Friday Night Dinner is, in my opinion, one of the best 21st Century sitcoms. Written and created by The Inbetweeners script editor, Robert Popper, the show boasts an incredible comedy cast of Simon Bird, Tamsin Greig, Tom Rosenthal and the late great Paul Ritter as the central Goodman family, with Mark Heap as their eccentric neighbour, Jim. Running for six series from 2011 to 2020, Friday Night Dinner has all of the hallmarks of an incredible sitcom. It is undemanding viewing and pure fun from the word go, and Popper writes farce in such a way that it feels brilliantly believable while still being utterly hilarious. The standout episode for me is series 4, episode 1: ‘The Two Tonys’. Why do I consider it such a marvel? I’m glad you asked.
‘The Two Tonys’ shows exactly how to construct a farcical story that just toes the line of believable. We open with Jackie’s mother, Nellie, off for a night out on the town as Adam and Jonny arrive for Friday night dinner. It’s not a joke-heavy scene, exactly, but now the audience knows that Nellie has been at the house and, crucially, could come back at any point. Once we’ve entered the house, Martin is in the downstairs loo and the boys turn off the light while he’s in there. This allows us to be taken towards the dining room to reveal that the table is set for five, and there is to be a “bloody guest”. Martin has a friend coming over, Tony Michaels, who he believes was one of the “two Tonys” he went to university with that he liked. Unfortunately, soon it is revealed that it was in fact Tony Sampson who Martin liked while Tony Michaels was an irritating slow blinker with a terrible sense of humour, as the audience and the Goodmans discover when they open the front door to Tony Michaels (played by Jason Watkins). Just before the wrong Tony arrives, it is said that Val (Tracy-Ann Oberman) will be popping ‘round to collect her newly mended watch. A throwaway piece of information, we assume.
When Tony is out of the scene on two occasions, we’re taken into the Goodman family conspiracy to try and get rid of this man. It’s impressive, the way in which Jason Watkins manages to portray Tony as such an annoyance, even though at this time we have no real reason to properly dislike him other than being mildly irritating. He doesn’t come across as malicious, only as a bit of a pain. There is a hint of some rumours surrounding Tony at university, but Martin cannot remember what they are. Digression aside, Martin makes the snap decision to tell Tony that Jackie’s mother is “completely dead”, much to the chagrin of Jackie. Here we have the crux of the narrative, as the family tries to maintain Martin’s lie and make it out of the evening unscathed. Oh, and Jim arrives with a massive fish for Jackie to cook. It’s not necessarily important to the plot, but his eccentricity just adds an extra layer and sets up some jokes nicely for later.
This is the point in the episode where the consequences of Martin’s actions start to emerge, as Jim returns to the house and is told the tragic news, offering his own experience of his father “plummet[ing] to his death”. An honourable mention must go to Jonny, messing around while Tony says a prayer for Nellie, being seen and having to make up a reason he was standing on a chair with his arms out. He sings a song. That scene always makes me cry with laughter no matter how many times I’ve seen it, and it provides a moment for Jackie to leave the room, crying, to be comforted by Martin. This allows Val to finally arrive and be told the bad news by Tony. We don’t see this interaction, but we’re told it by Adam. Now, in the last few minutes of the episode we have the whole family, and Val aware of the lie that Martin has told. Although we never see how the lie is explained to Val, we can only assume that it would be a fairly confusing moment for her.
Then finally, finally, Tony announces that it is time for him to go. Thank you Jesus, we’re on the home stretch, we just need to get him out of the door with his large duffle bag and the Goodmans and the audience are free. Now would be such an inconvenient moment for Nellie to return from her night out… Oh dear. This is where that scene at the top of the episode pays dividends, as the audience have almost forgotten that Nellie was even there to begin with, but her presence is cleverly seeded so it’s not too out of the blue when she rocks up, completely unaware of her spectral existence over the episode. A slip-up from Jackie gives the game away, and when Tony leaves an argument starts up, only to be cut short by the revelation that some items are missing from the Goodman residence. Yet another throwaway line finds its moment, as Martin “remembers what they used to say about Tony” – he was a thief.
When first watching the episode this is a great reveal. All of the threads have come together to form a tapestry of complete madness, as the characters scramble to call the police as Jim arrives with impeccable timing and a pineapple. Jackie explains the theft, but doesn’t clear up the misconception about the supposed death of her mother. Now Jim proves his casual stalking to be fairly useful, as Tony’s car has just broken down on the road outside. Martin takes matters (and the pineapple) into his own hands, declaring he is going to shove Jim’s pudding “up [Tony’s] arsehole”. After Martin yells at the boys to “pass [him] the pineapple”, the credits roll and my laughter can be heard several towns over.
While all episodes of Friday Night Dinner are joke-heavy, ‘The Two Tonys’ boasts a perfectly constructed plot in which to house the humour. Sometimes I have observed episodes of the series have felt overly cringey, or ridiculous to properly appreciate, but series 4, episode 1 holds its own with a plot that is set up perfectly. The way every character’s arrival is seeded early on so subtly means that, when they arrive to add to the chaos, it doesn’t feel like just a convenient plot device. There is a prevailing logic to the episode, and the realism of the characters means that their actions feel completely believable. It is a masterclass in comedy.
~ Caelum
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Caelum Reviews 