Search - Outside Edge on DVD

Very Very English....For Dedicated Anglophiles Only!

Cowboy Buddha | Essex UK | 05/07/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Outside Edge is one of the most English comedy series you will find - it's amusing rather than hilarious, with characters that first appear to be stereotypes but who gradually reveal very recognisable and genuine layers of humanity. Originally a play (which was televised in the early 1980's with Prunella Scales and Maureen Lipman) the series develops the characters and situations at what could be described as a gentle and leisurely pace.The theme and focal point of Outside Edge is cricket (the title being a cricket term) but knowledge of the game is not, as Brenda Blethyn might say, compulsory for enjoying the antics. I'm an American who has lived in the UK for twenty years and cricket remains largely a mystery to me, except to agree with the definition that cricket is baseball on valium. Cricket is merely the device that brings the characters together. It is a common British metaphor for life, the universe and everything. The characters have plenty of other hangups and obsessions to keep things interesting.The original version aired before I arrive in the UK but people kept telling me about it because the character of Maggie (Maureen Lipman in the original, Josie Lawrence in the series) was supposedly an uncanny representation of my English bride. When I finally saw this series, I could understand why people thought that.The acting is virtually faultless throughout and the writing always an expert mix of comedy and reality. This is a portrait of a white suburban England that is fast disappearing, but these characters are still everywhere to be found. If you enjoy a fine comedy of manners that produces smiles rather than belly laughs, Outside Edge is for you."