The Dinner Party

Television is bit dull around this time of year, so looking through my guide last Saturday I was intrigued by the prospect of what seemed a titillating little comedy programme called “The Dinner Party”. This one-hour one-off comedy drama was given a lot of hype, comparing it to a similar sort of 1970’s hit called “Abigail’s Party. The plot seemed lively enough for a dull Sunday evening and with a nine o’clock start time, promised a fair bit of sauce. A strong cast including one of my favourite actors, Alun Armstrong, and Alison Steadman (the original lead in the previous cult hit), and the BBC’s usual flair for these type of programmes had me ready for an evening’s ...  Read the complete review

The Dinner Party was shown as an hour long one off drama on BBC1 on Sunday 9th Spetember. As soon as I saw this was advertised, it made me think of a very well known and much loved drama made in the seventies - Abigail's Party. That centred on a group of mismatched people thrown together at a party with very little in common, and this was much the same formula with The Dinner Party. One other link was the fact that one of the stars of The Dinner Party - Alison Steadman - also starred in Abigail's Party many years ago. The writer/ director, Tony Grounds, was at pains to point out in a newspaper interview, that it was not just a remake of the seventies hit drama ...  Read the complete review