Learners

[fairyd123]

Well that was...odd.

I mean seriously all over the place in terms of tone and even though it was only 80 minutes long it seemed to go on forever - the pacing was all wrong.

It wasn't really funny enough to be a comedy. It had some amusing moments (Fiona's drunken message to the station and Tennants's line reading of "I'm a member of the DVLA) but to say it was funny would be a stretch. Which is really disappointing considering that Jessica Hyne's work on Spaced was hilarious.

Nor was it all that convincing as a drama. Sure the conversations between Bev and her husband sounded just like my parents when I was growing up but the "we're poor" storyline did seem awfully forced. I know people who live in caravan parks - can't remember the estates looking quite so pretty and quaint before. Hell even the little touch of the daughter's hair being in dreadlocks came across as twee.

And what an unflattering central character! Very real yes but doesn't necessarily mean that I would want to spend much time with her. Its rather hard for a character to come back from stealing from her own daughter (which is also a really trite soap opera-esque storyline - horribly unoriginal which is again a disappointment considering that Hynes' previous work has been quite innovative). Plus if Hynes was just going to do a bad impression of Catherine Tate throughout the episode why didn't she just hire her in the first place? This trend of people shrieking at the camera in a cockney accent is god awful and needs to be stopped!

Plus naughty press trying to bill it as a romantic comedy drama with huge emphasis in all the press releases on the "love triangle" between Chris, Fiona and Bev when of course there was nothing of the sort.

Probably the only time I haven't really liked Jessica Hynes - normally she appears on screen and no matter how terrible the material (like her role in Magicians which isn't particularly flattering) I adore her instantly - but not this time.

Still Shaun Digwall is instantly likeable in everything he appears in and it was a very lovely charming performance by David Tennant. You can stick him in the world's most unflattering clothes and yet his innate charm wins through. I did think that the Chris/Fiona relationship came kind of out of nowhere (and speaking as someone whose boss is leaving next year to go to Evangelical college so she can be ordained as a CoE minister I can assure you that going out with a woman who is pregnant with another man's child is not something that would be quite that easy for someone like Chris to have instantly gotten over - my boss is constantly beside herself when she finds out that people at work live together without being married).

So an odd curiosity held together by likeable performances from Digwall and Tennant but certainly not something I'd want to watch again.

Comments

[kingbantam.livejournal.com]

Good. Not just me that was less than overwhelmed then. Jessica remains gorgeous though - must say my thought was if we must have a Donna character why couldn't she have been given the role rather than Catherine Tate...cos yes I could see the similarity too but I like Jess, I don't like Cath sadly.

[fairyd123.livejournal.com]

I'm part of the very small minority who really liked Catherine Tate as Donna. Granted I couldn't stand an entire season of her shouting VERY LOUDLY at the Doctor and slapping him as she did at the beginning of The Runaway Bride but I thought she had some lovely moments towards the end - like when she steps in front of the Doctor and tells the Rachnos that she won't let her hurt him and their last scene together is wonderful. Given that Martha went from strong and intelligent to smitten kitten in 2 seconds flat I'm rather looking forward to Tennant having a companion more his age who won't take any of the doctor's nonsense. But yes I wouldn't have said no to Joan Redfern being in the Tardis either.

I think that was why I was so disappointed with this - I know Hynes is a fantastic writer and actress and Learners just really didn't showcase that.

[shaggydogstail.livejournal.com]

I know people who live in caravan parks - can't remember the estates looking quite so pretty and quaint before.

I decided the whole thing was unbelievable the moment we saw Bev hanging out the washing without using any pegs. WTF, you can't just drape clothes over the line.

I pretty much agree with everything you've said. It was enjoyable, but not memorable, and I really wasn't convinced with the Chris/Fiona relationship.

[fairyd123.livejournal.com]

Yes the terribly stylised poverty was a little embarassing wasn't it - why the hell didn't they just have them living in a sinkhole council estate if they wanted to make a big thing of their financial situation?

And they didn't really build Fiona up enough as a character for you to root for her relationship with Chris. She was rather introduced as the dim, blonde slutty comic relief - the character that's included to provide a neat contrast to the plucky heroine stuck in a loveless marriage so that you can laugh at her dimwitted antics whilst cheering on the heroine when she vanishes into the sunset with her sweet driving instructor. But about 20 minutes in the tone veered wildly away from what I thought was going to happen and all of a sudden the ditzy grasping blonde is the romantic lead and we're supposed to like her and want her to be with Chris - it just didn't really work.

But yes a mildly entertaining way to spend 80 minutes but a bit of a waste of the talent involved.

[shaggydogstail.livejournal.com]

It's a shame because I can see ways that the Chris/Fiona relationship could have been made to work - a sort of opposites attract with them both being a bit broken and vulnerable from previous bad relationships, but there just wasn't enough character development for it. That pretty much sums up what I thought about the whole thing - OK, but it could have been so much better.