Series 1. 24 Jul 06. BBC 2, 10:00 pm
WRITERS: Steve Coogan & Neil Maclennon DIRECTOR: Matt Lipsey
CAST: Steve Coogan (Tommy Saxondale), Ruth Jones (Magz), Rasmus Hardiker (Raymond), Morwenna Banks (Vicky), Ben Miller (Bernard Langley), James Bachman (Therapist), Tony Way (Pest Controller) & Andrew O'Neil (Hi-Fi Shop Owner)
The penultimate episode of Saxondale belatedly marks a rise in consistency, with a clearer plot and more overt laughs to be had. In Episode 6, Tommy and Raymond investigate a rival pest control firm's supposedly underhand tactics with local flea infestations, allowing for more of the brilliantly underplayed comedy between the two actors.
Rasmus Hardiker has a pretty thankless role in the show, often pushed into the background to just look gormless and give weak smiles to Tommy's antics, and nothing much changes here... but his understated expressions remain highlights of the show for me. He has an easy-going chemistry with Coogan that works well, and it's nice to see Episode 6 capitalizing on Raymond's vacant personality. A scene where Raymond lingers in an office after Tommy has made his dramatic exit ranks as one of the show's biggest laughs.
Steve Coogan has certainly created a brilliantly observed character. As a show, Saxondale has problems, but none of them are really the fault of the characters, particularly Tommy himself. I particularly like how Tommy veers crazily from being a buffoon (an embarrassing moment when flea eggs are revealed to be glucose powder is excellent), but is also quite competent (there's a fantastic hi-fi jargon face-off) and semi-cool (the wonderful air-gun shoot-out).
What set this episode apart is the fact it actually had a proper narrative story. It was still a little uneven, and a falconry sub-plot was essentially pointless, but it was nice to see Saxondale provide something meatier for your mind to chew on. It's all very well watching expertly performed characters speak carefully-crafted dialogue, but it's all quite hollow without a reason for events to be happening and a bigger picture to be interested in.
Ruth Jones is criminally wasted every week, which is a great shame as she's proven herself a talented comic actress in Nighty, Night. She's even more marginalized this week, a cruel snub to her talents that writers Coogan and Maclennon should rectify for the probable second series.
Morwenna Banks is superb as Vicky the secretary, a brilliant creation that even upstages Coogan in their scenes. It's even more amazing because her character is actually quite slight, yet she makes Vicky into an undoubted highlight each week. The antagonism between the pair is very good, and it was nice to see Tommy actively try and crush her acidic twittering this time by pointing out her grammatical mistakes and Bible ignorance. It's just a shame for Tommy that Vicky's so vapid to even understand his witty retorts.
Overall, it's becoming increasingly difficult to rate any episode of Saxondale higher (or indeed lower) than a 3 out of 5! This is a good sitcom with superb performances and smart writing, but it still lacks decent plots and broader laughs. Saxondale bubbles along very nicely every week, and always provide chuckles and admiration for its actors, but it just never flies into unexpected territory to provide some gut-busting laughs.
However, for what it's worth, I found Episode 6 to be marginally better than the previous episodes because of the broader laughs to be found (air-gun, hi-fi jargon, flea eggs, the "toxic" drink) and the presence of an involving story. Don't get me wrong, I'm a fan of subtle dialogue and performance-based comedy, and Saxondale is a clear proponent of that style, but to really achieve success I think a balance is still yet to be found...
