Roger and Val Have Just Got In (2010)

Of the several new laugh-track free comedies that the BBC has put out lately, such as Rev, The Great Outdoors and Getting On, all have had, to varying degrees, something of a serious side, or an emotional edge. Roger and Val quietly grew over it's 6 (yes 6, a full series!) episodes from an amusing look at the minutiae of married life to an exploration of grief, as the subtle hints of earlier episodes revealed the elephant in the (spare) room. 

Dawn French and Alfred Molina are the only actors to appear in Roger & Val, although an extended cast of characters are discussed - such as Roger's workmates, Val's headmistress and Roger's dying father - and they are simply perfect in their parts. They make a believable couple, and they are nothing less than magnetic - the shows are sometimes over before I realise, because I'm utterly drawn in to the charming humour and the often crushing emotions. 

Through scattered hints, we finally learn that Roger and Val had a baby son 18 years ago, who died not long after his birth. The 'big reveal' of the secret is not handled salaciously, for the size of the grief that the couple still experience forces them to talk of the incident indirectly, through allusions or cryptic remarks, for fear that talking openly about it will be too hard. And when they do talk about it, and Val leaves, everything feels so real. 

I'm making the series sound very depressing, but it's not, it's also hilarious. The humour and the drama are wonderfully balanced - in lesser hands than French and Molina's this could have been mawkish, however they both so inhabit the parts they make every moment real. This is one series that I have enjoyed from beginning to end, and I hope that they don't make another series, because I think that Roger and Val Have Just Got In stands as a perfect piece as it is. I'd definitely watch if they were to do another series, but I'd be quite happy just to see this one again.