Incomprehensible unless you were from Glasgow, that is. As an Englishman I could scarcely make head nor tail of at least half Mr Nesbitt's dialogue. It was just too heavily weighted with regional nuance. But the facial expressions and body-language invariably made up for it and I enjoyed tuning-in to this most dysfunctional of families.
Times have changed. The man has this year (2010) re-emerged after a decade or more. His Glasgow dialect had been toned down, as indeed has the extent of his drunkenness. The former I suspect has been intended to offer the wider appeal his character deserved, whilst I suspect the sobriety might have something to do with political correctness. Whatever the case, I understood almost every word but didn't so much as crack a smile. This first outing of the new series just seemed sad and contrived.
Perhaps being absolutely blotto was essential for the format to work. Or maybe it's just outlived its time. Whatever the case, the new series only gets 5-stars by me. The funniest part was watching the split in the seam of his sleeve hop from one side of the jacket to the other, depending upon the scene.
Not recommended.
Times have changed. The man has this year (2010) re-emerged after a decade or more. His Glasgow dialect had been toned down, as indeed has the extent of his drunkenness. The former I suspect has been intended to offer the wider appeal his character deserved, whilst I suspect the sobriety might have something to do with political correctness. Whatever the case, I understood almost every word but didn't so much as crack a smile. This first outing of the new series just seemed sad and contrived.
Perhaps being absolutely blotto was essential for the format to work. Or maybe it's just outlived its time. Whatever the case, the new series only gets 5-stars by me. The funniest part was watching the split in the seam of his sleeve hop from one side of the jacket to the other, depending upon the scene.
Not recommended.