Joking Apart (1993)

Directed by

Bob Spiers

Genre

sitcom

Country

United Kingdom

Length

2 seasons, 12 episodes

Rated

15

Rating

7.0 of 10 from 4 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

A couple falls in love, gets married, and then divorces. The show jumps back and forth in time to show their happy early days and their painful breakup.

wrybittersweetupbeat in partssad in partscleverfast-pacedsharpfarcical

What happens

Joking Apart is a BBC television sitcom written by Steven Moffat about the rise and fall of a relationship. It juxtaposes a couple, Mark (Robert Bathurst) and Becky (Fiona Gillies), who fall in love and marry, before getting separated and finally divorced. The twelve episodes, broadcast between 1993 and 1995, were directed by Bob Spiers and produced by Andre Ptaszynski for independent production company Pola Jones. The show is semi-autobiographical; it was inspired by the then-recent separation of Moffat and his first wife. Some of the episodes in the first series followed a non-linear parallel structure, contrasting the rise of the relationship with the fall. Other episodes were ensemble farces, predominantly including the couple's friends Robert (Paul Raffield) and Tracy (Tracie Bennett). Paul Mark Elliott also appeared as Trevor, Becky's lover. Scheduling problems meant that the show attracted low viewing figures. However, it scored highly on the Appreciation Index and accrued a loyal fanbase. One fan acquired the home video rights from the BBC and released both series on his own DVD label. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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