Only When I Laugh

Rating:
Summary: Highly recommend to any Britcom fan!
Review: Only When I laugh follows the hilarious adventures of three men looking for happiness in the National Health Service. Archie Glover (played by Peter Bowles) is an upper-middle class hypochondriac who tries to use the hospital as a resort (he was in prime shape *before* he got there). He shares a ward with Roy Figgis (James Bolam), a working-class activist who doesn't understand why they keep running more tests on him (the hospital has so many x-rays of him that it looks like a map of the Tube), and young Norman Binns (Christopher Strauli) who waits for his appendectomy and tries to keep the peace of the ward.

And through it all, Dr. Gordon Thorpe (Richard Wilson) and nurse Ram Gupte (Derrick Branche) try to keep their uncooperative patients in line and on the road to recover (or somewhere anyway).

This boxed-set contains three tapes, each with two of the half-hour episodes. As opposed to some of the other BBC projects, these episodes are all in order, representing the first six episodes (of seven, grrrr) of the first series. I enjoyed these episodes immensely, and if they bring out the other 21 episodes, I will be very quick to buy them as well! I highly recommend these tapes to any fan of British comedy.

A Bed With A View - Series 1, episode 1 (October 29, 1979) - When Norman is placed in their ward, Glover and Figgis begin a war to see who gets the bed next to the window. Sadly for everyone involved, they change beds without changing the charts. In such an environment mishaps are bound to happen!

Operation Norman - Series 1, episode 2 (November 5, 1979) - It's time for Norman's operation, but Figgis' horror stories have filled him with terror. That's it, whether it's needed or not, Norman is not going to have it.

The Rumour - Series 1, episode 3 (November 12, 1979) - Figgis, sneaking a smoke in the bathroom overhears Dr. Thorpe telling Gupte about a sad, terminal case. But who is it? The men of the ward want to know.

The Man With The Face - Series 1, episode 4 (November 19, 1979) - When a violent, jealous boyfriend of one of Glover's conquests shows up looking for revenge, Figgis hides Glover with a bandaged face. But, when the girl, Anna, shows up, all sorts of new possibilities open up!

Let Them Eat Cake - Series 1, episode 5 (November 26, 1979) - The men of the ward are sick of the food served at the hospital, and go on a hunger strike. However, when Figgis' labor agitation results in a staff strike at the hospital, they go hungrier still.

Tangled Web - Series 1, episode 6 (December 3, 1979) - When a romance novel set in a hospital falls into the patients' hands, and a pretty nurse walks into their lives, life begins to imitate cheap literature!