Telly talk: Big Mac & Jac
A couple of years ago I was lucky enough and fast enough to have bagged tickets to see Waiting For Godot starring Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart when it came to the Theatre Royal Brighton for a visit. Yes, I’m showing off, but so were they. They were having a ball together. Fast forward to now and Ian McKellen is co-starring with another old chum and having just as much gleeful fun, and this time nobody needs to be on their marks in a race for tickets; this time it’s on the TV.
Vicious stars McKellen with fellow fabulous thesp Derek Jacobi, as an ageing couple steeped in resentment and affection that’s stewed for longer than their teapot. The domestic bickering from these two giants of the theatre does hold an element of panto in it – this is comedy after all. And their stagecraft, second nature no doubt with the live studio audience in attendance at the recordings, comes through as they project their punchlines and inhabit the set like a second skin. Every dusty velvet drape covers a neglected tome, a yellowed collection of letters, or a memorable knick-knack. When it comes out that they’ve been together for 48 years (albeit with Jacobi’s Stuart still not out to his mother) you could imagine that most of that neigh on half a century have been spent within these four walls (I’m counting that invisible fourth wall actually made up of audience members in that).
It goes without saying that Vicious is very funny. The laughs come thick and fast as McKellen’s Freddie and his significant other Stuart exchange barbs and snipes, resulting in more than one rapid exit in tears. Ably supported by the throaty and towering Frances De La Tour, prowling as the cougar she first showed glimpses of decades ago when we saw her as Miss Jones in the classic Rising Damp. With Freddie on full shine and Violet (De La Tour) purring with little left to the imagination, Iwan Rheon (Misfits) does well as the attractive new boy from upstairs to depart in much the same state he arrived – although a fair deal wider-eyed.
Living in their own geriatric badly behaved world – even incorporating their own Mad Hatter’s tea party, complete with dormouse – this is majesty with mothballs. With fast-paced gags, and all rather roguishly endearing, this couple is instantly recognisable. Stuck with each other and stuck to each other, Freddie and Stuart are each others’ wallpaper and glue – loathed and adored with familiarity. As Freddie comments after one particularly hurtful verbal stab leaves his best beloved departing in sobs: “I never know when I’m going too far, but I’m always so glad when I do.” What is well-written is elevated again by the joy and visceral power of these two war horses of the stage, skipping and kicking at the daisies.
Familiar and fun, and spiky and cuddly, with none of its sharp corners cut off – this is how sitcoms can prosper. At only seven episodes, who knows if this short run will have a chance to get a second series with the Hollywood and West End demands of its stars. It is a gem though, whether short or long, make no mistake. Bright and shiny.
Vicious, ITV1, Monday 29 April 2013
