I don’t watch a lot of television. There’s simply not much worth watching. When faced with the choice of a mediocre TV drama or sleep, I’ll pick sleep every time.
But when Henley was taken over by the Mutual Friends film crew this year, I thought I would take a peek at the new TV comedy drama in the coveted BBC1 Tuesday 9 pm slot.
For those who don’t know the story line – Mutual Friends is a 30-something drama that features Martin, a solicitor whose life starts to fall apart after he finds out his wife Jen had an affair with his now dead best friend, Carl. At the funeral Martin hooks up with a friend from the past, Patrick, whose business partner is trying to take his company and is sleeping with his girlfriend. Got all that?
It all is filmed in Henley-on-Thames, in the homes of friends and at the local primary school, churches, and pubs.
The first episode was absolutely dreadful – a bit cheesy, unbelievable and not very funny. I kept going with it primarily to see all my friends as extras.
I watched again on Tuesday and can’t help but have an affinity for Martin. His wife is crap (nothing against Kelley Hawes, can't stand the character), and Patrick is a bit over the top, but you gotta feel a bit sorry for Martin as he muddles through life's punches.
My main observation is that this 30-something drama has no clue about children. Kids are "around" as props. Martin and Jen have a son, Dan, in Year 5. When they go out, which is often, never a word is mentioned about who is going to look after him. Maybe they have an au pair we haven't seen, or a granny that lives down the road. Could be, but I don't think so. And it's a bit iffy than a 10-year-old would actually spill the beans to the widow about her husband "bonking" his mummy, that's more of what a 6-year-old would do.
Nevertheless, I know what I am doing next Tuesday evening.
How about you, did you like it? Watch it? Leave a comment and let us know.
This post was written by Suzanne Scott, a Thames Valley Mum of two.
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