By Morgana Hassan
Black Books is a sitcom that will serve you
a satisfying comedic fix especially when you are in the mood for satire, dry
wit and dark-humour.
Black
Books, co-written by Dylan Moran is performed by
some of Britain’s best comedians. Bernard Black (Dylan Moran) is a jaded bookshop owner who openly repudiates his
customers. Manny (Bill Bailey) is
Bernard’s new shop assistant at Black Books who possesses a more submissive and
enthusiastic nature. Although their personalities are polar opposite their
chemistry is very transparent. Bernard’s old friend Fran (Tamsin Greig) owns a gift shop right next door to Black Books and
visits very frequently. Fran’s character is very diplomatic and she acts as an
adhesive for Bernard and Manny when they fight, however she (like Bernard) is a
raging alcoholic with an unfulfilling love life.
Bernard relies on Manny for being the
backbone of his bookshop; Manny relies on Bernard for self-realization and
worth for his work, while Fran relies on Bernard and Manny for genuine company
and recreational drinking.
All three rely on Black Books as a place to
hide away from the world however after a bottle of wine or two (per person), a
whole new opportunity for adventure opens up to them.
A fine balance of surrealism and realism is
combined into the scriptwriting of Black Books making the series of plots so
effortlessly believable for the audience. The realism side of the sit-com
allows you to relate to the plot and the surrealism side allows you to
surrender to escapism. Not to mention the subliminal pull of craving a wine
after 5 minutes of watching the characters guzzling down theirs.
Don’t take my word for it though, give it a
go and see how long you can last into a Black Books marathon without craving a
drink.
All in all I think Black Books is one of my
highly favoured sitcoms, best suited to watch on a rainy day with a glass of red.
Cheers.
No comments:
Post a Comment