Common Ground

Common Ground preview

"It's quite a unique format - there's not really anything else like this" says director David Lambert.

Given the success of Sky1's Little Crackers and the broadcaster's reputation for giving its talent a free creative hand, this new series of short comedies comes as no surprise. Both Floyd and Patricia demonstrate the pros and cons of this approach, as good ideas are allowed to drift without a firm editorial hand.

Floyd (Charles Dance) is a retired tour manager living with his son's family and stuck in a weed-induced loop of nostalgia and misplaced rebellion. Dance has a ball in an unfamiliar guise and there are a few chuckles, but also an over-reliance on the classic rock soundtrack to segue between scenes that seldom last longer than 30 seconds.

Later, Jessica Hynes casts herself in a spectacularly unflattering get-up in Patricia, the story of a local Tory councillor with fingers in pies, head in clouds and feet in mouth. When a snafu envelops a new housing project, a traffic accident and her uppity new press officer, she's singularly ill-equipped to cope. Again, the laughs are gentle but the series potential is such that we may yet see Floyd and Patricia again.

Radio Times review

Sky's Little Crackers are something to look forward to each Christmas, and this series of shorts, all supposedly set in the same part of south London, has a similar feel. First, Charles Dance plays Floyd, an ageing rocker living with his uptight daughter. From a promising beginning - Floyd describing the death of Mama Cass to a class of primary school-children - it descends into cliché. Much better is Jessica Hynes's offbeat tale of quirky Tory councillor Patricia David. With a shock of wild, blonde hair, Hynes is virtually unrecognisable - though you may detect a touch of Boris Johnson about her portrayal.

Cast in the mould of Sky1's excellent Little Crackers, this series offers ten diverting snapshots of south London life. In the opening double bill, Charles Dance stars as an old rocker now living with his uptight daughter (Amelia Bullmore) and running up steep electricity bills growing his 'herbs' indoors. Following on Dance's heels is Jessica Hynes as a clueless politician, complete with Boris Johnson hairdo, whose luck never seems to run out.

A new series of comedy shorts launches tonight, written by (and starring) notable types such as Johnny Vegas, Katy Brand and Rufus Jones. In Floyd, the first part of a double bill, Charles Dance plays an ageing roadie; he's followed by Jessica Hynes as a befuddled Tory councillor in Patricia. Both central performances are superb, but the 10-minute format is tricky with so much exposition and character to pack in. They work as thumbnail portraits, but feel as though they don't go anywhere.

A new series of comedy shorts - all set in the same location - opens with the entertaining Floyd, which stars Charles Dance as a retired rock band manager now living in suburbia with his uptight daughter (Amelia Bullmore) and son-in-law (Hugo Speer). Written by Mark Warren and Fraser Steele (Never Mind the Buzzcocks), it captures the rebelliousness of the ageing rocker and Dance is wonderfully grizzled in the role. Less successful is Jessica Hynes's Patricia, in which she stars as an issue-averse local councillor. After causing an accident on her way to work, Patricia is greeted by a demonstration against her plans to build luxury flats in place of a nursery school.

Charles Dance interview

Charles Dance kicks off Sky Atlantic's new series of short plays.

Charles Dance interview

Charles Dance talks about his role in Common Ground.