Ab Fab and Albert Square just weren't in the same class as Downton Abbey
By Jaci Stephen
Last updated at 1:01 AM on 26th December 2011
What was it about Downton Abbey on ITV1 that stirred my soul and made it the highlight of my Christmas schedule?
What was it about EastEnders that made me turn to it with a heavy heart?
Why did the Absolutely Fabulous celebrating the comedy’s 20-year anniversary dissatisfy me in a way I would not have believed possible when the brilliant show hit our screens two decades ago?
'Dissatisfying': Jennifer Saunders as Edina and Joanna Lumley as Patsy
Nothing reflects the changes in our lives as much as what appears on our screens. Yesterday, I watched these three shows that have been hugely hyped in the build-up to Christmas — the shows that will have attracted the largest proportion of the audience.
It is my job as a soap critic to watch EastEnders for two hours (sometimes more) a week. It has an extraordinary cast, brilliant writers and, in Bryan Kirkwood, an imaginative producer who pushes boundaries. But even with all this, I still found myself screaming at the screen yesterday. Could somebody not smile — just once — at a pathetic joke in a Christmas cracker? Could the florist not have a Christmas off without at least two people dying?
Ab Fab was even more depressing, not least because I remember the first ever episode when the show aired. My friend and I rang each other up with joyous cries of: ‘It’s us! We’re Patsy and Edina! (pictured left).’ It was one of the greatest sitcoms of all time. But at a time when economic worries and the dangers of alcohol and drugs are so much in the headlines, is it that funny any more?
Anniversary: Ab Fab celebrated 20 years on our screens, but not in a memorable way
How can I laugh along with the canned laughter dubbed over ‘jokes’ about drug abuse and excessive drinking, and not think about Amy Winehouse’s family spending their first Christmas without their daughter? She was a victim of the very culture Absolutely Fabulous celebrated. It is extremely difficult in an economic downturn to celebrate Edina’s constant thirst for Bolly.
And even though Absolutely Fabulous tried to bring the material up to date, it remains a show about one thing: people who indulge and couldn’t give a damn about anyone else.
This just isn’t the time in which to be doing that.
Merry kiss-mass: Downton Abbey was full of optimism
But when it came to Downton, I found the show ticked boxes in ways I could not have imagined. It was the perfect Christmas Day TV. The show also brought us a love story — would Lady Mary end up with the love of her life, once he had got over his dead fiancée?
Now here’s the interesting thing: Downton and EastEnders have exactly the same themes: love, jealousy, hate, power, revenge, despair.
But what Downton delivers is the feel-good factor. It offers escapism — and, in its inherent optimism, the possibility that better times might just be around the corner. Let’s hope Downton is right. Here’s to 2012.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2078608/Downton-Abbey-different-class-EastEnders-Ab-Fab.html#ixzz1heAkUiL4