Married Single Other

Ralf Little has revealed he was shocked when drama Married Single Other was axed - because the public had responded so positively to it. The ITV1 show was given the chop after just one series, but Ralf said: "I haven't had such a positive response since I was in The Royle Family." The actor, 30, is now writing his own comedy series, which he is trying to get commissioned.

Married, Single, Other, Dumped

ITV has dumped romantic comedy drama Married Single Other after just one series.

'Married Single Other' for second series?

Married Single Other writer Peter Souter has revealed that a decision on a possible second series is imminent.

Struggling with bereavement, a sad and restless Eddie (the excellent Shaun Dooley, who's made MSO worthwhile) says at one point, "It's funny how death makes you feel really alive." Which might lead you, dear viewer, to think, oh lord, what next? "Absence makes the heart grow fonder"? But then, everyone in Married Single Other talks in clichés and the wispy plot is buttressed by indie ballads, a convenient shorthand for slapping the viewer across the face and saying, "Listen! This is a sad bit." Tonight we have Because by I Am Kloot (no, I haven't heard of it or them, either), as everyone looks bereft. All the relationships are, in one way or another, on the rocks, yet the ending (this is the last episode of the series) holds out the hope that everything will be all right really.

This series, ending tonight, has been panned by some critics, mostly smartypants types who'd rather die than confess to the heinous crime of liking a middlebrow romantic-comedy. In truth, it's been a fine achievement, funny and sad in equal measure.

After last week's episode ended with tragedy, this final episode is tinged with sadness throughout. Never as warm and witty as Cold Feet, it's certainly the closest ITV have come in a long while to creating a popular series with the potential to return.

The Manchester-based Married Single Other comes to a close next week and of course, there will be laughs and tears. That's how all romantic comedy drama thingies finish don't they?

Thus far, Married Single Other has been a sweet and warm enough show, perfect for idling away some TV time. In 'That One Who Played Dawn In The Office', there's a cracking little actress who is reasonably well supported by a cast who can be a bit two dimensional at times.

That said, all romcom films and television shows can be a predictable and shallow. That's why people watch them, eh? Nice, safe television to eat Hob Nobs to.

Even for Married Single Other, a drama that has fondant icing where its dialogue should be, some of this week's lines are so sickly you might need to have a bucket handy. Lillie and Eddie's wedding plans are accelerated after her recent news and she goes up into the attic to record a series of messages for her family. She tells Eddie, "I love the way kiwi fruit makes you sneeze," which is the signal for an unashamed, all-out sob-fest that takes absolutely no prisoners. Yet still the tone is wildly uneven, lurching from jokey to maudlin without pausing for refreshment, though the cast do their best to grasp at any tiny piece of credibility, particularly the splendid Shaun Dooley, who is really the emotional heart of Married Single Other. Though his beloved Lillie (Lucy Davis) is wretchedly annoying, he is so quietly sad and broken that you'd need a heart of plutonium not to share his misery.

So last week we discovered a possible explanation for Lucy Davis's bizarre performance - her character, Lillie, has an inoperable brain tumour. And not just inoperable but untreatable, sparing this series from actually confronting the realities of living with cancer. It's the same reason Sally Webster's breast cancer in Coronation Street is being eradicated by nothing more unpleasant than lying in her bedroom, flicking through magazines until she's given the all-clear.

Lillie's only symptoms have been smelling burning rubber and frequent spells of deja vu, which make a brain tumour sound like a day at the circus. Which is what she gets this week as her fabulous fiance Eddie organises a magical wedding and a musical reception that wouldn't look entirely out of place in Glee.

Viewers who've invested in this series from week one may be dismayed that the "Other" in the title turned out to be "terminally ill".

OK, OK. It's treacle. It may be too much for some of the more macho members of the tvBite office. But come on, it knows which buttons to push (unlike the more macho members of the tvBite office). Today's episode gives it the full works: a wedding, a surprise and well, you just wait and see. Love it.