Miranda
I have a bit of an odd relationship with Miranda Hart’s self-titled sit-com Miranda. It’s one of those unusual Tv shows that I want to like an awful lot more than I actually do. Because except for the odd moments where it really lives up to its potential, it makes for kind of a strange viewing experience.
Miranda is a TV creation that on the surface would seem to be a rather old-fashioned and fairly basic “dialogue and door-opening” comedy. It’s a bit wordplay, a bit absurdity and a fair chunk pretty broad slapstick. It can sometimes be rather mundane fare and, more often than not, it doesn’t feel a million miles away from the flavour of shows such as The Brittas Empire or short-lived The High-Life. It has a slightly anachronistic mid-90s taste to it, up to and including the fact that one of the characters has a cardboard cut-out of Heather Smalls’ head (the singer from 90s-era pop-group M People) that she uses for the purpose of expressing her irritation. It’s a peculiar conceit but that’s not to say that in the scope of the show it’s an irredeemable one.
The thing that saves Miranda is Miranda Hart herself. The series just about gets away with its somewhat broad, farcical comedy mostly by dint of the fact that the character of Miranda doesn’t so much break the fourth wall as crash straight through it with a bulldozer. The show is kind of stupid, but at least it is knowingly stupid.
Miranda regularly breaks scene to speak to and play off the audience reactions and it is the show’s ultimate saving grace that what she does in that vein she is very good at. Because unlike other sit-coms you can’t always particularly believe in or sympathise with the majority of the other characters. Most of them are so obviously farcical it’s difficult to really feel like there’s any sort of development that takes place. Even within the broad outlines of the plot-of-the-week format, there isn’t much that ties the series together beyond the ongoing saga of Miranda’s attempts to start a relationship with Gary, the chef from the cafe nearby (played by Tom Ellis, who you might recognise as Martha’s rebound guy in Dr Who series 3 finale, Last Of The Timelords.)
Miranda Hart
This second series I think is shaping up better than the first, but I get the impression that my slightly ambivalent view of the show is somewhat at odds with common opinion. The Radio Times recently devoted its weekly interview spread to Miranda Hart and lauded the program repeatedly, but I find on the most part that at best it is disposable viewing, and at worst skirts a little too closely to my dislike of the cringe-inducing.
What it does have a flair for though, is crafting and then mercilessly skewering some amazingly grotesque bit-parts. Writer and broadcaster John Finnemore (Cabin Pressure, That Mitchell And Webb Look) made a guest appearance in episode two as a character he later described in his blog as “a tremendously punchable man named Chris.” And indeed, he was tremendously punchable, but in a horribly amusing sort of way. Some of the characters are unexpectedly sharp parodies of the ghastly upper-class, pony-club set, while others unfortunately struggle to wring out more than a smirk or two. It’s this uneven tone I think that is ultimately the show’s biggest problem. When it works it’s very entertaining but when it doesn’t it’s really quite painful. In the same way, I find there’s a degree of discomfort and self-consciousness in the way that episodes end on a not-very-spontaneous burst of song and the cast grinning and waving at the camera through the credits. Unlike the more subtle way that Miranda herself is aware of the audience, it feels a little too much like actively pointing out that these are actors who are acting rather than characters who are existing. There’s just something about it that doesn’t quite fit, but again that’s a style of ending I associate with vintage sit-coms. I’d expect it from ‘Allo, ‘Allo, but it’s not a technique that’s I’ve seen in a very long time.
If you happen to catch it, Miranda is one of those programs you’re just as likely to love as you are to hate. As I said at the start, I feel like I want to like it more than I actually do, and it’s a strange stylistic relic in some ways. But if you can stand the occasional cringe-inducing moments there are still some broad laughs to be had underneath.
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Lady T
Lady T is a great lover of British TV, which is helpful as that's mostly what she gets to watch. She strongly believes that tea can't be made using a microwave, that children's programming really was better when she was a kid, and that there's nothing in the world that can't be solved with a liberal application of common sense. She very much enjoys reading but like most of the rest of the world would some day like to write a book herself. If she ever succeeds in doing so there's a pretty good chance she'll never shut up about it. She can be contacted at lady_t_220 @ yahoo.co.uk.
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