A curious beast is Kinvig, written by Nigel Kneale, he of Quatermass and the Pit fame, trying his hand at a sci-fi comedy.
An owner of an electronics repair shop, Des Kinvig, a work-shy lump (Des Kinvig is an anagram of Skiving Ed!?) and his best mate, Jim Piper, also work-shy with both living on the dole, are both leading an otherwise humdrum life and wasting time together, but when a new stranger, Miss Griffin, steps into their lives, they suddenly fall into a much more interesting world, full of invading aliens, dangerous missions, and secret liaisons with a sexy undercover space girl!
But is it real or is it all just a fantasy fed by their mutual interest in UFOs, conspiracy theories and sci-fi movies? Well unfortunately it's not left ambiguous at all, as the writing in some episodes, particularly in The Big Benders (yes really) makes it utterly explicit that none of it is real, it's all just Des and Jim putting two and two together to make Xux.
The casting is good, the acting great, the effects aren't bad at all for the time, but the lack of ambiguity doesn't leave space for any sympathy for the two main characters or their interests, we're obviously just meant to laugh at them for being dumb enough to like sci-fi and believe in aliens, which is really odd considering the potential audience.
It's such a great shame because there's a lot to love here and the actors do such a great job that you really want it to work, but asides from maybe three out of the seven episodes it just never quite sits right. Yet with a few tweaks, perhaps season two might have really been something.
A curious lost gem, funny and clever, and despite the writers best efforts I found myself empathising with Des and Jim, they're just two dreamers escaping their humdrum lives by living out a mutual fantasy together to widen their tiny role in the world, and we've all been there.
Definitely worth a look.
An owner of an electronics repair shop, Des Kinvig, a work-shy lump (Des Kinvig is an anagram of Skiving Ed!?) and his best mate, Jim Piper, also work-shy with both living on the dole, are both leading an otherwise humdrum life and wasting time together, but when a new stranger, Miss Griffin, steps into their lives, they suddenly fall into a much more interesting world, full of invading aliens, dangerous missions, and secret liaisons with a sexy undercover space girl!
But is it real or is it all just a fantasy fed by their mutual interest in UFOs, conspiracy theories and sci-fi movies? Well unfortunately it's not left ambiguous at all, as the writing in some episodes, particularly in The Big Benders (yes really) makes it utterly explicit that none of it is real, it's all just Des and Jim putting two and two together to make Xux.
The casting is good, the acting great, the effects aren't bad at all for the time, but the lack of ambiguity doesn't leave space for any sympathy for the two main characters or their interests, we're obviously just meant to laugh at them for being dumb enough to like sci-fi and believe in aliens, which is really odd considering the potential audience.
It's such a great shame because there's a lot to love here and the actors do such a great job that you really want it to work, but asides from maybe three out of the seven episodes it just never quite sits right. Yet with a few tweaks, perhaps season two might have really been something.
A curious lost gem, funny and clever, and despite the writers best efforts I found myself empathising with Des and Jim, they're just two dreamers escaping their humdrum lives by living out a mutual fantasy together to widen their tiny role in the world, and we've all been there.
Definitely worth a look.