I'm a great fan of Green wing, but only Series 1.
Series 1 was sharp, witty, and utterly random, following a small storyline but ultimately being a sequence of entwined sketches based around a set of characters.
Series 2 turned this on its head. It followed a (bad) storyline, which was a vague progression of the first.. but It did so at the expense of the comedy that was so brilliantly executed in series 1.
The opening of series 2 was surreal, and poor. From that point onwards it get worse, and seemed to change plot just for the sake of it. There were repeated scenarios thrown in, jokes stolen from series 1, and a lot of the comedy was strained. Michelle Gomez (sue White) lost her edge and was frankly absurd and embarrassing rather than entertaining. Tamsin Greig was her usual excellent self, but we saw far too much of those boots.. didn't she own any other shoes? Alan Statham (played by the excellent Mark Heap)... well they just seemed to run out of ideas for him and resorted to trademark jerky movements and incomprehensible outbursts.
But, the biggest travesty of Green Wing, is the peculiar presence (or lack of) the excellent Sarah Alexander as Angela, coming in randomly and seldomly throughout both series. An utter waste of her talent.. she was given few lines, and hardly any integration into the plot. It was random, and bewildering. I'm a huge fan (for differing reasons ;) ) and she was wasted in this series.
So, great first series, one of the best comedies ever.. just don't expect much of the same for the second as you'll be disappointed.
Series 1 was sharp, witty, and utterly random, following a small storyline but ultimately being a sequence of entwined sketches based around a set of characters.
Series 2 turned this on its head. It followed a (bad) storyline, which was a vague progression of the first.. but It did so at the expense of the comedy that was so brilliantly executed in series 1.
The opening of series 2 was surreal, and poor. From that point onwards it get worse, and seemed to change plot just for the sake of it. There were repeated scenarios thrown in, jokes stolen from series 1, and a lot of the comedy was strained. Michelle Gomez (sue White) lost her edge and was frankly absurd and embarrassing rather than entertaining. Tamsin Greig was her usual excellent self, but we saw far too much of those boots.. didn't she own any other shoes? Alan Statham (played by the excellent Mark Heap)... well they just seemed to run out of ideas for him and resorted to trademark jerky movements and incomprehensible outbursts.
But, the biggest travesty of Green Wing, is the peculiar presence (or lack of) the excellent Sarah Alexander as Angela, coming in randomly and seldomly throughout both series. An utter waste of her talent.. she was given few lines, and hardly any integration into the plot. It was random, and bewildering. I'm a huge fan (for differing reasons ;) ) and she was wasted in this series.
So, great first series, one of the best comedies ever.. just don't expect much of the same for the second as you'll be disappointed.