard character to get a handle on, but in a good way.  At the start, when news about the murder spreads, he's all action and desperation.  Once he's been arrested though, he barely seems to notice.  About to go on trial for his life, and he's more interested in sketching his solicitor than in what he has to say.  

 

He's vain and pretentious, something of a dandy.  He's a bit of a twerp who's intimidated by his overbearing father.  He's charming with the ladies, and manipulative, too.  He's a little strange, and just creepy enough that I wasn't sure he was innocent.  Even when the verdict was announced, I didn't know if he did it or not.  It's some good ambiguity, and PC straddles the line very well.

 

And I have to say, Marshall Hall himself is top-notch.  I'm afraid I'm not up on my historical English barristers, so I wasn't familiar with him, but he's a blast to watch in action.  The cross-examinations in this episode are works of art.

 

Accent Watch

 

Scottish.  Since this is based on true events, I suppose the real Robert Wood was Scottish as well.

 

Recommend?

 

In General – If you like period crime stuff, this might be up your alley.  1980s BBC production values aside, it's very well made, suspenseful and entertaining.

 

PC-wise – I think so.  His scene on the stand is great.

 

Warnings

 

A grisly murder scene (by which I mean scene of the crime, not a television scene depicting the murder) and brief nudity.  There's also some discussion of prostitution, but it's in a really repressed, squeamish, Edwardian way, so they're coy with the details.

My Family: Series 5, Episode 11 – “Dentist to the Stars” (2004)

 

My Family is a long-running family Britcom that, based on the episode I saw, shouldn’t have run anywhere near the 11 seasons that it did.  Granted, I’ve seen sitcoms that are far worse, but my main impressions were 1) overly broad comedy, and 2) way too much reliance on insult humor.  Honestly, if a husband and wife can’t make it more than two or three exchange without one denigrating the other, they probably shouldn’t be married.

 

The show centers around the Harper family:  dentist Ben, tour guide Susan, and the standard 2.5 kids.  Again, based on the episode I saw, they regular get themselves into all manner of typical sitcom troubles, and hijinks aplenty occur.  In “Dentist to the Stars,” Ben is thrilled when a famous actor patronizes his practice.  Though he hopes it’ll lead to more celebrity clients and more money (you can practically see the dollar signs in his eyes), his rudeness and general tendency towards putting his foot in his mouth don’t bode well for him.

 

PC plays Colin Judd, the famous actor causing a dentist-office sensation.  He’s not just a film star – he’s an “important actor,” the sort who sticks to period dramas and Shakespeare.  Ben can’t mask his distaste for Colin’s body of work for more than a few seconds at a time, but everyone else he encounters fawns over him as an artiste/thinking-girl’s heartthrob. 

 

This is where it’s tricky to tell how far my PC-bias extends.  While this episode has me wondering if there’s any conceivable reason why he took this job (other than the paycheck), I think the performance is decently good.  The action happening around Colin is broad and over-the-top, but his reaction to it all is so grounded, which makes him seem like the sane-man rather than just the straight-man.  Granted, it occasionally feels like he’s acting in a different show than everyone else, but the dissonance is funny.

 

Attention Whovians – Zoë Wanamaker (Lady Cassandra, the Last Human) and Daniela Denby-Ashe (Mary, Tosh’s short-term flame on Torchwood) also appear in My Family.

 

Accent Watch

 

Sounds Scottish to me, fairly light.

 

Recommend?

 

In General – I wouldn’t.  Too much of a standard sitcom.

 

PC-wise – Not necessarily.  PC makes the most of uninspiring material, yes, but there’s plenty of better options out there.

 

Warnings

 

Nothing much – a few light sexual references maybe.