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The eighties saw the death of the one-off
studio bound drama. Hand held camera techniques pioneered in shows such as Brookside led
to more and more location shooting. Then Inspector Morse came along with it’s
cinematic values and the art of video shot drama was lost for forever.
Rumblings are afoot at the BBC to redress this balance by bringing stage plays to the
screen and if they turn out to be a tenth as good as this offering from BBC Four, a
revival of Peter Nichols's remarkable sixties play, A Day in the Death of Joe Egg,
then we are all in for a treat.
As the show opens, you could be forgiven in thinking that you are at an Eddie Izzard
comedy gig. Izzard stands before a large blackboard and delivers the kind of teacher
monologue that Joyce Grenfell was so famous for.
At end of this monologue, we join Izzard’s character Bri as he returns home to wife
Sheila (Victoria Hamilton). There’s plenty of typical stage play type husband and
wife banter and then without ceremony we meet their daughter Jo. Jo is profoundly
disabled, so disabled in fact that we often hear her described as a vegetable. Following
more bittersweet dialogue between the couple the play takes a unusual turn.
The scenery revolves showing us the back of the set, where Bri emerges and begins
conversing with the audience about his situation. Sheila overhears this and joins him.
Together they begin to recount the tragic events surrounding their daughters birth and
early years, Hamilton staying in character and Izzard providing the voices of various
medics and a trendy vicar. Through this storytelling we come to appreciate the trauma this
family has been through and that their dark, occasionally sick humour is merely masking
the pain as they struggle to care for Jo and maintain their relationship.
The play returns to conventionality in Act Two as they are visited by a well-meaning but
unhelpful couple from Sheila’s am-dram society and eventually Bri’s mother.
These characters provide a sounding board for Bri and Sheila’s angst and frustration
and gradually their true feelings come to the fore, quite shockingly in Bri’s case as
he considers the possibility of euthanasia, much to the horror of Sheila and the guests.
As Jo’s health worsens, Bri and Sheila’s desperation manifests itself in vastly
different ways.
This play is engaging, both sad and very funny, although as necessitated by the subject
matter the gags are often in dubious taste. This could well be the best thing you’ll
see on television this month.
The leads are superb and excellent support is offered from Prunella Scales, John Warnaby
and Robin Weaver.
There is no happy ending on offer here and to be honest you’d feel cheated if there
were. Stunning.
Rating: 10 out of 10
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