The Trial
- Episode aired Feb 28, 1993
- 29m
IMDb RATING
8.0/10
174
YOUR RATING
While on call for jury service, Victor spends the day home alone.While on call for jury service, Victor spends the day home alone.While on call for jury service, Victor spends the day home alone.
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Did you know
- TriviaVictor yells on the phone to a company about an employee of theirs and refers to him as Frank Spencer. Richard Wilson guest starred in Wendy House (1978), in which he played an insurance man and famously sank through Frank Spencer's broken sofa, which was technically an outtake but was kept in by the BBC despite the actors obviously struggling to each keep a straight face.
- Quotes
Victor Meldrew: I asked him if, for the time being, he'd put it in the downstairs toilet for me, and you know what he's done? He's only planted it in the pan! Yes, actually in the lavatory pan, with compost and everything! I mean, how anyone can be so utterly goofy just boggles the mind.
[pause]
Victor Meldrew: A mistake anyone could have made? Are you stark, sta- I mean, what am I supposed to do, cock my leg against the trunk like a Yorkshire terrier?
- ConnectionsReferences Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em (1973)
Featured review
Verdict: Excellent
Of all the brilliantly written One Foot in the Grave episodes, this might well be David Renwick's crowning achievement. The plot isn't hugely elaborate, but thirty solid minutes of Victor Meldrew talking to himself - and in a sense, at the Fourth Wall - works spectacularly well in this one-off setting.
Even in most of the all-time great sitcoms, it's difficult to imagine an entire episode of Basil Fawlty or Frank Spencer by themselves working seamlessly, without having their beleaguered wives or other characters to bounce off at some point - indeed, the Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em writers once tried and got about halfway before needing Betty (I'm aware that reference to this show won't make sense for every reader).
Obviously Annette Crosbie is absent for this one, the feint mumble of Mrs. Warboys on the phone for a few seconds is about the only regular 'company' Richard Wilson is given. From leaky pens and madcap crosswords to toilets and loaves of bread with - no spoilers - unusual inhabitants, via political musings and letters to estranged brothers, Victor keeps himself bored and the audience totally entertained as he awaits jury service on a rainy day.
Even in most of the all-time great sitcoms, it's difficult to imagine an entire episode of Basil Fawlty or Frank Spencer by themselves working seamlessly, without having their beleaguered wives or other characters to bounce off at some point - indeed, the Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em writers once tried and got about halfway before needing Betty (I'm aware that reference to this show won't make sense for every reader).
Obviously Annette Crosbie is absent for this one, the feint mumble of Mrs. Warboys on the phone for a few seconds is about the only regular 'company' Richard Wilson is given. From leaky pens and madcap crosswords to toilets and loaves of bread with - no spoilers - unusual inhabitants, via political musings and letters to estranged brothers, Victor keeps himself bored and the audience totally entertained as he awaits jury service on a rainy day.
helpful•80
- stevenm-07117
- Dec 28, 2019
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