THE END OF WAITING FOR THE END
We've
got into the habit of watching an episode of some old sitcom while we
eat our dinner. Not sure if laughing helps the digestion or not, but
maybe it takes the mind off some of my poorer culinary efforts and
allows them to seem more palatable.
This
daily routine has led to us working our way through series after
series of several comedies from the past, including Ab Fab and
Dinnerladies. The latest one to be polished off was Waiting For God.
Five series and two xmas specials. Originally broadcast in the early
nineties, it hasn't dated too badly - what's changed most is the
person watching them.
For
those who don't know, the series is set in Bayview Retirement
Village, a place where older people come to live out their so-called
twilight years and await the inevitable end. There's a lot of
funerals. The central characters are Tom and Diana, who find
themselves next door neighbours, and the plot revolves around the
development of their relationship and how they take on the world
around them.
Tom
is an ex-accountant, who's lived a mostly boring life and now
compensates by indulging in elaborate fantasies. So he's frequently
off climbing Everest or escaping from Colditz, without leaving the
comfort of his own conservatory. He is cheerful, optimistic,
positive.
Diana
is ... not. She's had an exciting life as an international photo
journalist and now, without that role to give meaning to her life, is
waiting to die. But while she's still around she delights in
making life miserable for all around her. She is abusive,
curmudgeonly, negative.
This
unlikely pair gradually form an alliance (which will later turn into
a sexual and, eventually, romantic relationship) to take on the
injustices they see around them, mostly to do with the manager of
Bayview, the egotistical and materialistic Harvey Bains. The couple
are frequently battling to prevent some money grubbing scheme of
Bains, or making his life generally unpleasant. In return he is
always looking for ways he might be rid of them, especially Diana.
Add
in a few other interesting characters (notably Basil, the
octogenarian sex machine) and sub plots, and the series had enough to
maintain itself across those five series without too often suffering
a dip in quality, largely due to the excellent performances of Graham
Crowden and Stephanie Cole as the troublemaking oldies. It made me
laugh, which is what you ask for most from the genre.
When
it was originally broadcast I was in my late thirties. I enjoyed it
then, or I wouldn't have wanted to revisit. At the time it made a
change to see older people being portrayed as strong central
characters, the people with decency, while those of my generation
were frequently idiots, deceitful and venal, generally lacking in
understanding of what they themselves would become one day (if they
were lucky).
But
now I'm viewing from a different perspective. While I hope it's
a while before I find myself in any sort of retirement/care home
environment (although we can never say what the future holds, as this
year has sharply demonstrated), but I'm certainly a lot nearer to
that stage of my life than I was thirty years ago.
Now
I can view Tom and Diana as role models, for Tom's optimism and
determination to enjoy life, and Diana's bloodymindedness and refusal
to accept the conventional societal role of 'oldie'. Isn’t it
essential that I do, for what's the alternative? A mix of the
fictional Tom and Diana seems a decent template for getting on with
retirement. Have adventures, be daft, push yourself a bit, push
others a lot more, and stand up to the bastards in life - especially
the ones who think the old should be sidelined (although it's hard to
blame younger people getting angry when you see how so many of my
generation selfishly voted in the two referendums). I'm not going to
hang around for anyone's god, but I will enjoy myself.
