Clare is a buttoned-up American girl from Cincinnati who moves to Glasgow. To meet new people, she decides to form a book group. But the people who answer her advert are not exactly what she expected.
There’s Kenny, a wheelchair-bound ex-mountain climber, who turns out to be a super nice bloke who’s writing a book of his own. Janice is a footballer’s wife, homemaker and mother, who wants to be a television presenter. There’s Dirka, also a footballer’s wife, originally from Sweden. Fist is a model from Holland. She is involved with another footballer, but not married to him. She and Dirka are obsessed with their weight and looks. Rab is secretly gay (or bi) and hides that fact with his fanaticism
about football (soccer). Finally there’s egotistical Barney. Clare takes an instant fancy to him, but he’s got some serious issues.
In each episode, the group gets together to discuss a different book, but somehow their discussions veer off course and they end up talking about anything BUT the book.
Clare is played by Anne Dudek, long before she portrayed Amber opposite Hugh Laurie on House. I never did like her character on House. In The Book Group, she’s a lonely, sometimes sad, struggling writer. She often escapes into the fantasy world of her book’s storyline. Or gets lost dreaming about the storylines of the books the group is reading, like Don Quixote.
I always like character-driven shows. And as I’ve said before, British shows tend to be like that, with characters that are so colorful and interesting you just can’t help but continue to watch the series.
I was especially interested in seeing Michelle Gomez in this show. I had seen her as the outrageous Staff Liaison, Sue White, on Green Wing. That character was hilarious. As Janice, she’s also very fun to watch, but the character is a bit more subdued.
And lastly, I can’t get enough of the Scottish brogue. I love listening to English accents, but Scottish…give me more.
MAIN CAST:
Anne Dudek – Clare Pettengill
Bonnie Engstrom – Dirka Nilssen
Michelle Gomez – Janice McCann
James Lance – Barney Glendenning
Rory McCann – Kenny McLeod
Saskia Mulder – Fist de Grooke
Derek Riddell – Rab
Total Seasons: 2
Seasons Available on US Formatted DVD: 1
In Production: 2002-2003
Viewer Discretion: Adult situations and language
Rex is the fearless leader. He comes up with the ideas for the group’s adventures. Bad Bob sports an eye patch that never seems to stay on the same side. He’s a big, fat slob who loves Chuffy’s dog food and his revolver. Wendy is the girl. She likes to watch “holiday programmes” on telly. And then there’s the dogs’ pet dog, Vince, who suffers from Random Pavarotti Disease where he breaks out into operatic song at random.
the lottery; Rex falling into a meat grinder and turning into a spaghetti version of himself. But that’s just the beginning!
Because I’ve been seeking out the work of Hugh Laurie and Stephen Fry, I watched Blackadder. I slogged through the first series hoping to see either one of them, but didn’t. It wasn’t until Series 2 through 4 that Hugh and Stephen joined the cast.
really. Had I known that beforehand, I wouldn’t have bothered with Series 1.
But by Series 2, when comedian and writer Ben Elton joined the production, it evolved into something much more entertaining. Edmund in this series is a bit more clever and witty, but at the bottom rung of the social ladder. The running gag throughout the four series is that Blackadder and Baldrick are always coming up with “cunning plans” that they never seem to pull off successfully. When Baldrick conjures them up, Blackadder usually dismisses them anyway. In Series 2, Blackadder tries to stay on the good side of Queen Elizabeth I, who is portrayed as a ditzy loon by Miranda Richardson. This is the first series where Stephen Fry plays a recurring role, as Lord Melchett.
series, Edmund tries everything he can to keep from being killed, trying to get out of the war, but his schemes never seem to work. Hugh Laurie is Lieutenant George, upper class twit of the year while Stephen Fry plays General Melchett – a definite runner-up.
Series 2: Because of the language barrier, Edmund determines his torture via charades with his Spanish Inquisitor.
Peter Kingdom is a small-town solicitor in county Norfolk. He lives and works in the quiet seaside village of Market Shipborough. Along with his young apprentice, Lyle Anderson, and his secretary, Gloria, Peter tends to his eccentric clientele. They range from the cabbage-scented Mr. Snell to dueling food truck vendors to a group of nudists.
also dealing with the disappearance and presumed death of his half-brother, Simon Kingdom. Simon supposedly walked into the sea some six months earlier, but his body was never found. Throughout the first season, there are more questions about his disappearance than answers.
The town of Market Shipborough plays a big role in the series. It’s a beautiful seaside town where you often find Peter on the beach walking his little white dog, Millie. Word has it that the town where the series was shot, Swaffham, actually in Norfolk, became somewhat of a tourist attraction. Businesses in the town capitalized on the popularity of Kingdom and offered guided tours of the locations featured in the show. I wouldn’t mind checking out the place myself next time I get to England.
