Sorry for the bump but just been talking in the pub and to save me looking through everything, could someone please tell me the episode when Victor says 'I'm in Kettering.' and some thinks he's in catering?
Ta ever so.
One Foot In The Grave Page 6
There's an episode called dramatic fever
Where he's in Kettering.
Probably not the one, but it's a start
Yep, Dramatic Fever, episode 3 of series 2 and isn't it he tells someone that Maragret's in Kettering (taking her mother home)?
Ta Chums, I'll check that one out !
Thought this deserved a bump since Drama have begun repeating them again. They played the episode 'In Luton Airport No-One Can Hear You Scream' earlier and at the point where Victor is ranting outside his house I thought I recognised the voice of the neighbour he's just woken up as Arthur from On The Buses. Turns out I was right and it was indeed Michael Robbins in a voice only role. This got me thinking, Michael Robbins would have been great in a more meaty role as either an adversary of Victor or even if Richard Wilson hadn't got the role he would have done a decent job as Mr. Meldrew. Unfortunately he lost his battle with cancer soon after that episode was filmed so his involvement is irrelevant, but it does make one of those interesting 'what could have been' situations.
Couldn't resist joining to add two pennyworth . The sublime interaction you describe is delivered by Michael Robbins as the Allotment committee chairman in Man in the long black coat ( Christmas 1990 ) Thanks for the memory , seeing that again reminded me how fast On the Buses went downhill after Michael left .
"Suck on a sweet, I'll be sucking on that exhaust pipe in a minute."
Oh yes it's one of the greatest, socially biting, inexhaustibly amazingly quotable series ever made. I used to think it was cosy, a man made redundant looking to buy Noel Edmonds-style jumpers complaining at the modern world. Cuddly sets, and suburb settings, the ultimate nightmare. But I quickly realised it was dark, subversive, and incredibly funny. And still is.
Victor Meldrew in the words of his amazing wife the ever dependable Margret, is someone who cares too much about the world.
It's thanks to Richard Wilson and Annette Crosbie, not to mention Angus Deayton and Janine Duvitski, it never fails to entertain me. I actually watched 3 series one after the other, mesmerised by the writing. The sharpness of it all, and the humour, which is just at a constant high standard and tight plots.
I loved it then and I love a bit more now.
It's the masterpiece that people lauder Only Fools for being. It's not; One Foot is the high water mark for sitcoms in the late millennium.
Quote: Mark Gibson @ 2nd May 2014, 2:38 PM BST"Suck on a sweet, I'll be sucking on that exhaust pipe in a minute."
Oh yes it's one of the greatest, socially biting, inexhaustibly amazingly quotable series ever made. I used to think it was cosy, a man made redundant looking to buy Noel Edmonds-style jumpers complaining at the modern world. Cuddly sets, and suburb settings, the ultimate nightmare. But I quickly realised it was dark, subversive, and incredibly funny. And still is.
Victor Meldrew in the words of his amazing wife the ever dependable Margret, is someone who cares too much about the world.
It's thanks to Richard Wilson and Annette Crosbie, not to mention Angus Deayton and Janine Duvitski, it never fails to entertain me. I actually watched 3 series one after the other, mesmerised by the writing. The sharpness of it all, and the humour, which is just at a constant high standard and tight plots.
I loved it then and I love a bit more now.
It's the masterpiece that people lauder Only Fools for being. It's not; One Foot is the high water mark for sitcoms in the late millennium.
Yes, it was a brilliant show. And like you say, very dark as well as funny. The darkest episode is probably the one were the car breaks down and they are lost. Then they discover the nursing/care home where the staff are abusing the residents.
My favourite Victor quote is when they come home from holiday and discover the house has burned down:
[Looking through paper] "Your fortune in the stars. Virgo. You will come back today from your holidays. Receive an extremely unpleasant rectal examination from three men in peaked caps. Your luggage will go missing on the other side of the world. Your house will be completely consumed by a hideous fire ball. You will end up tonight freezing to death on a demolition site dressed as the Sisco Kid. Absolutely uncanny. He's hit the nail right on the head and no mistake. I will never call Russell Grant a vacuous lump of whale blubber ever again."
I know, it's just simply amazing. I bought it again today actually, as I've always had a soft spot for it, and I thought it was simply superb, so I'm halfway through the 3rd one, I'd bought them out of order, truth be said. And I remembered much of the episodes but I really loved rewatching it and the Christmas Specials are really long too, and I loved them at the time, so I can't wait to watch them again. You can get them cheap now in certain shops in the high street or the local markets. It's a great idea to find them one by one like a treasure hunt. Hahaha, but yes all of it's superb, I'm still waiting to get to the last few as my memory of them is varied on them, passing of time I'm afraid.
One Foot in The Grave is one my favourties, the reason it become popular was becasuse people can relate to everyday life nuisances, and Richard Wilson brought warmth to Victor's character.
I enjoyed One Foot... "What a joy" 
I enjoyed this series at the time and it has remained one of my big favourites ever since. I made sure to get the DVD boxed set when it came out. There was something mesmerising in the way it trod a fine line between comedy and pathos.
As others have said, it could be surprisingly dark and that was one of its strengths. Americans have never been able to do anything like it.
Just look as what happened when they decided to Americanise it for Bill Cosby's late nineties comeback. His character Hilton Lucas wasn't in the same league as Victor Meldrew. I think the Hollywood brains trust underestimate what audiences want sometimes. They seem to assume that American audiences haven't the subtlety or wit to appreciate something like One Foot In The Grave. But a lot of British sitcoms fare well stateside.
My favourite scene was in the Christmas special Endgame. During Margaret's alleged death scene, a compilation of clips from past episodes is accompanied by the song "River Runs Deep" by J.J. Cale. It was haunting and beautiful, just like the series.
Quote: wizardofaus @ 6th May 2014, 1:12 PM BSTJust look as what happened when they decided to Americanise it for Bill Cosby's late nineties comeback. His character Hilton Lucas wasn't in the same league as Victor Meldrew.
Haven't seen a full episode of the Cosby version. I only remember seeing a few scenes of it on French TV many years ago. His character didn't appear to be any grumpier than his Cliff Huxtable persona from the Cosby Show. So, what was the point in adapting the Meldrew-concept? That's the Yanks for you.
I've been watching this on the Drama repeats. Lots of episodes that I hadn't seen before, or only seen bits of. It really is one of the best scripted sitcoms... probably ever. So well observed, and very funny.
Quote: Mark Gibson @ 2nd May 2014, 2:38 PM BST"Suck on a sweet, I'll be sucking on that exhaust pipe in a minute."
Oh yes it's one of the greatest, socially biting, inexhaustibly amazingly quotable series ever made. I used to think it was cosy, a man made redundant looking to buy Noel Edmonds-style jumpers complaining at the modern world. Cuddly sets, and suburb settings, the ultimate nightmare. But I quickly realised it was dark, subversive, and incredibly funny. And still is.
Victor Meldrew in the words of his amazing wife the ever dependable Margret, is someone who cares too much about the world.
It's thanks to Richard Wilson and Annette Crosbie, not to mention Angus Deayton and Janine Duvitski, it never fails to entertain me. I actually watched 3 series one after the other, mesmerised by the writing. The sharpness of it all, and the humour, which is just at a constant high standard and tight plots.
I loved it then and I love a bit more now.
It's the masterpiece that people lauder Only Fools for being. It's not; One Foot is the high water mark for sitcoms in the late millennium.
Well written.
I absolutely adore this show. The best comedy of the 1990s for me.
Have you read the 'The Complete One Foot In The Grave' book?
Renwick is a sheer genius. Not only because he created this superb comedy and didn't ever 'over-do it', but also created, for me, the best mystery comedy/drama show in Jonathan Creek.
All hail Renwick, is what I say.
I dug out the box set of this last night and watched a few episodes. I'm always amazed by how Renwick manages to weave all these plots together so intricately and then strike though with a vein of pathos which never feels forced.