Marion And Geoff - Series 1 [2000] - DVD ( - Dir: Hugo Blick)

Originally broadcast in 10-minute segments on BBC2, Marion & Geoff is a very funny if at times unrelentingly bleak comedy in which Rob Brydon plays Keith, a hapless cuckold who addresses us via a camcorder set up in his mini-cab. The Marion and Geoff of the title are his estranged wife and her new lover, though as Keith--who never fails to perceive a bright side to his utterly dismal existence--says, "I don't feel I've lost a wife, I've gained a friend."

Through his monologues, we learn that Keith has a room in a student house where banging techno is played day and night; that in order to make the journey to see his two boys, he must make an overnight journey from London to Cardiff by car; that his only friend is a tollbooth operator (though the operator doesn't seem to know it) and that, although he's been driving a minicab for a while, he's yet to pick up a fare.

Keith's attempts to buy presents for his children generally backfire ("I've kept the receipts. I learned that from my old dad. He always used to say keep the receipts"), no more heartrendingly so than in an evidently disastrous attempt to pay a surprise visit to the newly attached Marion and the kids in Disneyland. As he hugs the tiny Winnie the Pooh puppets he's tried to give to his children, his uniformly chipper tone wavers momentarily and the comedy threatens to darken into something like tragedy. However, Keith's indomitable if inappropriate optimism eventually enables him to bumble through. Masterly in its veracity and Pooteresque banality, Marion & Geoff is as near-flawless as The Office.

On the DVD: Marion & Geoff on disc comes with an informative if somewhat giggly commentary, featuring Brydon and director and cowriter Hugo Blick. There's the Comic Relief special, in which Keith's cheque to the charity bounces with typically pitiful consequences and outtakes from the series, all of which would have merited inclusion in the final edit. --David Stubbs

Customer Reviews of Marion And Geoff - Series 1 [2000]

noggy1810
Ireland
12th June 2008

Great idea but is it comedy?
The best I could muster watching this was an odd smile. Brydon's performance is brilliant and the writing is excellent but this show is not very funny. If it is a comedy then it is the blackest I've ever seen. Watching somebody who is obviously a bit slow go through a heart breaking divorce, separation from his kids and generally get kicked around and not even trying to fight back is if anything a bit disturbing. Would give 5 if it was drama but just find hard to find funny which I think is the point of comedy. Am I missing something?

Nick Sheppard
Coventry United Kingdom
25th October 2005

Utterly peerless intelligent comedy
Keith is a mini-cab driver. His life is awful, lonely and sad. Yet he fails to realise it and remains optimistic about the direction of his life. Much of the story is Keith talking to the audience through a mini-camera in his car, telling of what he has been through and how his life has come out the way it has.

Full of hope that he can see his 'little smashers' following divorce; Keiths story is both beautiful scripted and immaculately delivered. It delves from occasional comedy to bleak introspection and surprises with some genuinely moving moments. The limited set of Keiths car is surprisingly not as restrictive as you might think with different locations creating an appropriate mood for each segment of the story.

If you are looking for a slightly unusual and intelligent comedy then this is an excellent choice. If you come expecting straight gags then it is not.

anonymous
france
16th October 2005

disappointing
I hadn't heard of this series before I bought it and frankly I can see why. While trying hard to imitate the popular comedy doc it falls short. I found the whole thing boring and not funny. The main character just doesn't have the comedy timing needed to pull of this tragi/comic one man show. Falls short of expectations. You feel more sorry for the actor than the character he's playing.

Max
Shepperton
15th August 2005

I don't know why I like it I just do
It took me about a year to realise that the title of this programme was the name of Keith's ex wife and new husband, for ages I thought it was his name with his ex wife.

If you haven't seen this, then when you first watch it, you will think..... What! Stick with it, Keith's banal, bizarre, odd comments are brilliant. It will have you in stitches, and then scratching your head. It is "Smashing"

Ed Gardiner
Birmingham, UK
30th April 2004

"I like him. You can't help it if you like someone"
And you can't help but like Keith Barret, a minicab driver originally fromCardiff. A minicab driver who is a failure in every way. He has lost hiswife Marion and "little smashers" Rhys and Alun to Marion's coworkerGeoff, now lives in a student flat and has never picked up a fare in hiscab in London.
The performance from Rob Brydon is what should attract you to this darkcomedy series. The comic timing is not matched by any TV sitcom star,exemplified in gags like "These sleeping policemen . . . I'm not againstthem, I would never say that, I mean if they only save one life . . .probably not very cost effective." Plenty more lines like that, and someastute observations on everyday life which all great comedies include. "Icould browse in Smiths - half an hour" I haven't told you all the bestbits so don't worry - buy it and you'll see.