Customer Reviews

Waiting for God: The Funeral, The Hip Operation, The Boring Son [VHS]

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(0)
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Don't be put off by the title - this is one of the best Britcoms to hit the US Shores. This show is totally unique - set in the British retirement community of Bayview, and it's inmates...er, residents are taking steps to NOT gracefully fade away!

I have never laughed aloud so much at a series as I have at the adventures of Stephanie Cole's Diana Trent (spinster & proud of it) and Graham Crowden's Tom (part-time bullfighter on the moon, when he wasn't digging out of Colditz with "Dickie and Johnny"), and their battles against Daniel Hill's "The Idiot Baines" and Janine Duvitski's love-starved Jane. Together with sex-fiend Basil and other inmates, and constantly thwarting the efforts of Tom's revolting family to control them, the antics are pricelss.

I have been hunting for all 47 episodes of the show, which form a total story, with a beginning (Tom's arrival), a middle (the Scandal!), and an end (call it two weddings and a funeral - not the one released).

FINALLY six episodes from the first series (season) were released on video; the premiere was not among them. The two sets of episodes available are IT so far. Grab 'em while you can - and let's see if we can get BBC to release the whole thing (including a second Christmas special episode never shown in the US) on DVD!

Once you visit Bayview, you'll want to go back, and six times won't be enough!

A tragic state of affairs: Waiting for God is one of the funniest Britcoms around and yet is so underrated!
While the story doesn't sound all that funny (scenes from an old people's retirement home??), this Britcom has it all! A crotchety old bag of a leading lady (Diana's my HERO!!); her faithful, goofy-yet-smart side-kick and friend, Tom; an overly-arrogant, aging, dim-witted, would-be Ladies'-Man, Harvey (don't fool yourself, Harvey); his brainless, doting assistant, Jane; and Tom's witless son, Geoffrey, and lush-of-a-daughter-in-law, Marion.
With this mix and more (My favorite is Basil, the over-sexed resident) there's bound to be something for everyone.
A brilliant mix of creativity and great acting, Waiting for God is a hilarious romp through old age.
If you haven't already watched this great series, give it a try!! It'll be worth it, just for Diana shooting pebbles at squirrels, and her yelling at the poor Portuguese gardner... in French!!!

Waiting for God is yet another example of the BBC and BBC-America dragging their feet on DVD releases! I can't for the life of me understand why they are producing them sooooo slooowly. This is a great show - especially the first few seasons. Very fresh - deeply dark and humorous - very well developed and presented by the writers and actors. You will laugh out loud and relish the wit and story lines. The BBC should get this series (including the pilot and specials) into a full boxed set for American viewers as soon as possible. [While you are it, could you please get the Tom Baker Dr. Who episodes out! At the rate you are releasing them, it will take you another 20 years to get them all on DVD!]

Waiting For God is one of the funniest series ever made. Diana Trent (played by Stephanie Cole) cannot abide being old and forced to live in a retirement home. (Ironically, Cole was only 49 when the first of the series was filmed--the show ran in England for several years.) Her rebellious antics with Tom Ballard as her main conspirator and foil and Harvey Bains, the ultimate smarmy person, as her main victim, are continuously hilarious. If one has any appreciation of English humor, this one is sure to satisfy. (It is much different from, but in my view even better than Absolutely Fabulous or Fawlty Towers--both of which I also adore.) The series has run on PBS in Nor. Calif. (on two or three different stations) probably six months of each year since the time it was first released--so I imagine that there is a considerable pent-up demand for a release of the entire series. I have managed to record many of the 50 odd programs on VHS, but not in order (and I also have the two VHS tapes which were released many years ago). So I thirst for a complete collection on DVD. I cannot tell from the Amazon listing on which I am writing this whether a DVD is coming out. It lists it as VHS but it refers to DVD in its technical specification. Perhaps it is an indication that maybe there will be a DVD release in the near future.

One viewer commented that the "Bayview" retirement home is supposed to be in Bournemouth (on the coast) but the credits refer to Oxfordshire. The location (for exterior shots) is a real retirement home about 5 miles west of the city of Oxford (just north of Cumnor) and can be seen easily from the road and one can even drive up to it.

That's my comment and I'm stickin' to it. :-) As others have said, it is a very funny, witty, intelligently written show.

What makes this series work is that you can care about the characters. They are all approachable. Their daffiness draws us into a world that many of us are afraid to discuss: namely what's going to happen to me when it's my turn to move to a retirement home. Will there be a Harvey Baines making my life miserable for a few dollars? Tom and Dianna confront these issues with courage and dignity and manage to draw us into their virtual world where everything makes perfect sense and we can laugh with them. We don't objectify them and laugh at them. We share their trials and resolutions with them and enjoy the outcomes with them.

This is marvelous, restrained British humor at its very best. I can only say thank you to Stephanie and Graham, whereever they are.

This is one of my favorite shows and I am heartbroken that we cannot currently get seasons 4 and 5 in the US. I own 1-3 now, so why won't the BBC release the rest of the shows on DVD? Not enough profit? Please, BBC, have a heart!

I watch the show Saturdays on my PBS station. I contributed money during another one of their pledges, and gave me this volume as a thank you. Set in Bournemouth, in Southern England, even though the credits say Oxfordshire. Tom and Diana are the UK's answer to the Odd Couple.