May Contain Nuts (2009)

Using the same denouement measurement, the mess of the ending of May Contain Nuts - after such a brilliant start - showed what a parlous waste of time it had become. The nice parents who cheated to get their daughter into a good school (mother sat an entrance exam as her daughter, below) renounced their snobbishness. The really snobby mother (Elizabeth Berrington, the only compelling actor on screen) got a telling-off for her attitudes. But bizarrely the racism at the heart of the drama was never directly addressed, although those that practised it were shown to be idiots. This satire on competitive middle-class parenting was blunted by a script that descended into dumb farce and screechy over-acting that descended far lower than that.

So much of the enjoyment of television is based on expectation and the willingness to accept something for what it is rather than condemning it for not being something different. I was disappointed by the first part of this comedy-drama about middle-class parents trying to get their children into a good school because it was based on broad comic caricature. But by the time part two came along, I knew exactly what to expect and so it was much easier to enjoy it on its own terms. Of course it is still based on comic caricature, but it dealt with fundamentally serious issues in a breezy way. It may not be a merciless and accurate satire, but it is big-hearted and entertaining.