''Grandma's House'' is a

sitcom A sitcom (short for situation comedy or situational comedy) is a genre of comedy produced for radio and television, that centers on a recurring cast of character (arts), characters as they navigate humorous situations within a consistent settin ...

television series broadcast on

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's second flagship channel, and it covers a wide range of subject matte ...

. Written by Simon Amstell 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 Linda Bassett (born 4 February 1950) is an English actress. Her television credits include Victoria Wood's '' dinnerladies'' (1999), '' Lark Rise to Candleford'' (2008–11), '' Grandma's House'' (2010–12) and ''Call the Midwife'' (2015–pre ...

) 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 Simon Amstell 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

. These were filmed at

Pinewood Studios Pinewood Studios is a British film and television studio located in the village of Iver Heath, England. It is approximately west of central London. The studio has been the base for many productions over the years from large-scale films to t ...

. 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 Educat ...

, 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'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 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 Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' 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 ''The Jewish Chronicle'' (''The JC'') is a London-based Jewish weekly newspaper. Founded in 1841, it is the oldest continuously published Jewish newspaper in the world. Its editor () is Daniel Schwammenthal. The newspaper is published every Fri ...

'' were pleased that the show was bringing Jewish humour to mainstream audiences and the newspaper also described the show as "genius".

Awards

DVD release

2 Entertain 2 Entertain Video Limited, trading as BBC Studios Home Entertainment, is a British video and music publisher founded in 2004 following the merger of BBC Video and Video Collection International by BBC Worldwide and the Woolworths Group respe ...

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

making-of https://www Googlefinans.co= In filmmaking, behind-the-scenes (BTS), also known as the making-of, the set, or on the set, is a documentary film that features the production of a film or television program. This is often referred to as the EPK ( ...

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 Family 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 family and teen entertainment programming. The channel oper ...

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 LGBTQ-related comedy television series Jewish comedy and humor Television series by Tiger Aspect Productions Television series by Banijay British English-language television shows Television shows set in London