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One Foot in the Grave

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Television

   One Foot In The Grave
   Cover of tapes of the first series from 1990 with Victor and Margaret
   Meldrew.
   Genre Sitcom
   Running time Mainly 30 minutes; 1 40mins, 1 45mins, 1 50mins, 2 60mins,
   1 70mins, 1 90mins
   Creator(s) David Renwick
   Starring Richard Wilson
   Annette Crosbie
   Doreen Mantle
   Angus Deayton
   Janine Duvitski
   Owen Brenman
   Country of origin UK
   Original channel BBC One
   Original run 4 January 1990– 20 November 2000
   No. of episodes 42 + 2 Comic Relief Sketches

   One Foot in the Grave was a popular BBC television situation comedy
   series written by David Renwick. The show ran for six series, with
   several specials, over a ten year period, from 1990 to 2000. In
   addition, four episodes were remade for BBC Radio 4 and the series also
   inspired a novel.

   The series featured the exploits of Victor Meldrew, played by Richard
   Wilson, and his wife, Margaret, played by Annette Crosbie, in their
   battle against the trials of modern life.

   One Foot in the Grave came tenth in a 2004 BBC poll to find ‘ Britain's
   Best Sitcom’. The programme also came 80th in the British Film
   Institute's 100 Greatest British Television Programmes

Situation

   Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

   The series featured the exploits of Victor Meldrew, an irascible
   pensioner with attitude. In the first episode, Victor, played by
   Scottish born actor Richard Wilson, was prematurely retired from his
   job as a security guard. From then on the series followed his struggle
   to keep himself occupied, often with little success. In particular,
   Victor fell victim to surreal misfortunes, bad luck and coincidences,
   which led to his oft-immitated catchphrase "I don't believe it!". His
   long-suffering wife Margaret, played by Annette Crosbie, was often left
   exasperated by her husband's many misfortunes, although it was always
   made clear that the couple had a strong relationship. Although there is
   no explicit reference that Victor and Margaret had children, the
   episode 'Timeless Time' contained a melancholy, ambiguous reference to
   someone called Stuart; the suggestion was that they once had a son who
   had died as a child.

   The other most consistent supporting character was a family friend,
   Jean Warboys, played by Doreen Mantle. Other regular characters were
   next door neighbour Patrick Trench, played by Angus Deayton, who
   invariably discovered Victor in inexplicably bizarre or compromising
   situations, his wife Pippa played by Janine Duvitski and overly cheery
   charity worker Nick Swainey, played by Owen Brenman.

   The setting of the show is as a traditional cosy suburban sitcom, but
   it subverts this genre with a strong overtone of black comedy. The
   series featured highly innovative writing and outrageous comedy
   situations. If anything could go wrong, it not only went wrong but
   pulled half of the universe down with it (at least in a metaphorical
   sense). In a manner reminiscent of Alan Bennett, Renwick's scripts
   effectively combined farce with elements of tragedy. Indeed, in the
   final episode, Victor is killed by a hit-and-run driver. Margaret
   discovers the culprit, but the ending is ambiguous as to what she does
   about it.

Main characters

   Victor Meldrew ( Richard Wilson) - Victor was the main protagonist of
   the sitcom and finds himself constantly battling against all that life
   throws at him, as he becomes entangled, like the pawn he is, in the
   machiavellian plots. Renwick once pointed out in an interview that the
   name ‘Victor’ was ironic, since he almost always ends up as a loser.
   From being buried alive, to being legally prosecuted for attacking a
   fiesty pit bull terrier with a collection of coconut meringues, Victor
   tries to adjust to life after his infamous replacement by a ‘box’ at
   his place of employment, alas to no avail.

   Victor is a tragic comedy character however, and sympathy is directed
   towards him as he becomes embroiled in complex misunderstandings,
   bureaucratic vanity and at times, sheer bad luck. The audience sees a
   philosophical ebb to his character, however, along with a degree of
   optimism on his behalf, yet after a while his polite façade is torn
   down when amounting shenanigans get the better of him, allowing for a
   full verbal onslaught to be delivered with the aptly famous "I don't
   believe it!"

   Margaret Meldrew ( Annette Crosbie) - The long suffering wife of Victor
   tries to maintain a degree of calmness as she tries to rise above her
   husband's frustrations yet she too is engulfed into the same folly and
   often vents her anger, usually at Victor, who bears the brunt of it
   all.

   Patrick Trench ( Angus Deayton) - Patrick, along with his wife Pippa,
   dwelt next door to Victor; he would almost certainly catch Victor
   engrossing himself in seemingly preposterous situations, all of which
   in their context, seemed perfectly acceptable. Patrick believed Victor
   to be quite insane, possibly bordering on malicious as bad luck got the
   better of our main protagonist.

   Patrick is an interesting character however, for it is his rift with
   Victor that morphs him into a rather cynic ridden character, much like
   Victor - this was shown in one episode where his face transformed into
   an apparition of Victor's as he gazed into a mirror. In another
   episode, his wife Pippa loses their baby in similar circumstances to
   Victor and Margaret.

   Pippa Trench ( Janine Duvitski) - The wife of Patrick sought friendly
   relations with the Meldrews and after a while, became good friends with
   Margaret; eventually a move of sorts is considered, fronted by Patrick,
   and as they settle in to their new setting, they soon realise that the
   Meldrew curse still envelopes them.

   Jean Warboys ( Doreen Mantle) - Mrs Warboys was a friend of Margaret
   (and a rather annoying one at that, in Victor's eyes) who attached
   herself to the Meldrews, accompanying them on many of their exploits.
   In the early series she was married to Chris, who left her for the
   private detective whom she had hired when she suspected him of having
   an affair. It was later revealed that they had divorced.

   She would often bear the brunt of Victor's temper due to muddled
   misunderstandings and partly due to her aloof nature at times. One such
   occasion saw her goading Victor into making a place, in his heart, for
   a dog. She had not told him that it was stuffed, much to annoyance of
   Victor who had just splashed out on constructing an expensive shed for
   it. Doreen Mantle described her charecter as "Wanting to do the right
   thing but always finding out that it was the wrong thing". She would
   often bore the Meldrews with her cravings for showing them her complete
   collection of holiday pictures at the most unwelcome of times, along
   with her equally annoying cousin, Wilfred.

   Nick Swainey ( Owen Brenman) - The frustratingly cheerful, and often
   bordering on insane, individual who resided on the other side of the
   Meldrews from the Trenches. He remains continuously cheery with regards
   to anything; even being told to 'piss off' by Victor makes him treat it
   in a somewhat laughable fashion. However, since this little run-in he
   later befriended Victor. A kind-natured individual, Mr Swainey cared,
   for many years, for his bed ridden senile mother, whom we never
   actually saw. This is not to say that he doesn't drop his guard - for
   on one occasion we do observe his apparent depression. Following his
   mother's death, he moved house near to the end of the series, but only
   went as far as the other side of Victor's house, into the Trenches' old
   house.

Other recurring characters

   Ronnie and Mildred (Gordon Peters and Barbara Ashcroft) - Ronnie and
   Mildred were a constantly cheerful couple who provided yet another
   annoyance to the Meldrews, who dreaded any upcoming visits to them.
   They are referenced a number of times in the series for giving the
   Meldrews bizarre and always unwanted presents, usually involving a
   garish photograph. In the final series, it becomes clear that their
   cheerfulness was a façade and, in a particularly dark scene, Mildred
   has hanged herself "during a game of Happy Families".

   Cousin Wilfred (John Rutland) - Mrs. Warboy's cousin, Wilfred, appeared
   a number of times in the series. He was a fairly boring middle aged
   man, although by his appearance in the final series a stroke had left
   him mute. He therefore had to speak with an electronic voice generator
   and owing to his poor typing this led to several misunderstandings,
   such as asking Victor for a "bra of soup" (bar of soap).

Episodes

Music

   The theme song was written and sung by Eric Idle, who also appeared in
   one episode. A remixed version was later unsuccessfully released as a
   single in November 1994. The series also made extensive use of
   incidental music, composed by Ed Welch, which often hinted at a
   particular genre to fit the mood of the scenes.

Awards

   The programme was a recipient of a number of prestigious awards. In
   1992, it won a BAFTA as Best Comedy (Programme or Series). During its
   ten year run, the series was nominated a further six times. Richard
   Wilson also won Best Light Entertainment Performance in 1992 and 1994,
   and Annette Crosbie was nominated for the same award in 1994.

   The series also won the Best Television Sitcom in 1992 from the Royal
   Television Society and the British Comedy Award for Best Sitcom in
   1992, 1995 and 2001.

   In 2004, One Foot in the Grave came tenth in a recent BBC poll to find
   " Britain's Best Sitcom" with 31,410 votes. The programme also came
   80th in the British Film Institute's 100 Greatest British Television
   Programmes

Controversy

   A number of complaints were made during the series' run for its
   depiction of animal deaths, for example in one episode, a dead cat was
   found in the Meldrew's freezer, in another a tortoise was roasted in an
   incinerator. However, this was later cited as a positive feature of the
   programme's daring scripts in Britain's Best Sitcom by its advocate
   Rowland Rivron. The programme was censored, however, for a scene in the
   episode "Hearts of Darkness" where an elderly resident was abused in an
   old peoples' home, and following complaints, the scene was slighly cut
   when the episode was repeated.

   Controversy also surrounded the final, "Things Aren't Simple Anymore",
   when it was originally broadcast on 20 November 2000 as it coincided
   with the broadcast of the first jackpot winner in the UK version of Who
   Wants to Be a Millionaire?. ITV were accused of engineering this in
   order to damage the final episode's expected high ratings.

Cultural impact

   Despite gaining initially low audience ratings, by the third series,
   One Foot in the Grave was making the Top 20 ratings, with some episodes
   seen by more than 16 million viewers. In particular, the Christmas 1993
   edition topped 20 million viewers and the 1996 Boxing Day special was
   only pipped in the ratings by the record-breaking finale of Only Fools
   And Horses.

   Due to the series' popularity, people who constantly complain and are
   irritated by minor things are often compared to Victor Meldrew by the
   British media. Renwick disputes this usage however, claiming that
   Victor's reactions are entirely in proportion to the things that happen
   to him.

   An American remake of the show, starring Bill Cosby, simply titled
   Cosby ran from 1996 - 2000. David Renwick was listed as an executive
   producer on the series. Renwick also wrote a novel based on some of the
   storylines, published in 1992 ( ISBN 0-563-36428-9).

In popular culture

     * In the Father Ted episode ‘The Mainland’ Ted and Dougal encounter
       Richard Wilson (out of character) and drive him mad by constantly
       repeating his One Foot in the Grave catchphrase - something about
       which Wilson has expressed frustration in real life.

DVD releases

   Series one to six were released on Region 2 DVD by 16th October 2006. A
   12 Disc boxset including the Christmas specials from 1996 and 1997 was
   also released on Region 2 DVD on 16th October 2006. The Comic Relief
   Shorts from 1993 and 2001 were not included in this set. The Christmas
   Specials from 1996 and 1997 were released on one separate DVD in
   November 2006.
   Retrieved from " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Foot_in_the_Grave"
   This reference article is mainly selected from the English Wikipedia
   with only minor checks and changes (see www.wikipedia.org for details
   of authors and sources) and is available under the GNU Free
   Documentation License. See also our Disclaimer.
