'One Foot in the Grave' - references to death.

One Foot is my second favourite sitcom. I don't mean to be morbid, but it occured to me recently that One Foot is full of references to death. What references to death can you think of in the show? I can think of heaps, but I won't list them all as someone else might want to think of some. Here's some that I came up with though:

- Obviously the show's title - with 'grave' in it.
- Obviously the shows theme tune - with 'grave' in it.
- The death of the poor cat in the freezer.
- The deaths of the poor turtles.
- The death of Margaret's mother that came later in the show.
- Victor's threat of a possibly fatal illness when it was actually Mrs Warboys black pudding that was responsible for the blood in his bowel.
- The builder who played pranks - including pretending to be dead.
- Margaret taking off for a few days and everyone thinking she must be dead.

I love the show too and having recently re-watched every episode I noticed the large frequency of suicide references.

Quote: Dolly Dagger @ September 28 2011, 12:41 PM BST

I love the show too and having recently re-watched every episode I noticed the large frequency of suicide references.

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Yes. I can think of a few. Their friend Mildred suicided, as did Mr Fosnic who collected false teeth. Victor reads out a 'review' of a suicide of a comedian in the newspaper in one episode. When they move into their new house there is some suggetion that the prior tenant may have suicided or have been murdered - although exactly what happened was never made clear.

I love the show to bits

Brian Murphy played a suicide (I forget his character's name) and exposed himself to Angus Deayton, something I'm sure we've all wanted to do at some stage. Oh and Mr Swainey's mother died towards the end of the series.

Victor getting buried upto his neck in the garden, almost death.

I guess it might be a not so suble tip of the hat to the fact that as you get older, more and more people you know pass away. And the fact that Victor is a grumpy old sod who manages to find the dark side of everything.

It's certainly something I was aware of while watching - I remember thinking "I have this to look forward to"

Some more death references in the show that come to mind:

- The bird in Victor's garden (was it a robin?) was sadly killed by a cat.
- Victor and Margaret had a child who died (as revealed in the episode where they could't get to sleep).
- A conversation takes place where Margaret meets someone who insists Victor is dead - when he wasn't.
- Sadly Victor is killed in the final episode in a hit and run. The driver as it turned out was a carer to her husband who also died - but of cancer.
- Margaret makes a comment in an episode (was it the first?) that the florist had been very busy because so many people were dying.
- The woman who takes the scorpion paper weight uses it to hit a mugger with a knife on the head - and viewers are given the impression he died.
- When Patrick and Pippa return from holiday they watch a murder mystery on video. Later in the episode an elderly man murdered. Pippa momentarily considers if Victor might be the murderer.
- In an early episode Victor falls asleep outside and and wakes up in the fog and thinks he's died and gone to heaven.
- The yoga teacher dies.
- The 'haunted caravan' presumably was owned by someone who had died.
- Victor's fish died.
- The dog he thinks he's inheriting turns out to be stuffed.
- Victor's aunt (I think) dies and they inherit her cow.
- Victor's relative dies - the one who owns the big house with the spider.

Quote: Agnes Guano @ November 8 2011, 12:07 AM GMT

Brian Murphy played a suicide (I forget his character's name) and exposed himself to Angus Deayton, something I'm sure we've all wanted to do at some stage.

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I think he was called Mr Foskit. Or something like. Might not be quite right.

Quote: Steve Charlie @ November 9 2011, 7:27 AM GMT

Some more death references in the show that come to mind:

- A conversation takes place where Margaret meets someone who insists Victor is dead - when he wasn't.

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This probably happens all the time with older people.

- Margaret makes a comment in an episode (was it the first?) that the florist had been very busy because so many people were dying.

It's a florist! What do you expect?

- The woman who takes the scorpion paper weight uses it to hit a mugger with a knife on the head - and viewers are given the impression he died.

Not confirmed.

- In an early episode Victor falls asleep outside and and wakes up in the fog and thinks he's died and gone to heaven.

Not really about death as much the idea of heaven.

- The 'haunted caravan' presumably was owned by someone who had died.

Not really about death but the supernatural.

- Victor's fish died.

They usually do.

- Victor's aunt (I think) dies and they inherit her cow.

Plot device!

I think you're reading too much into this.

Quote: Tim Azure @ November 9 2011, 9:39 AM GMT

I think you're reading too much into this.

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Yes, quite possibly.

Quote: Steve Charlie @ 9th November 2011, 7:27 AM

Some more death references in the show that come to mind:

- The bird in Victor's garden (was it a robin?) was sadly killed by a cat.
- Victor and Margaret had a child who died (as revealed in the episode where they could't get to sleep).
- A conversation takes place where Margaret meets someone who insists Victor is dead - when he wasn't.
- Sadly Victor is killed in the final episode in a hit and run. The driver as it turned out was a carer to her husband who also died - but of cancer.
- Margaret makes a comment in an episode (was it the first?) that the florist had been very busy because so many people were dying.
- The woman who takes the scorpion paper weight uses it to hit a mugger with a knife on the head - and viewers are given the impression he died.
- When Patrick and Pippa return from holiday they watch a murder mystery on video. Later in the episode an elderly man murdered. Pippa momentarily considers if Victor might be the murderer.
- In an early episode Victor falls asleep outside and and wakes up in the fog and thinks he's died and gone to heaven.
- The yoga teacher dies.
- The 'haunted caravan' presumably was owned by someone who had died.
- Victor's fish died.
- The dog he thinks he's inheriting turns out to be stuffed.
- Victor's aunt (I think) dies and they inherit her cow.
- Victor's relative dies - the one who owns the big house with the spider.

I think he was called Mr Foskit. Or something like. Might not be quite right.

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The scorpian paper weight ended up with the death of the mugger - nobody had been given the initial impression he had died.

Also, it never ceases to amaze me how I never recall Victor and Margaret's conversation about their child dying. How awfully dark.

I think this is what makes One Foot special and dark at the same time. Laughing in the face of fear - of death that is. Comedy is the perfect tonic to overcome sad times.

Quote: Tim Azure @ 9th November 2011, 9:39 AM

This probably happens all the time with older people.

Not confirmed.

Not really about death but the supernatural.

Plot device!

I think you're reading too much into this.

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I think the zipping up of a corpse is often seen as death.

Your dismissal about it being about heaven and not death - surely the same thing. In fact, it is the same thing. No death = no appararent heaven.

Supernatural comment - that is everything to do with death.

Me thinks you gave the original poster a hard time and I score you 2/10 for pedantic skills. Must try harder.