BBC 4’s Getting On is entering its second season, yet the first one passed me by. The series stars well-known performers stand-up Jo Brand, Joanna Scanlan (The Thick Of It’s Terri) and Vicki Pepperdine. Not only is the cast predominantly female – a rarity for most comedies – but Getting On is also written by its three main stars. The show is set on a ward in a National Health Service hospital and follows two nurses, played by Brand and Scanlan, as well as Pepperdine as the posh doctor who oversees proceedings. It is surprisingly good, especially for something relegated to the rarely-watched BBC 4.
The key strength is its ability to give us what appears to be an accurate portrayal of the NHS. There’s nothing glamorous about what happens. It really gets into the horrible job nurses have to do. In the first episode, we are shown Brand and Scanlan attempting to undress a homeless woman who, in the character’s own words, “stinks”.
This is the unglamorous NHS in the raw – from “seen it all before” nurses to incompetent junior doctors.
The nurses here are more knowledgeable than most of the doctors – which is what many people with experience of the NHS actually think. Getting On shows up a condescending doctor for having no idea what he is doing. It also highlights pointless bureaucracy – one visitor trying to see her mother is told to leave the ward after arriving 20 minutes too early. Perhaps the biggest selling point of Getting On is not its authenticity but the fact that it is genuinely funny. Unlike most comedy shows, there are actual laugh-out-loud moments from some of the best female comedians around.
DOA is BBC 3’s latest comic offering. The channel has a hit-and-miss relationship with comedy and DOA lurks between good and bad. It stars Kris Marshall – yes, that chap from the annoying BT adverts – as a doctor who has inadvertently killed a patient and must become a paramedic until he regains his medical license. Alongside him is Julie, played by Karen Taylor.
DOA has a few fitfully funny moments, but nothing that sets it apart from any other comedy currently on television. Getting On has its rawness, whereas DOA has nothing distinctive.
It does have several niggling factors, especially the incredibly inappropriate dispatcher who spends most of the episodes flirting with Julie. The laughs that are supposed to come from this banter simply aren’t there.
And DOA relies too much on clichés, such as a clueless lawyer and a couple whose relationship is on the rocks. The original set-up has merit, but the writers go down too many well-trodden paths and rely on formulaic ideas. There are not sufficient laughs to warrant watching the whole 30 minutes.
DOA is better than some of the terrible alleged comedy BBC 3 puts out, but that still leaves vast room for improvement. Perhaps Kris Marshall should stick to BT adverts.
