This isn't Waterstones, you know (Black Books (2000))

Member Name: sersha

Product:	Black Books (2000)
Date:	06/04/04 (106 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: original, witty, clever

Disadvantages: Not enough episodes made!

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r>I'm not a big sitcom fan: I can take them or leave them. But Black Books appeals to me on several levels. Firstly, it's situated in the world of books and bookshops, which is the world I work in, so it initially had specific appeal in that alone. Secondly, it's got Dylan Moran and Bill Bailey in it, who are two very fine comedians that I have a lot of time for. And thirdly it's wholly original in its comedy, sitting midway between the believable and the fantastical. The jokes hit you unexpectedly because they are not normal sitcom jokes; they always manage to surprise you. Best of all, quite often nothing really happens in an episode, except for the normal day-to-day running of the bookshop. There are no far-fetched plots: it's all kept very simple.

Dylan Moran plays Bernard, a misanthrope who owns (and lives in) a bookshop. It's not a cosy, cup of tea kind of bookshop: it's a dark, floor to ceiling piles of books and cobwebs kind of a place. It's also strewn with empty wine glasses (he likes the odd glass) and mouldy bits of food: the bookshop overlaps with his disgustingly unhygienic and untidy bachelor-pad through the back of the shop. You get the feeling Bernard isn't overly keen to actually sell anything - his shop isn't inviting in the least and his blackboard contains messages to his customers like "DON'T" in large chalk letters. As he says to Manny (Bill Bailey) at one point in a threatening whisper, "This isn't Waterstones you know!"

Bernard has a very small social circle: Manny, who appeared in the shop one day, a stressed accountant wanting to buy The Little Book of Calm, and then never left, and Fran (Tamsin Grieg) who works in the gift shop next door. Fran also enjoys a drop of wine, and provides amusement and storylines through her romantic exploits with lots of strange men. The whole set-up is a little like Seinfeld in that way: three main characters w
ho are close friends, and what they get up to. So far so realistic, but then it always goes that little bit further into fantasy land: In the first series Manny ends up accidentally swallowing The Little Book of Calm with amusing results and everything becomes a little surreal for a while. Another favourite moment for me was when Manny failed to pay attention to the instructions about the shop's new security system because the man who was explaining it to him had a Subbuteo player stuck in his hair.

In the second series, during a heatwave, Bernard demands that Manny brings him an ice-lolly from the freezer: the lolly turns out to be a frozen bottle of wine with a stick in it - a lolly indeed, once he's smashed the glass off. It's surreal, a little slapstick, and the jokes are clever. I wasn't surprised to learn that one of the writers was part of the team behind Father Ted. However, I think the strength of the comedy lies more in the characters themselves than the situations they find themselves in.

Manny is a great character: he can play the roles of best friend, adolescent son having a strop, pet, and housekeeper all within one episode. He's a grown man with plenty of facial hair and yet it's obvious that he's as confused as a teenage boy and needs the stability that living in the bookshop gives him. He's often like a lost child, with Fran and Bernard as his parents, and the relationship between the three of them is very funny to watch.

Bernard himself is hilarious just in his facial expressions, before he even opens his mouth. He's a mess. He is bedraggled, unkempt, totally bored with his accounts (his accounts book is full of doodles and no figures in sight) and can be dramatic and a little mysterious. He's totally self-absorbed, and often looks thoroughly miserable. He's also a roaring drunk most of the time. You can't help but wonder how he became like that, but no clues to his past
are ever given away. And he's thoroughly likeable, if only because he treats his customers with such undisguised contempt and rudeness. There could be no worse person working in the customer service industry, which is of course the point. Of course he does have a soft side: Manny is Bernards "boy": he found him, he "adopted" him, and he seems to almost love him, in his own funny way. He barks orders at him and treats him as a housekeeper, but when pushed he becomes fiercely protective of him.

Fran is a bit of nervy, slightly hyper woman, who is always falling for weird men and who, in the first series, ran the new-age shop next door to Black Books. There's a bit of chemistry between her and Bernard and he admits to Manny at one point that he thinks he "may have" once slept with her, although he can't exactly remember. Fran acts as the mediator between Manny and Bernard - although she is too similar to Bernard to be of any practical help to him, she helps him by salvaging the often tempestuous relationship between him and Manny.

I've recently acquired the first two series on DVD. Channel 4 are now airing the third series, and it didn't disappoint. The new-age shop has become Goliath Books - a shiny, chainy kind of bookshop, with muffins and coffee and posh seating and a sales team who are customer focused, wear pastels, and collect team reward points. And, in the first episode, they pinch Manny! If you've ever worked in retail you'll recognise the manager of this shop as the worst possible manager stereotype, and it's hilarious. He's like a cross between Gordon Brittas and David Brent, roaring at Manny "Don't eat muffins while I'm developing you!"

If you've never seen Black Books, start now. Channel 4, Thursdays at 10pm.