When the BBC continuity announcer described an emotional climax for David Tennant's single father, she wasn't lying.
Not to say that the previous three episodes of the BBC's Single Father had been less than emotional, but this final one rather went for it. Fair enough, if you've got David Tennant onboard, you'd want to use him, right? Helped on by various chemical imbalances, pregnancies, alcohol and that interfering sister Anna (Neve McIntosh), the series rolled on to its relatively cheerful ending last night.
The competition between Matt (Warren Brown) and Dave (David Tennant) may have fizzled out disappointingly, but the competition between Dave and Stuart (Rupert Graves) is racked up a few notches for this concluding episode. As relationships go, that's probably where Single Father suddenly really hits the mark; a fiercely polite tug-of-love between two fathers. It just needs them to be the same age to have an extra kick; is Graves too grey-haired to have been at college with Rita (the underused Laura Fraser)?
On the relationship front, the final episode ties up one of the niggling worries in my mind over Single Father. There's a small moment in which we can finally get some idea about why on earth Mark Heap's Robin married Anna – look at that cheeky little grin, that puckering up that serves as both apology and forgiveness. Heap may have only had brief moments through Single Father, but they've often been the best bits; finely observed and neatly judged, Heap is highly watchable and a tad underused.
It's just a shame that, as ever, Single Father seems to have neglected plausible storyline in favour of hitting its audience where it hurts. If Heap and Fraser are underused, Dave's eldest daughter, Tanya (Sophie Kennedy Clark), is probably overused in this episode – especially in the almost entirely unnecessary (and fairly implausible) event with Brown's Matt. Sure, it leads her into a violent outburst that lets the proverbial cat out of the bag in a loud manner, which needed to happen. But there are no doubt easier (read: more plausible) ways of doing so, without resorting to plot devices that smack of Jacobean tragedy. That incident aside, Brown is finally allowed to shine in this final episode, which is good, and gives a glimpse of what he can do given chance.
So those Single Father plot threads are fairly neatly wound up (don't ask what Matt decides to do with himself after not finding and confronting Dave). Lucy's happily chosen a father (for now) while even Dave and Anna are managing to get along. Which just leaves us with the main plot – you know, Sarah (Suranne Jones) and Dave? Alas, that's where it falls apart a bit. Never mind the chunk of plot missing during which Dave decided to go ahead with the paternity test she suggested last week – what's going on with the bump she has herself? Are we expected to believe that she was as manipulative as Rita in not telling Dave that she was going to get herself pregnant (and that he fell for it again!), decided to leave Dave afterwards, and then was persuaded to change her mind once again simply because Dave looked imploring and told her he reckoned it could work? Forgive me for sounding incredulous. I mean, sure, women look for good father material in their partners, but two consecutive women wanting Dave's children despite needing persuading that a relationship with him is a good idea? No wonder he's ended up as a single father.
To be honest, if you're watching Single Father for support in a similar situation, you're probably better checking out the links on the show's page on the BBC website.
Image curtesy of the BBC.
Good review, though I think it's a little strange to call Laura Fraser "underused" considering the entire show revolves around the fact her character dies ten minutes in.
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ReplyDeleteYes, the series revolves around the consequences of the death of Laura Fraser's character (after less than four minutes!); Rita is everywhere. I say Fraser is underused because she's a strong, attractive actress that could have had more time on screen. I'd also like to have seen more of Warren Brown and Mark Heap, who both - in this fourth episode - did some of the best work.
So am I not the only person, then, where the more I watched it the more I found Dave a rather unsympathetic figure? By the end all I can see is how he's wrecked other people's lives because it was the only way he could deal with Rita's death. Ok, so maybe it's not that bad, but still. I think by the end of the second episode they really veered away from the idea of it being about grief and a healing family and into the realm of soap opera. Shock for the sake of it. The moments with the kids and keeping them close were fewer and he was more wrapped up in himself, wasn't he? Or maybe I've just read the whole thing wrong. Don't get me wrong, I thought there were a lot of fantastic performances and some great scenes, but I just...it got ick for me. Anyhow, thanks for the review. Sorry for the lengthy comment!
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ReplyDeleteOh, it certainly became more difficult to sympathise with him once he stopped being a recent widow and started leading Sarah into doing the same thing that he worried Rita had done to him. And yeah, he did seem to focus a bit on keeping himself happy. Still, happy daddy = happy kids, right?
I can't help thinking that the ten week period of grief might have been better seen rather than skipped over - in fact, possibly the most interesting bit.