I just started watching
After Henry, a show featuring
Fawlty Towers' Prunella Scales
(in a role that couldn't be further from Sybil Fawlty) that while funny, also shares
The Vicar of Dibley's cozy warmth. After only two episodes,
this article from January rings true:
The most striking thing of all about After Henry is how unassumingly
ahead of its time it seems. Today, if ITV did a very cosy mainstream
comedy in which the four main characters were three roundly-written
women and a non-cliched, sympathetic gay man, it would be so ordinary it
would hardly raise comment.
The fact that this kind of characterisation made it into a Thames
Television production in the 1980s without apparent opposition, is
remarkable. If there was any executive pushing for Clare to be a boy, or
Russell to be a sexless old bachelor, their attempts were thwarted.
After Henry is available in its entirety on DVD and worth
checking out if you’re an admirer of any of the contributors. 30 years
on, of course it looks a little dated – particularly Clare’s fashions.
However in a polite, gentle, well-spoken way, it’s a programme that
challenges so subtly, that most of the audience barely noticed as
preconceived ideas were toppled.
It may never sit at the top table of British sitcoms, but After Henry
after three decades is very deserving of a new appreciation.
Highly recommended - 2 Xmas trees up!
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