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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Spells &amp; Karma" data-source="post: 350650" data-attributes="member: 23">Next up... one from one of my favourite sitcom writers...[ATTACH=full]42859[/ATTACH]Bob Larbey has spoilt me. Between (re)watches of his self-penned series As Time Goes By and A Fine Romance along with those he wrote with John Esmonde such as  Ever Decreasing Circles and The Good Life , I've come to expect rather a lot of a sitcom with his name attached. These series were pleasantly surprising at all times and absolute revelations at their best.This, unfortunately, makes life more difficult for On The Up. In fact my main motivation in buying this series (even over and above the presence of National Treasure Joan Sims whom I adore) was a hunger to see more of Bob's work. It's accurate to say that I had expectations going in and, unfortunately, these haven't been met.Perhaps - probably even - I expected too much. This is a perfectly watchable series and not without its charms, but doesn't feel as compelling as some of his other series.Part of me wonders if it's down to casting. Joan Sims, as mentioned, is a large draw. There's also Joan's spiritual Carry On predecessor, Dora Bryan who is always fun to watch and who gets some of the series' best lines. Sam Kelly, of course, has sitcom pedigree ('Allo 'Allo being the first that comes to mind, of course) and has worked with such talents as Victoria Wood and Ronnie Barker as well as appearing in two of Joan's later Carry Ons (Dick and Behind). I can't say his name fills me with excitement, but at the same time he's perfectly fine and the familiar face is welcome.Most of the rest of the cast feels a tad workaday so far. I don't know most of the faces from anything else, which may or may not have a bearing on how I'm viewing things (it could help or hinder. Perhaps it's a combination of both.Dennis Waterman could be the series' wild card. He's not an actor I've ever felt drawn to watch. I only saw bits and pieces of Minder and, latterly, New Tricks and haven't been bowled over (though I do want to give Minder another go at some point since I was pretty young when I saw those bits and pieces). And I don't think I've seen anything of The Sweeney. Back in the Eighties I thought he had a Ted Shackelford clenched fist kind of thing going on, which is no bad thing, but of course this is a sitcom. Dennis is best-known to me these days as a one-joke series of sketches from Little Britain where David Walliams played Dennis as someone who always wanted to "write the theme tune; sing the theme tune" and so far it hasn't failed to raise a smile when the closing theme of On The Up comes on, sung by Dennis (as he's done in a number of other series). Five episodes in, I'm still not sure if he's working for me as a sitcom lead, but he does bring a nice earthiness to the role of Tony Carpenter (whose name, now as then, immediately makes me think of the EastEnders-character-with-the-same-name - of whom, weirdly, my primary memory is son Kelvin mocking him for buying a Morris Marina).Mrs Wembley's "Just the one" catchphrase is memorable (indeed, one of the few things I remember from whatever I watched of this series back in the Nineties) but does feel a bit sledgehammer and clunky for Bob Larbey. It's more what I'd expect from Croft and Lloyd. Overall, though, writing is nicely nuanced and natural. There was one wonderful scene of pathos for Joan Sims when Mrs Wembley recalled Mr Wembley: the man she loved but who, as it turns out, died before they had the chance to marry. Such a broad character suddenly turning out to be someone other than who they seem was a bit of a shocker so early in the series and gives me hope that these episodes are all forming part of a bigger picture.Whatever the case, I'm sure it won't be unenjoyable to check out the rest of the series.</blockquote>

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