Season 1 |
Episode Guide
Episode 1 -| Review Score – 4/5
Episode 2 -| Review Score – 4/5
Episode 3 -| Review Score – 3.5/5
Episode 4 -| Review Score – 3.5/5
Episode 5 -| Review Score – 3.5/5
Episode 6 -| Review Score – 3.5/5
Currently airing on Channel 4 in the UK (and available on catch-up), is The Change, a brand new comedy-drama series starring actress-comedian Bridget Christie.
The very-talented Christie, who is the brains behind the show, stars as 50-year-old Linda, a put-upon mum and housewife who, after forgetting what a shoe is called, becomes convinced that she has early-onset dementia! But when she visits her doctor, she is given the reason for her forgetfulness: she is going through menopause.
The physical change in Linda’s body inspires her to embark on a spiritual change and so, after enduring her terrible 50th birthday party, where her husband and his talent for catching a hot dog in his mouth grants him more attention than she gets, Linda decides to hit the road on her old Triumph motorcycle for a journey of self-discovery.
Her journey takes her to a village near the Forest of Dean which she last visited during her childhood when she left a time capsule in a tree. It’s her mission to find this treasure trove of lost items but in the meantime, she needs to find a place to stay.
Luckily for Linda, she spots an advert in a shop window advertising a caravan for hire. According to the notice, the caravan has all the latest mod cons but when she finds its forest location which also incorporates the rather unappetising ‘Eel & Mash’ cafe, she discovers it’s a dilapidated old thing that is desperately in need of a good clean – something she didn’t want to see after escaping her life of domestic drudgery!
Still, clean the caravan Linda does, and it’s not long before she becomes part of the local community, which includes all kinds of odd types, from Carmel (Monica Dolan) and Agnes (Susan Lynch), the vocally abrasive Eel sisters who run the cafe, to a local lothario named Tony (Paul Whitehouse) who at one point in the series becomes the focal point of a boring town meeting when the local residents place bets on what trousers he will be wearing.
Other characters include the dashingly handsome Pig Man (Jerome Flynn) who lives in a cave in the woods, and two radio DJs – Verderer (Jim Howick) and Joy (Tanya Moody) – who publically clash over their views on feminism but who secretly ‘get it on’ together.
At first, the people in the village appear to fall on the Twin Peaks side of weirdness but eventually, both we and Linda become accustomed to these strange folk and their odd customs, which include the annual Eel Festival which, as observed by Linda, is “a bit too Wicker Man for me.”
Linda takes it all in her stride as she tries to fit into this strange community, while back at home, her lazy, incompetent husband Steve (Omid Djalili) tries (and fails) to manage the house without her. At one point, he texts her to request the location of the TV remote and later on in the series, he finds himself stuck in the lavatory because he hasn’t had the forethought to replace the loo roll! Djalili is a brilliant physical comedian so it’s a joy to watch him flailing about helplessly while his wife enjoys a new life far removed from the servant-like existence that she had before.
Over time, Linda learns to love the village and the people within it, and she extends her stay, much to the consternation of her scornful sister Siobhan (Liza Tarbuck) who doesn’t understand Linda’s need to ‘find herself.’ Her kids, on the other hand, seem to be more approving, but other than a text message to their mum, they are usually too busy looking at their phones and playing video games to notice that their mother has actually gone!
The series is constantly hilarious thanks to Christie’s flair for physical comedy and her ability to pull off the script’s witty one-liners (which she wrote herself). The great comic cast, who you will recognize from such top-tier British comedies as Motherland, W1A, and the fabulously funny Here We Go, elevate the show to even greater comedic heights with their brilliant performances.
But while the series is very amusing, it occasionally veers into dramatic territory, which can be quite a tonal shift. We learn that Pig Man lost his daughter, for example, although we’re never told what happened to her. And one of the Eel sisters has her own sad story to tell, which we won’t go into here. As such, the series becomes far less silly than it might have been, which may be either a good or a bad thing, depending on your expectations.
The series will be relatable to anybody who has gone through menopause but it’s not only women who will appreciate the show, despite its feminist slant. It will also appeal to those who have become tired of life’s monotony and then attempted to find more meaning in their existence. We have seen comedies like this one before, including the recent American show Life & Beth about another woman’s (Amy Schumer) attempts at self-reflection, but this one stands out due to its eccentric British humour and the talented playing of Christie who is an absolute joy to watch and listen to.
With less than 3 hours of running time spread across its 6 episodes, The Change is easily bingeable. You’ll likely fall in love with Linda and the peculiar folk she integrates herself with, and you might be more than a little disappointed when the final episode comes to an abrupt end. The cliffhanger finale does suggest a second series will happen at some point though, so let’s hope we don’t have to wait too long before this gloriously funny comedy returns to our screens.
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Verdict - 7.5/10
7.5/10