''The Perfect Match'' is a British

comedy-drama Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...

television film written by

Mike Bullen Michael J. Bullen (born 13 January 1960) is an English screenwriter. Bullen grew up in the West Midlands of England, attending the Solihull School and later Magdalene College, Cambridge. He left with a degree in history of art and became a rad ...

and directed by Nick Hurran. It stars

Saskia Reeves Saskia Reeves (born 16 August 1961) is an English actress, best known for her roles in the films '' Close My Eyes'' (1991) and ''I.D.'' (1995), the 2000 miniseries ''Frank Herbert's Dune'' and the 2016 film '' Our Kind of Traitor''. Early lif ...

and Con O'Neill as Bridget and Phil, a couple whose marriage proposal is broadcast to football fans. It was first broadcast on the ITV network on 6 September 1995. The programme was not well received by critics but it was enough of a success for producers

Granada Television ITV Granada, formerly known as Granada Television, is the ITV franchisee for the North West of England and Isle of Man. From 1956 to 1968 it broadcast to both the north west and Yorkshire but only on weekdays as ABC Weekend Television was its ...

to ask Bullen for further ideas, leading to the commissioning of the long-running television series ''

Cold Feet Cold feet is a phrase that refers to a person not going through with an action, particularly one which requires long term commitment, due to fear, uncertainty, and doubt. A person is said to be "getting cold feet" when, after previously committin ...

''.

Plot

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The ...

supporter Phil ( Con O'Neill) proposes to his girlfriend Bridget (

) on the big screen at

Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in north-west Londo ...

during the

FA Cup Final The FA Cup Final, commonly referred to in England as just the Cup Final, is the last match in the Football Association Challenge Cup. It has regularly been one of the most attended domestic football events in the world, with an official atten ...

. They soon become minor national celebrities, attracting the attention of the tabloid newspaper '' The Sun'' and television presenter

Keith Chegwin Keith Chegwin (17 January 1957 – 11 December 2017) was an English television presenter and actor, appearing in several children's entertainment shows in the 1970s and 1980s, including '' Multi-Coloured Swap Shop'' and ''Cheggers Plays Pop''. ...

. The public frenzy leads Bridget to decide not to marry Phil. The two eventually reconcile and marry out of the public eye.

Production

Believing that there was nothing on British television for people in his age group that was not a soap opera or a costume drama, screenwriter

wrote the script for ''The Perfect Match''. He secured an agent, who managed to sell the script on spec to Andy Harries, controller of comedy at

.Strenske, Bettina (September 1997).
Golden Rose of Montreux for Mike Bullen
. London Screenwriters' Workshop. Retrieved on 17 July 2008. Archived fro

on 13 February 1998. Harries described the writing as "impressive—cleverly constructed dialogue, very funny, well observed"Carter, Meg (9 November 1998).

. ''The Independent'' (Independent News & Media): p. 18 (features section). and commissioned it as part of his drive to move away from making traditional-style

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 ...

s. Bullen described the moment he walked onto the set of ''The Perfect Match'' as "gobsmacking ��wandering around a room which had previously only existed in my head". Filming took place at Wembley Stadium during the

1995 FA Cup Final The 1995 FA Cup Final was a football match played at Wembley Stadium in London on 20 May 1995 to determine the winner of the 1994–95 FA Cup. The 50th FA Cup Final to be played at Wembley since the Second World War, it was contested by Everto ...

between Everton and Manchester United.Jeffries, Stuart (7 September 1995). "Television: Red card for foul play". ''The Guardian'' (Guardian Newspapers): p. 32.

Reception

''The Perfect Match'' was broadcast on the ITV network on 6 September 1995. Jaci Stephen in the ''

Daily Mirror The ''Daily Mirror'' is a British national daily Tabloid journalism, tabloid. Founded in 1903, it is owned by parent company Reach plc. From 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the title on its Masthead (British publishing), masthead was simpl ...

'' wrote "The Perfect Match didn't quite come off. The idea was good enough, but the writing was too cliche-ridden to do justice to it. The interfering mother is a well-known comic figure, and Mike Bullen's script added nothing to the caricature to make a unique character. The tabloid journalist was also a cliche ��The romantic lines could have come straight out of Mills And Boon ��It was watchable enough, and there were lovely performances from the central characters. Tighter script editing, however, could have turned a good drama into an outstanding one." ''The Perfect Match'' also screened at the 1995 Cologne Film Festival, where it was a prizewinner.Girls' Night
. Berlin Film Festival 1998. Retrieved on 15 May 2011.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Perfect Match, The 1995 television films 1995 films British television films Films directed by Nick Hurran Television shows produced by Granada Television English-language television shows