1/6. A comedy about a separated couple who find their lives are still very much intertwined.
Alice's world is turned upside-down when her estranged husband Doug announces he has a new girlfriend.
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Danny Kelly on comic contrasts: page 19
Sitcom: Mad about Alice 8.30pm BBC1
Amanda Holden is the Alice of the title: an interior designer and mother-of-one who's separated from her husband (Jamie Theakston). They both sing the jaunty theme tune - "Despite the things we say, we wouldn't have it any other way" - and it's clear that, though the pair of them have new partners, they still have residual feelings for one another.
But perhaps Mad with Alice or Absolutely Furious about Alice would be more appropriate, as Holden's character is a wittering, sulky and immature airhead who behaves like a 14-year-old. Holden does her best with what she's given, but it's hard work. There's a laboured running gag about lunchboxes that should have been put out of its misery within 30 seconds, and every plot point is spelt out to the point of incapacity.
Still, if you enjoy comedies that are mired in the 1970s, larded in smut and haunted by the spirits of Terry and June, then you'll love this.
(Alison Graham)
Danny Kelly on comic contrasts: page 1 9
TV lnsider
Acting up Jamie Theakston's (right) acting career takes a leap forward with his role as the estranged husband of Amanda Holden's character in Mad about Alice (8.30pm BBC1). After making the transition from presenting children's to adult programmes, the 33-year-old's career went quiet after a newspaper report of a visit to a brothel. But, since then, stints on the London stage earned him
decent reviews. Next week, Theakston also appears in an Afternoon Play called Drive on BBC1.
Theakston's no novice: in his teens he was a member of the National Youth Theatre. He later acted alongside one of his contemporaries there, Liza Tarbuck, in the BBC1 series Linda Green. His broadcasting career got off the ground while he was still a student - presenting traffic reports on Radio 5.
