Clatterford

This show isn't a sitcom as such. Yes, it has comedy, and there is a "situation" - that of the lives of a women's guild in a small Devon town, but its much more subtle than middle aged women getting themselves into ridiculous situations.

It's about solidarity, friendship, grief and a whole lot of other very real things.

At the time the show came out Jennifer Saunders was still seen as the creator and star of Absolutely Fabulous and I think that causes some misunderstanding of Jam & Jerusalem, because whereas that is out and out wild comedy, this is much more of a dramedy. I think this possibly didn't help the show much because it wasn't what people expected from the creator.

However, even as a 42 year old man who lives in London I love this show. It IS funny at times, but also mixes sadness and poignancy into this and brings a show that is totally believable and very watchable. The beautiful country scenes as well as the incidental music used adds to this.

The casting is top notch with some of the UK's finest female talent playing a group of seemingly very different characters who on the surface would have nothing in common, but through the local women's guild they find friendship and kinship. Watch it, its lovely!

This is a lovely program about life in a small village. Having grown up in a small town I can identify with the different personalities you find in small villages and towns everywhere. It's not supposed to be side split-tingly funny but a gentle poke at the small town politics that occur in a "ladies guild" sort of organisation. We had them in my home town and I would imagine just about every small town has them still. If you have never encountered this sort of life I pity you and this program will bore you but if you have the luck to live in such a place you will see the funny side of things and maybe even see yourself in one of the characters. I look forward to series two!

I think it well represents English village life - and indeed family life, well known to us middle-aged women. I grew up in a village like this, where the Village flower show, for my grandparents who lived in the same road as us, was the highlight of the year and the stage for great rivalries.

I think it's not so much instant comedy as a comic look at the lives of a cross-section of women in a small community, who each have their problems. It feels as if it written from experience.

It is affectionate and not driven by sensational story lines. Most of the characters are ones that you recognise - and they are all concerned with looking out for each other, even if sometimes their help is misdirected.

It is more mature than Absolutely Fabulous, and nearly as enjoyable.

I think that this show has been very good for the first three episodes. It is nothing like Jennifer Saunders's previous comedies and so lots of people seem to be disappointed by it. The BBC promoted too much as a comedy and gave it a slot normally reserved for more obvious comedies. I would call it more of a comedy drama which would have been much more appropriate on a Sunday evening. I think when watching this show, you should expect gentle comedy which feels very warm, not the non-stop laughs of Absolutely Fabulous and then you won't be disappointed. All the actors give great performances, with Dawn French and Joanna Lumley providing most of the comic relief from most of the story lines, some of which are actually quite serious at times. Shows should never be judged on their pilot episodes and this is the perfect example - it was just setting the scene and creating openings for future story lines. I personally can't wait to see how all the characters develop over time and hope it is given the chance it deserves to grow into a lovely cosy drama. People are often too quick to judge, and with this show they absolutely mustn't.

So, yeah, it's not abfab and it's true: at first, it feels like one of those inside-joke french and Saunders sketches that go on too long. HOWEVER, this show isn't meant to be the laugh-fest that abfab was. It's a much more balanced and calm series, one that finds humor in very human situations and subtleties. This may sound far-fetched, but there definitely is a sort of Chekhovian feel to Saunders' writing. Nothing much happens, but it is fascinating to watch the characters interact. The show touches on the awkwardness of living with such truth -- and therein lies the comedy (as with Chekhov, some viewers will only read tragedy... it's really a matter of perspective). The reason it may not catch on at first is because of the time necessary to establish the characters (there are perhaps too many) and adjust to the numerous subplots (it is an extremely ambitious show, spanning many tele-genres). Because of the character development and greater humanity of the writing, the show feels more like a full TV series than Jennifer Saunders' other work, and I think it's a sign of a certain maturity on her part. The classic Saunders quirks and humor are all still there, but it's toned down to approach something more like reality (unlike abfab, it is sans a laugh track, if that says anything). So, yeah, you have to realize Jam is a different animal.

Also, you've got to give Saunders credit for assembling a fine ensemble of older woman -- a demographic that is widely ignored by contemporary TV.