''Grandma's House'' is a

sitcom A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ...

television series broadcast on BBC Two. Written by

Simon Amstell Simon Marc Amstell (born 29 November 1979) is a British comedian, writer and director. He wrote and directed the films '' Carnage'' (2017) and ''Benjamin'' (2018). His work on television has included presenting '' Popworld'' and '' Never Mind th ...

and long-term collaborator

Dan Swimer Dan Swimer (born 1972 in Manchester) is a British television writer, producer, consultant and associate. He has produced episodes of ''Popworld'', ''Lily Allen and Friends'', and Sacha Baron Cohen's '' Who Is America?''. He wrote material for '' ...

, the series stars Simon Amstell playing a version of himself: an ex-television presenter searching for meaning in his life. Each episode takes place at his grandmother's house, where Grandma ( Linda Bassett) welcomes her family, desperate to see everyone happy. The first series was shown in 2010, the second in 2012. In December 2012 Amstell stated that there would not be a third series.

Cast and characters

Production

The show was created and written by

and Dan Swimer. Six 30-minutes episodes were produced for the first series by

Tiger Aspect Productions Tiger Aspect Productions (formerly known as Tiger Television from 1988 until 1993 and also known as Tiger Aspect Films for theatrical films) is a British television and film production company, particularly noted for its situation comedies. Fo ...

for BBC Two. These were filmed at Pinewood Studios. The house used for exterior filming is located in Highwood Gardens in

Clayhall Clayhall is a district of Ilford in the London Borough of Redbridge in east London, England. It is a suburban development. The name is derived from an old manor house that stood within the current area. It is first mentioned in a document of 1203 ...

, Greater London. On 1 July 2010,

Geoffrey Hutchings Geoffrey Hutchings (8 June 1939 – 1 July 2010) was an English stage, film and television actor. Early life and career Hutchings was born in Dorchester, Dorset, England. After attending Hardye's School, he studied French and Physical Educati ...

, who portrayed Grandpa, died. The death of his character was said to have occurred between the two series.

Episodes

Series 1 (2010)

Series 2 (2012)

Critical reception

The show has received a generally positive reaction from critics and audiences alike.

TV.com TV.com was a website owned by Red Ventures that covered television series and episodes with a focus on English-language shows made or broadcast in Australia, Canada, Ireland, Japan, New Zealand, the United States, and the United Kingdom. Origin ...

's Ruth Margolis claimed that " mstell'swritten a sitcom stuffed with gently funny moments and acerbic gems", but suggested "a few more naturalistic pauses would have just polished this into the self-assured comedy it so wants to be." Other publications had differing opinions. UK's ''

Metro Metro, short for metropolitan, may refer to: Geography * Metro (city), a city in Indonesia * A metropolitan area, the populated region including and surrounding an urban center Public transport * Rapid transit, a passenger railway in an urb ...

claimed on their website that " mstell'sbrilliantly funny but we won’t be inviting him round for tea." Sam Wollaston of ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' asked, "Can Simon act, though? Well, it's hard to know really, given that he's essentially just being himself", but comes around to the opinion that "Grandma's House is sharply written, with some nice lines and a bit of edge to it." Two weeks later, Wollaston revealed "I'm enjoying Grandma's House more and more (...) there's a subtlety and a sharpness about it. And yeah, it's funny." Jewish media outlets such as the '' Jewish Chronicle'' were pleased that the show was bringing

Jewish humour The tradition of humor in Judaism dates back to the Torah and the Midrash from the ancient Middle East, but generally refers to the more recent stream of verbal and often anecdotal humor of Ashkenazi Jews which took root in the United States ov ...

to mainstream audiences and the newspaper also described the show as "genius".

Awards

DVD release

2 Entertain 2 Entertain (stylized as 2 , entertain) is a British video and music publisher founded in September 2004 by the merger of BBC Video and Video Collection International in 2004. Under CEO Richard Green, the company operated as a joint venture b ...

released the first series of ''Grandma's House'' on DVD on 20 September 2010; it includes all six episodes, a

making-of In cinema, behind-the-scenes (BTS), also known as the making-of, the set, or on the set, is a type of documentary film that features the production of a film or television program. This is often referred to as the EPK (electronic press kit) vid ...

documentary, a booklet and an

audio commentary An audio commentary is an additional audio track, usually digital, consisting of a lecture or comments by one or more speakers, that plays in real time with a video. Commentaries can be serious or entertaining in nature, and can add informatio ...

on one of the episodes by Amstell and his mother.

International broadcast

In Australia, the first season commenced airing on

ABC2 ABC TV Plus (formerly ABC2 and ABC Comedy) is an Australian free-to-air television channel owned by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and part of its ABC Television network. The channel broadcasts a range of general entertainment pr ...

each Thursday at 10pm from 23 February 2012.

References

External links

* * *{{IMDb title, 1706532 2010s British sitcoms 2010 British television series debuts 2012 British television series endings BBC television sitcoms 2010s British LGBT-related comedy television series Jewish comedy and humor Television series by Endemol Television shows set in London