Victoria Hamilton

A look back at... The Savages

The Savages was a family life based sitcom starring Marcus Brigstocke that after airing back in 2001, disappeared seemingly without a trace. But it was a great showcase for Marcus Brigstocke and a show that, in my opinion, is worth remembering.

"They laughed at my writing and dragged my name through the mud" - but will Random House succeed in bringing down "humble jobbing actress" Joan Collins (Victoria Hamilton) after a dispute over the merits of her manuscript? Wonderfully catty fun, loosely based on the real court case.

BBC Sitcom Season: review of the pilots

Some of comedy's hottest names have been busy working on new sitcom pilots for BBC iPlayer, airing in September, with the hope of these creative projects later being picked up for a television series.

BBC Landmark Sitcom Season: the pilots review

In my last post I looked at three of the sitcom revivals that the BBC have produced but alongside these pieces, this new season also includes five new sitcom pilots. Over the next two weeks, all five of these shows will air and in this article I will pass judgement on them all.

Robert Webb and Victoria Hamilton play warring divorcees in this superbly performed, spectacularly grim one-off from former Simpsons writer Julie Thacker-Scully. Pitched almost entirely on one, weapons-grade emotional setting, with Webb screeching at Hamilton in full-on Linda Blair mode, this passes through black comedy into some kind of nihilistic death cult. Possibly cathartic for those going through separations, but deeply odd nonetheless.

Our Ex-Wife preview

For a while there was the concept that sitcom characters had to be sympathetic and relatable. Well, that idea's gone out of the window with Our Ex-Wife, a bitterly antagonistic new comedy being piloted as part of the BBC's Landmark Sitcom series.

TV preview: Our Ex-Wife, BBC2

Peep Show might be over but Robert Webb quickly returns to the sitcom fray in this one-off pilot as part of the Landmark Sitcom Season and there is plenty to enjoy here.

The Circuit review

Sharon 'Catastrophe' Horgan and Dennis Kelly have some dark fun with the quintessential middle-class institution.