Ever Decreasing Circles Page 7

I'm a huge fan of EDC and consider Martin to be Briers' best characters. Definitely more complex, nuanced and observed than Tom Good.

The whole idea of Paul pursuing Anne isn't a sincere one. He's a bit of a suburban playboy, granted, but his affectionate flirtations with Anne are mere friendly teasing, given how he knows deep down that Anne would NEVER cheat on Martin. He does however recognise that she gets awfully frustrated with Martin's nature at times, so likes to remind her that she's still a fun, playful and attractive woman, just so she's reassured that her marriage hasn't dulled her character to that of a dowdy doormat...if that makes sense?

In the first series, Paul's at his most louche around Anne, but as the friendship between all the characters builds over time, he drops any sincerity to his flirting

Quote: WarmWasp @ 26th February 2021, 11:09 PM

I'm a huge fan of EDC and consider Martin to be Briers' best character.

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Has to be his best. He's phenomenal, got every anal trait nailed down and he looks so comfortable at it. A joy to watch a sitcom master really on his game. In one ep he even did his Custard voice.

Quote: jsg @ 16th February 2021, 12:33 AM

Yeah, I think of it in the same vein as Butterflies too. Both have a quality of being able to mine some "deep" stuff quite a lot, albeit / especially in a sort of grounded way - they feel real. The pathos is unignorable, you have to engage with it on that level, but it's very "silly" / funny too.

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Well it's being shown in a double bill on Drama with Butterflies so someone in TV seems to agree with us.

I'm now past the point where I paused watching my dvd and I've got to say, while the episodes are well constructed and watchable, I'm wondering why the Bryces let Paul into their home and their lives so much, as Martin clearly can't stand him. It's the opposite of what happens in real life, you have an irritating neighbour who's always putting you down, you shun them, you don't let them wander into your living room and help themselves to your drinks. Deeply flawed continuous premise. Paul's also very unlikeable the way he takes pleasure in winding Martin up. It's getting a bit like seeing a weaker kid being bullied all the time.

Quote: Alfred J Kipper @ 7th May 2022, 9:45 AM

It's the opposite of what happens in real life, you have an irritating neighbour who's always putting you down, you shun them, you don't let them wander into your living room and help themselves to your drinks. Deeply flawed continuous premise.

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Of course if sitcoms only depicted what happens in real life, it would make for a pretty mundane and largely unfunny half hour.

Which is what they've largely become now by way of the trend towards realism (and with that, drama), yes. I agree funny sitcoms of course have licence to exaggerate situations, and need catalysts for story movement but the main reason trad funny sitcoms went out of fashion (with broadcasters and their choice of newer and younger writers) is because many were seen by them to be too artificial, contrived and implausible.

You need big characters, you need them to come into conflict, but you should also have a sound reason why two opposites/opponents are in constant close proximity and I don't think the writers provided that here. There is no conceivable way the two of them are trapped together by circumstance, a classic sitcom setup. It's more a case of an arrogant winner just wanting to pick on a loser and after a while that begins to look distasteful, wrong and just unBritish. Good evening of course.

He's there so much because Ann likes him.

Which makes it look creepy (if it were as plain as that). There is just something slightly off with the dynamic in this sitcom, as good as it is. It's often called dark, some have called it creepy, but playing out some sort of affair between his wife and the next door lothario, consummated or not, is just a bit distasteful for a trad mainstream sitcom, (especially around a sitcom favourite like Richard Briers) if that's what they are doing.

I think it's more a case of Anne trying to lighten Martin up by keeping such close ties with Paul, but of course it doesn't work. If it did, they'd be breaking the golden rule of sitcom. Which brings me back to my first point, in real life they'd just blank this new imposing neighbour, which of course means no sitcom.

Quote: Alfred J Kipper @ 8th May 2022, 8:56 AM

but playing out some sort of affair between his wife and the next door lothario, consummated or not, is just a bit distasteful for a trad mainstream sitcom, (especially around a sitcom favourite like Richard Briers) if that's what they are doing.

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I see your Ever Decreasing Circles and raise you Butterflies (based around a sitcom favourite like Wendy Craig).

I thought his Martin Bryce character was a brilliant performance, and remember enjoying this show very much when it was on
But it did make me laugh when I was reading Harry Hill's autobiography recently and he was talking about when he had Briers on his Radio show
He did give me one piece of advice, " Always go for the f**king money Harry"

Repeats begin on BBC4 @ 8.30 tonight (Tuesday). Which means you won't be able to watch the England match at the same time. Which is probably an added advantage.

We're watching it again via NowTV/Gold. It's an interesting juxtaposition with The Good Life which we finished watching a fortnight ago.

Does anyone know how large the age gap is between Ann and Martin? I'm only asking as my spouse is much older than me.

Quote: MrsLogicFromViz @ 1st October 2023, 9:41 PM

We're watching it again via NowTV/Gold. It's an interesting juxtaposition with The Good Life which we finished watching a fortnight ago.

Does anyone know how large the age gap is between Ann and Martin? I'm only asking as my spouse is much older than me.

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Penelope Wilton was born on 3 June 1946 (just two days before the first post-war Derby); Richard Briers was born on 14 January 1934 (in the same hospital as me).

Quote: Billy Bunter @ 1st October 2023, 9:56 PM

Penelope Wilton was born on 3 June 1946 (just two days before the first post-war Derby); Richard Briers was born on 14 January 1934 (in the same hospital as me).

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Thank you. So if the characters are similar to the actress who play them it's a twelve year gap? That sounds about right.

There were no comedy stars born in the same hospital as me as far as I know 😞

The age gap thing is quite noticeable in the show, not helped by Briers looking older than his age, as some people do. Going over old ground here but Anne looks more like his carer in the pics above, which she was in a way. But if they'd cast an actress who looked more his age then Slimy Paul wouldn't have been attracted to her, which is where much of the early series revolved around.

It's so well acted and with some interesting characters as well that many were surprised this didn't make the 2004 top 50 sitcom list the Beeb did, but I go with the general theory that viewers didn't like seeing one of their favourite TV actors being given the runaround by a suave know it all who wanted to give his wife one. A very well made show with a premise that was just a touch too dark for 1980s mainstream audiences to be a favourite of many.

I never understood why Howard and Hilda weren't given their own series - it was crying out for it!!