I also enjoyed it. It was always going to be incredibly tricky to handle such a return. I'm not entirely sure about Colin's reaction yet - will see how things go in the next few episodes - but the other characters' input all seemed as one would expect, and I particularly enjoyed Ian's outburst of rare reason in the face of the dragon.
Plus, as wonderful an array of jibing and small-minded dialogue as ever.
I did what I don't normally do with shows that are still weekly BBC Broadcasts... I binged the lot across 3 evenings (mainly for time - December is always so full of stuff, new and classic sitcom specials to watch!) - watched the first episode 'live', 2-4 on Saturday, 5-6 on Sunday.
Great stuff still, IMO. Cathy felt a bit flanderised in the writing before she left (annoyingly overboard and a pain to watch, compared to how her acerbic barbs and asides were previously genuinely funny), but now she's back I think they've brought her back really well, still bitchy and picking fights (though as Aaron said it was fun watching Ian, who has a couple of times called things out, really go for it with pulling Cathy up on stuff this time).
Some great balancing of the chaos/arguments and a couple nice actual heartfelt moments. My favourite has to be how revelations escalated towards the end episode 4 haha.
I watch it but the main letdown of the whole show is frankly no one would put up with being talked to that way.
Sure it was funny the first few seasons but the whole artifice it just leaves me empty...
I actually thought Kathy leaving opened up some breathing room for the other characters.
Her return and the other characters engaging in more cursing didn't really improve much in my opinion.
If this series is going to be the last ever for the show, it has well and truly gone out on a high. Every single episode of the show had me laughing harder than I had done for yonks. Yes, there was some flanderisation evident, but the sheer humour and hilarity brought meant - compared to the last couple of series - it was incredibly subtle and only appeared if you looked too hard. The fourth and the fifth episode did dip a tad in execution, but there was plenty to lift every episode up where there were faults - and if there was work done to ensure Cathy was less caustic, it mostly paid off. This has to be the best series since the third, perhaps even surpassing it. The third episode has to be one of the best episodes of television this year alone.
I will miss this show, especially as - if it has to end - it has been cut down in its prime, as has Simon Carlyle. I guess tonight's episode probably wasn't what the writers had intended the show to finish on (their ideal final episode likely being the long-awaited wedding between Ian and Gordon), but no matter; it was too funny to not be a fitting denouement, and had the hallmarks of a classic episode - everyone gathered exquisitely claustrophobically in the Bairds' sitting room.
Yeah, Series 7 was pretty solid! If it's the last ever, then it has ended well.
I imagine it'll be back at some point, it may take Gregor Sharp a long time to re-adjust and write solo, not to mention all of them also being close to Simon Carlyle.
Quote: Feeoree @ 24th December 2023, 10:55 PMYeah, Series 7 was pretty solid! If it's the last ever, then it has ended well.
I imagine it'll be back at some point, it may take Gregor Sharp a long time to re-adjust and write solo, not to mention all of them also being close to Simon Carlyle.
When the fact they'd been planning for an eighth series was confirmed last August in a BBC News article, I had thought about whether it was entirely possible that they'd already began writing, or at least had significant notes and ideas written up. I'm not sure if a series solely written by Sharp would live up to what has gone before, if it lacks Carlyle's ability to pick out the idiosyncrasies of the human condition, for which he was lauded for his ability to do following his passing.
Doon Mackichan posted on Instagram that the show was "ending for now", so who knows at this point. If they do want to return the show, but are constrained by the loss of Carlyle, I'd say a final special concentrating on Ian and Gordon's wedding - something the fans want, and their desires for it having been recognised by those on the show - would suffice... the centrepiece of Xmas Day 2025, perhaps?(!)
Having spoken to people in the last couple of months I do expect it will return - but probably not this year.
