I ARRIVED at Cirencester’s Barn Theatre in the apparently unique situation of never having watched the TV series (mostly because I am not a fan of one of the leading actors).

So, with a not just open but totally uninformed mind, I approached Simon Nye’s stage version, set on the night of the Millennium, shunted on a couple of years from the finale of the TV version, which Nye also wrote. I realised this would mean I would not pick up on the cherished catch phrases and situations from the 42 episodes that were originally aired on ITV, and then BBC, between 1992 and 1998. So apologies if this review doesn’t entirely satisfy the MBB afficionados (there were an unusual number of all-male-trios in the Saturday matinee audience.)

Gary, now a father of one and about to be father of two, is in “the flat” where I gather the action mainly took place before. His old friend and flatmate Tony has come round for an evening of reminiscence – a dry evening of reminiscence – on the night before Gary and the long-suffering Dorothy are due to finally tie the knot. And by coincidence it is the Millennium Eve, when the rest of the world is out celebrating.

Deborah, who has upped-sticks and moved to Australia to run a kangaroo refuge, is back over for the big day, and her arrival has sunk Tony into the depths of misery, alleviated only by his own conviction that a few quirky hand-made presents will make her see the error of her ways and come back to him.

The scene is set.

Ross Carswell returns to The Barn in the person of Gary, still rebelling against any idea of growing up, even though a semi-detached in suburbia is beckoning. Matt Howden’s Tony is an endearingly self-pitying mess. Ellie Nunn is the vastly-pregnant but still dependable Dorothy and Tricia Adele-Turner is Deborah, whose essence is perhaps not so thoroughly written as the other trio.

Added in (I think) are Ken the barman and his girlfriend (and Deputy Registrar of Births, Marriages and Deaths) Eve. Neil Jennings’ Ken is a burst of energetic life in what is a rather lethargic first half, and under his guidance we are in a northern pub doing karaoke, a clever transition that takes us through to the Big Day, after the disastrous events of the Millennium hi-jinx (sic).

The second half is both faster and funnier, and provides lots of hilarity including not only wrecked living accomodation and silly outfits but also a Tony dream sequence that had the TV fans cheering. It was just the thing to raise the spirits on another dripping, sodden rainy day in February. The show continues until 7th March.

GP-W

Photographs by Alex Tabrizi