Then along would come Sunday and just when the hangover started to fade (around 5ish) what is affectionately known as ‘old people telly’ started to flood the system. Until this Sunday that is. Who’d have thought that a story about a country solicitor in a picturesque Norfolk town would have an increasingly old and increasingly cynical person like me, smiling and chuckling to myself over a programme I fear my parents perhaps also watch and enjoyed? But, I feel no shame in admitting that, for Kingdom is a fine specimen of a programme. And the fact it’s now in its third series is testament to that fact. Produced by Philip Schofield’s sister-in-law (I only found that out via Twitter a few hours ago), with Simon Wheeler as executive producer and aired on ITV, it’s hard not to like Peter Kingdom, portrayed, as he is by Fry. You can’t help thinking that Fry is only partially acting in this role as Kingdom is as witty and intelligent as his real life persona and perhaps that’s what makes him so credible and likeable. The credits then open to Kingdom’s newly qualified assistant Lyle Anderson (Karl Davies) jogging along the beach, gazing at a beautiful young lady (Kate) riding on a horse alongside him. This single horse romantic canter soon turns into the thud of hooves as he is chased along the beach and knocked into the wet sand by the mounted army folk, accidentally, of course. “You’ve got a crab where you don’t want one,” opens the lovely lady in question to Anderson. In this episode, she does what I fear I would do if I were a parent and leaves her child in a supermarket. But as soon as she remembers, she heads back and makes a tannoy announcement. “Wherever you are, just give me a nice big scream…” Norris is not the only brilliant piece of casting on the show. John Thomson is there as regular cast member Nigel Pearson, following a guest appearance in series two. and Sandi Toksvig and Jack Dee make an appearance in later episodes too. Celia Imrie is back playing Gloria Millington, while her stubborn lock master father Cyril is played superbly by Peter Sallis for this episode. His altercation with June Whitfield (who’s playing Mrs Earnshaw) about the Market Shipborough Navigation Act of 1793, where she sits herself down and exclaims that “The lady is not for turning” reminded me of the good old days when my staple diet was made up of Carry On films. In amongst the comedy of the first episode is a touching story about an Iraq war hero, Tony Gillespie, who lost a leg and damaged his eye while serving. He’s being offered a pathetic amount of compensation by the MOD who have itemised his injuries. It soon transpires that Kate lives with him because her fiancé served with him and lost his life. She, it turns out, wants to get into the regiment to feel close to him. Kate cries sexual discrimination when she’s turned away but Anderson does some digging and finds out her real motives. Kingdom is clearly frustrated by what Tony is being offered. “I’m just a local solicitor, this could be out of our league. I promised him his country will deliver, but will it?”, Kingdom laments after a meeting with him. En route to check on Gloria’s father, Kingdom believes his car has been stolen. Gloria’s father turns out to be okay, but he’s been having blackouts, which is why he pesters his daughter on the telephone so much. Beatrice’s body clock is not working as it should. This is discovered after Kingdom is woken up at 5am by his sister making ‘Avocado surprise’. “As your sister and a woman keen to discover her sexuality after giving birth, I must insist an introduction!” she quips. Later, Kingdom finds out that Beatrice is the one who caused the dent in his car, and it wasn’t – as she’d previously suggested – caused by a pigeon… She bites back: “You can be so spiteful…You won’t even introduce me to a single cavalry man with a sword down to his ankles.” It then transpires that Kingdom’s car hasn’t been stolen. Beatrice had just borrowed it and now can’t remember where she left it. The episode ends with glimpse into what episode two has in store and, by the looks of it, it looks set to be a hit with those intrigued by crop circles. Kingdom will not be everyone’s cup of tea, but I found this first episode very promising. It’s certainly not easy to mix humour and serious, heart-wrenching topics in the same 60-minute slot, but Fry et al managed it – this week at least.
