This Life

Last Tuesday evening was an important one in my house; it was the reunion of the characters of the cult show, 'This Life.' For those who don't know, 'This Life' was a drama about five lawyers sharing a house in South London. It wasn't glossy like 'Friends' or cosy like its Brit counterpart, 'Cold Feet' but it was riveting to watch and funny as hell. It aired during 1996 and I had finished my 1st degree and was back in London studying my post grad diploma in journalism when late one night I flicked over to BBC2 and found this amazing show. From then on the perils of Anna (the mouthy Scot), Miles (the posh stiff), Millie (the career woman), Egg (the lost soul) and Warren (the quirky gay) became a part of my life. Millie and Egg were a couple who it seemed were on the path to marriage and Anna and Miles had the hots for each but could not spend ten minutes in the same room without arguing. The series ran for two years and went from being an amazing secret you kept to yourself to a media darling. However I was stunned when it was axed despite calls for the Beeb to bring it back. You can imagine my delight when I heard 'This Life' was coming back to our screens for a one off special. I couldn't wait to see what had happened to the famous five.

Ten years on and the characters have calmed down and settled into their 30s. Egg, who gave up a Law career to work in cafe is now a famous author and has written a book about the lives of five lawyers sharing a flat. Hmm how original. In order to celebrate his new release a documentary is being made about the five friends as they gathered in Miles' grand mansion. Yes, snotty Miles is no longer a Lawyer and owns a series of boutique hotels as well as a hilarious shaggy hairstyle. You've got to admit the guy has style. Miles and Egg were not the only ones out of the pack to opt out of the legal system as Warren was now a Life Coach and Millie was a housewife albeit a frustrated one.
The one off show was great, all the characters were on fine form and the lines were as funny as ever but I have severe criticisms about where the writers took the characters. In the original series Millie was totally into her career but we are supposed to believe that she gave up work to look after her and Egg's son. Yeah right!! As Egg was a successful writer and worth a few bob or too, couldn't they afford a Nanny? Also as most writers work from home couldn't Egg have structured his writing time around their son? Plus they have Anna, the complete opposite of Millie who is married to her work and now her biological clock is ticking, supposedly she wants a baby. In fact she is so desperate that she goes to a sperm bank. How lame is that? Plus the whole thing with the documentary maker following the friends around didn't work either and just looked clumsy.

I was glad they brought the show back but I was disappointed and surprised with the way the women were treated. It just seemed so old fashioned. Still it was 90 minutes entertainment which is more than I can say for 'Celebrity Big Brother' Did you see how plastic Jermaine Jackson's face looks when he talks? More on that later. Tonight I am going to be tuning into 'Ugly Betty' I cannot wait to see this show, it looks amazing. Hopefully it won't go the same way as 'The OC' and get axed.