From Sue Johnston fussing over spare pillows to Bobby Ball glued to The Chase, The Cockfields was the injection of big-hearted comedy I didn’t even realise I’d been waiting for.
Sitcoms are a tough sell these days. There’s just so much to live up to so we keep banging on about Fawlty Towers and Blackadder.
If only we had something else to talk about.
The Cockfields on Gold is co-written and stars Joe Wilkinson, who I knew only as that bloke who performs idiotic sketches on 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown.
What a surprise then that he has penned with David Earl this gentle family comedy that gave me all the feels of that other classic: The Royle Family.
It follows a family, no more normal or weird than anyone’s, who mostly sit around on a sofa irritating the hell out of each other.
No big twists, no levered-in slapstick, just people being people.
Joe plays Simon, heading back to his family home on the Isle of Wight with his girlfriend Donna, Motherland’s Diane Morgan, to spend a long weekend with his overbearing relatives for his 40th.
Doting mum Sue, played by Royles veteran Johnston, is a delight, obsessing, as mums do, over pointless details.
Twitchy
Do they need spare duvets, more pie? Should they eat lunch in the garden? What about midges? Napkins?
Donna’s facial expressions grow more and more twitchy.
Sue’s husband Ray, played by Ball, just wants to eat his sandwich – white slice, plastic cheese, while watching TV.
Simon’s awkward stepbrother David, played by Ben Rufus Green, is obsessed with having selfies with celebrities.
One “tense” scene saw the family sitting outside the closed gate of what they believed was Alan Titchmarsh’s home.
“We saw him in Morrisons down one of the aisles,” said Sue proudly.
Mundane conversations about the neighbour’s hedge and the price of an organic sausage roll made for a sparkling script.
There were tender moments too. Sue taking a moment to tell Simon how as a four-year-old he’d promised her he’d stay four for ever.
And of course, the relatives everyone loves to hate.
Simon’s dad Larry, played by Nigel Havers, who produced a revolting red leather jacket as his birthday gift.
Sarah Parish as Larry’s obnoxious snob girlfriend Melissa, who “doesn’t want to make a fuss”.
And the neighbour always lurking, getting smashed on white wine.
Just three parts, this wasn’t enough for me.
But with a couple of neat plot moves at the end – a possible proposal and Ray’s dodgy heart – the writers must be busy scribbling a full series.
We all need a new classic.
