Clatterford - Season 1 (2007)

Complete misfire!

This sounded SO good in the write-up. Then we watched the show, then the next episode, and so on. So many opportunities for some wild comedy, or some genuine character development...all missed! Ladies in a doctor's office, in a social group, and on and on; it should have fizzed, but all we got was a disjointed fizzle. Dawn French is completely wasted. What a bummer.Clatterford - Season 1 May 15, 2008

Like visiting with good friends...

This is not the comedy you may expect from this particular group of ladies. But it is real life in a small rural farm town. If you're looking for the typical AbFab type humor, you probably won't like this. It's just very real, touching, funny and sometimes ridiculous; like life. May 9, 2008

It's not all jam and Jerusalem

Jam and Jerusalem, as it's called in the UK, has a wonderfully large ensemble of actresses and actors (mostly the former!) who live, work, play, and attend Guild meetings in their small English town. As hilarious as AbFab in it's own way the show touches on more universal situations and occurrences than those of Eddy, Saffy, and Patsy. It may not be as crazy as AbFab (what could be?) but it's great fun and shows a genuine respect for each character, foibles and all.

I love Maggie Steed as Eileen, chairwoman of Clatterford St. Mary Guild, who takes it all so seriously and has a phobia about relinquishing even a smidgen of authority to anyone (lest they wrest the Guild from her control, which no one wants to do anyway). Jennifer Saunders plays the affluent, boring Caroline, whose never-seen son Mikie is in a rock band (not a "pop band!") and whose daughter Freida (played by Saunder's daughter Freida) couldn't care less about the equestrian goals set for her by her mother. Dawn French plays simple Rosie, a worker in a cheese factory who regularly gifts others with large blocks of plastic-wrapped cheese, and has another identity called Margaret who regularly antagonizes and scares Rosie (and makes for several amusing and affecting situations). Patrick Barlow is the oft-disgruntled and snippy Vicar who tells the grandson of the deceased at a funeral "Now shut up and sit down!" and shrilly decrees "no tins or packets!" on the church altar for the annual harvest feast.

There are many other great people in this show but Pauline McLynn as Tip, Sally Phillips as Tash, and Rosie Cavaliero as Kate (whose introduction as a drop-in, ersatz grief counselor for Sue Johnston as Sal is priceless -- "No, you've got to do them [the stages of coping with the death of a loved one] in the right order.") also stand out.

I think I've mixed up season 1 and 2 so you best buy season 2 as soon as it's out! April 6, 2008

If you like Jennifer, Joanna & Dawn, this is for you ...

It's not AbFab. It's not the Vicar. But, it is hilarious and serious both at the same time. I had to watch the first episode a few times before I really understood 100% what was going on. But after that, this show pulls you in. It's great. March 13, 2008

Not Ab Fab, but funny anyway

Hard to describe. A "Twin Peaks" with a twist of "Northern Exposure", steeped in British humor kind of show. The large cast includes a rather suburban Jennifer Saunders, an unrecognizable Joanna Lumley, and the village mental case, Dawn French. This isn't "Absolutely Fabulous", "French & Saunders", or "The Vicar of Dibley".

At first I didn't like it, but the more I think about it, the more I laugh. I guess that's part of why I gave it 5 stars. I haven't been able to get it out of my head. From the face of Jesus on a potato to the germophobic nurse, this show is, well, different. Different, but funny nonetheless. January 31, 2008

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