Camille Coduri

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Tom Davis is still a treat as the Essex builder with small problems and a big heart. If only he would dial down the zaniness.

ITV hit us with another new offering in the completely pointless Edge of Heaven. Set in the titular Margate B&B the show focused on the sprawling Taylor family headed up by matriarch Julie (Camille Coduri) the co-owner of the establishment alongside her chef husband Tandeep (Nitin Kundra). Julie's two adult children still live with her and while ex-army recruit Ann-Marie (Laura Checkley) is happy to stand about and make sarcastic comments, Alfie (Blake Harrison) is planning for the future. The future that Alfie envisions involves him settled down with would-be-wife Carly (Justine Cain) but, on the eve of her wedding, she begins to doubt her love for Alfie. It's incredibly clear that Alfie belongs with Carly's friend and colleague Michelle (Louisa Lytton), but at the same time it seems that we're going to have to wait six weeks for them to figure out they like each other. The Taylor clan also includes Julie's brother 'Bald' Gary (Adrian Scarborough) and his partner 'Camp' Gary (Robert Evans) who both love watching True Blood as well as Alfie's Nanny Mo (Marcia Warren) a foul-mouthed X-Box loving pensioner.

I do wonder why Edge of Heaven was created in the first place and who exactly its marketed towards. The extended brood aspect of the show makes me think that ITV wanted this to be their version of Modern Family, but what we get instead is a bunch of clichéd characters going through the motions. It's clear that writer Robert Evans has come from children's TV as all of the Taylor family feel like stereotypes and I just didn't believe in any of them. The B&B setting is equally unnecessary with only a couple of scenes devoted to the establishment's single guest. It's a shame that talented performers such as Coduri, Scarborough and Warren have wasted their time on appearing in this nonsense. Meanwhile Harrison continues to play the same character he did in both Big Bad World and Way to Go. Ultimately, Edge of Heaven will go down as another forgettable ITV drama that I'm sure will be demolished in the ratings once Jonathan Creek returns next week.

There's a faint whiff of Stella-on-Sea about this retro comedy-drama starring Inbetweener Blake Harrison as lovesick puppy Alfie, whose childhood sweetheart dumps him on their wedding day. It's set in the 1980s-themed Margate guest house run by Alfie's mum Judy (Camille Coduri) - but there's a high-camp spin-off series in the making over at Alfie's uncle's flat, where True Blood causes passions to run high in a curious ménage à trois between Marcia Warren, in fine fettle as Alfie's grandma, Adrian Scarborough as Bald Uncle Gary and Robert Evans - the show's writer - as Gary's partner, Camp Gary.

Radio Times review

Here's a sample gag from Edge of Heaven: "I'm like those birds that go around in pairs." "Lesbians?" "No, swans." If you're laughing so hard you've bent double and displaced a vertebra in your back, then this broad, camp comedy drama is for you.

Just think of it as a low-rent Modern Family set in Edge of Heaven, "Margate's finest 80s-themed B&B", run by raucous landlady Judy (Camille Coduri) and her young husband Tandeep (Nitin Kundra), where she plays host to a ragtag band of eclectic relatives. Her gormless son Alfie (The Inbetweeners' Blake Harrison) is about to marry the girl of his dreams.

Edge of Heaven could have been made at any time during the 1970s. There's even a joke about Blue Nun.

Camille Coduri interview

As the gross-out sitcom Him & Her returns, TV Choice speaks to the former Doctor Who star Camille Coduri, who plays Shelly, the ditzy friend of Steve and Becky...