I don’t really read the papers any more, but usually have an inkling of what’s hot and not from a few forays onto heatworld.com and the Guardian website, in that order. Thus I can reassure myself that all is right in the world because everyone agrees with me.
I was therefore much offended and upset to find that barely a peep of applause had been directed towards a recent BBC1 offering, Roger and Val Have Just Got In. Surprisingly enough, the usually loathsome Comment Is Free-ers had it right this time, and have already flagged up this disparity between quality and coverage. Because I have too much self-respect to join them on their platform of Hate and Misguidance, I’ll put in my 50 p here.
The programme occupied a small slot on Friday nights, and at first glance appeared to be a meek glance at middle-class coupledom without the added mayhem of the Outnumbered enfants prodiges. Roger and Val have just got in. And, well, don’t do much after that. They have a cuppa and too many biscuits, dissect their respective days, harpoon their colleagues, all the while reassuring each other of their righteousness in this regard. They decide what to have for tea, faff around annoyingly, and have ludicrous arguments. So far, so pleasant. It might sound a bit of a two-person Royle Family pastiche, but even if the show had strummed along for 6 episodes in this gentle fashion, as most reviewers clearly thought it would, Roger and Val would still have been great. It celebrates a loving relationship in all its unique eccentricities, who are, granted, a bit boring on paper, but adorable and at times hilarious because of their whimsical natures and steadfast team spirit.
However, what makes its apparent disregard even more aggravating, is that it is very quickly clear that underneath the warming sight of Val’s giant Home-Ec. Lasagnes and Roger’s obsession with grasses lurks a terrible, unspeakable sadness. A photo wistfully stared at, an empty room, the recounting of a look full of pity. Roger and Val lost their baby boy many years ago, and their constant chatter only masks the silence that should have been filled with the noise a teenager raiding the fridge and moaning. The revelation of this back-story is not what carries the show to its glory, though. As should be the case, their failure to openly discuss this loss and the continuing impact it has on their lives eventually explodes in their faces. Suddenly, it’s just Roger getting in, and Val politely ringing the doorbell.The climatic episodes had my boyfriend and me clutching each other long after they ended, and rejoicing in our own precious romance. Roger and Val achieves what many television dramas earnestly promise but fail to see through: a sophisticated dark comedy that manages to be unbearably harrowing and life affirming all at once. Watch it and weep; watch it or weep.
