Neurotic Man in Decent Sit Com Shock Horror (Ever Decreasing Circles)

Member Name: thehud

Product:	Ever Decreasing Circles
Date:	23/09/02 (93 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Briers

Disadvantages: A bit bland

Martin Bryce - Suburbia Man - the vital cog around which Mole Valley Valves revolve - the life and soul of his community - the organiser of Neighbourhood Watch, jumble sale, old folks' outing, night at the pictures, and everything else which is important to Suburbia - happily married to Anne - next door neighbour to the Anorakist Howard and Hilda- the very definition of pillar of the conformist community - a man to look up to and admire.

Suddenly, there is a cloud on the horizon in the shape of the smug and all knowing Paul Ryman. Paul is the sort of chap you love to hate, skilled in everything he attempts, knowledgeable about virtually every subject and with an influential friend in every public institution.

Martin hates Paul with a seething rage and passion which is not quite healthy, as the newcomer breezes airily into HIS community, usurping his previously unchallenged position of power and influence, and becoming everyone's favourite friend, even Anne's. The insecurity of the anally retentive Martin is wonderfully observed, as is his helpless thrashing about in a vain attempt to regain supremacy in the battle to the death which he wages with Paul.

That in a nutshell is everything you need to know about Ever Decreasing Circles, and you may be excused for thinking that this is insubstantial and shallow fare, typifying the complacent land of BBC situation comedy, but I disagree.

I find Ever Decreasing Circles sharp, witty, urbane and phenomenally well observed and realised. It was the successor to The Good Life, and represented an ideal vehicle for Richard Briers to re-emerge, but it saw him cutting loose from the stereotype of the lovable Tom Good, the former pillar of the establishment who opted to become a self sufficient thorn in the flesh of that establishment. In Ever Decreasing Circles, Martin Bryce could not have been more different from Tom Good. Where Good was bored with conformity and faceless ser
vitude, Bryce demanded order and hierarchy and the admiration and respect for his steadfast dependability. He railed against the disorder introduced into his own version of Happy Valley by Paul Ryman, and would have been equally perturbed to see Tom Good becoming a thoroughly bad lot.

The menage a trois between the three main characters of Martin, Paul and Anne is what makes Ever Decreasing Circles, but the bizarre, homogenous Howard and Hilda, with their matching cardigans and anoraks, and stilted, complacent outlook on life are a marvellous touch, and their conversion to the merits of Paul is even more worrying for Martin than the easy way in which the frankly feckless Anne transfers her affections so readily.

Lord, it makes a man want to replace the telephone receiver tidily on the handset with a touch of anger about the action!

There is a telling and deep rooted tension at play in the endless struggle between Martin and Paul, with Martin becoming more and more ragged and insecure as time goes on, with Paul's endlessly smug amusement at his discomfort the chief reason. Rabid paranoia rules here, and Paul Ryman is so pleasant, admirable and likable that there must be something evil and manipulative at work here. We've all seen this sort of conflict before. We all long for respect and to be needed, just as Martin does and hate anyone who does not have to try to gain such things.

Nothing is more grating, or more certain to drive us to unknowing, unreasoning, blind hatred for those who would do us wrong.

Upon this basic premise, some sharp and witty stories are devised which are gentle and wry, sympathetic and credible, and endlessly watchable. The Fall And Rise Of Reginald Perrin and its star, the late Leonard Rossiter, were much praised for their dissection of conformity and rebellion and the battle between them, together with the critical debunking of stereotypes, but I always feel that Ever Decreasing
Circles was as equally praiseworthy in hitting the same targets.

John Esmonde and Bob Larbey wrote both this and The Good Life, but they obviously improved with age, because it Circles is a much better series than its predecessor.

Penelope Wilton played Anne, Peter Egan played Paul, Stanley Lebor played Howard and Geraldine Newman played Hilda.

Summary: