Tag: David Tennant

Staged (2020) s02

So when we watched the first series of “Staged,” I’d forgotten the original episodes were fifteen minutes; we watched the extended ones. Now, this second series either doesn’t have extended episodes or doesn’t have extended episodes yet. Eight episodes, fifteen minutes each, works out to a grand total of two hours. And I don’t know if the original series feels like this one—when it’s just leads David Tennant and Michael Sheen bantering their way through the main plot with the slightest diversion into the supporting cast—or if the original series is more balanced.

Because there’s no subplots in series two. It’s all about the guest stars each episode and whether or not they can get bigger names. It starts with Michael Palin in the first episode of the series, but the guest star gets increase over time. They save the Oscar winner for the last episode again.

This series is about the the series; Sheen, Tennant, and Simon Evans created this show for the BBC called “Staged,” it was popular, now they’re going to be making an American version only it’s not going to involve Sheen and Tennant. They’re recasting it. So this second series becomes Sheen and Tennant in video chats with whichever guest stars, who often are doing scenes from the first series, playing Sheen and Tennant. It’s often very funny and an episode’s success entirely hinges on the guest stars they’re able to get, which also might’ve been the case in the first series and they just added the subplots involving the supporting cast to the extended editions.

For example, there’s seemingly a subplot for wives Georgia Tennant and Anna Lundberg (and fellow girl Lucy Eaton, Simon’s sister) but it only gets a handful of scenes and we don’t even get to see the pay-off from it. The pay-offs always about the guest stars they’re able to get.

And it’s kind of hard to talk about the guest stars because they’re varied—multiple UK movie and TV stars from famous shows and movies, then the occasional American (which often plays even better because the Americans don’t approach Sheen and Tennant with the professional expectations their UK colleagues put on them). While the American movie stars are the biggest names, they actually tend to have been in more successful projects than their British counterparts. But then it’s going to be spoilers, because every time one of the guest stars shows up, it’s an almost immediate surprise laugh. Because it’s just Sheen and Tennant, who are working with the opposite’s potential actor—so Tennant works with the Sheen actors and Sheen works with the Tennant actors—they all eventually turn into these hilarious bad talk therapy sessions as Sheen and Tennant try to work out their hostilities with each other on the guest stars.

Except since the first series is fictional in the second series, there’s none of that existing character development—initially they even have Sheen play the more Tennant temperament and vice versa–and with no time for subplots, it’s all about the banter and who can banter the best. Until the last guest star episode, where the show once again brings out the big guns, usually Sheen and Tennant “win” their banter scenes with the guest stars. There are a couple notable exceptions. Again, no spoilers, but they’re the Americans.

One of the other things about the show is the reduction of Evans’s part; he’s now in Los Angeles—the series takes place in a window where lockdown had ended and everyone’s trying to get on with their lives, which dates it far more than the first series because the video chatting seems a lot more contrived—but anyway, Evans is in L.A. and he’s working on the new show and deceiving Tennant and Sheen about their roles in it. It’s a glorified cameo.

Though then again everyone from the first series has a glorified cameo, with the wives just scenery and Eaton basically just around a couple times in case you missed her. Given Eaton and Evans had the best character arc in the first series (though probably only in the extended episodes), it feels a lot more like a gimmick than an actual narrative this time around.

For regular supporting cast, the series adds Whoopi Goldberg not playing Whoopi Goldberg, but playing Sheen and Tennant’s agent. Ben Schwartz plays her assistant, who’s got a mad crush on Tennant, something Sheen enjoys leveraging. It’s a pointless stunt cast on Goldberg, who’s barely in it. Schwartz is funny but it’s one note.

“Staged: Series Two” has a great cast, hilarious episodes, a downright rewarding conclusion, but it compares rather poorly to the original series. It doesn’t ask much from Sheen and Tennant, instead just riffing on things they did last series, sometimes to hilarious effect but it’s always easy. And entirely contingent on having seen the first series, which—depending on the version you watched—might make this series seem paltry in comparison.

I’m curious if there will be extended versions but also rather cautious about them. It’s good, but a disappointment. More of it might just be more disappointing.

If you’ve seen the first series, it’s a solid two hour binge watch. Even if you saw the extended versions—the second series plays like a home video special feature—though at that point, they could’ve gone even shorter with this series as a postscript for the first. Like as an hour long holiday special or something.

Staged (2020) s2

So when we watched the first series of “Staged,” I’d forgotten the original episodes were fifteen minutes; we watched the extended ones. Now, this second series either doesn’t have extended episodes or doesn’t have extended episodes yet. Eight episodes, fifteen minutes each, works out to a grand total of two hours. And I don’t know if the original series feels like this one—when it’s just leads David Tennant and Michael Sheen bantering their way through the main plot with the slightest diversion into the supporting cast—or if the original series is more balanced.

Because there’s no subplots in series two. It’s all about the guest stars each episode and whether or not they can get bigger names. It starts with Michael Palin in the first episode of the series, but the guest star gets increase over time. They save the Oscar winner for the last episode again.

This series is about the the series; Sheen, Tennant, and Simon Evans created this show for the BBC called “Staged,” it was popular, now they’re going to be making an American version only it’s not going to involve Sheen and Tennant. They’re recasting it. So this second series becomes Sheen and Tennant in video chats with whichever guest stars, who often are doing scenes from the first series, playing Sheen and Tennant. It’s often very funny and an episode’s success entirely hinges on the guest stars they’re able to get, which also might’ve been the case in the first series and they just added the subplots involving the supporting cast to the extended editions.

For example, there’s seemingly a subplot for wives Georgia Tennant and Anna Lundberg (and fellow girl Lucy Eaton, Simon’s sister) but it only gets a handful of scenes and we don’t even get to see the pay-off from it. The pay-offs always about the guest stars they’re able to get.

And it’s kind of hard to talk about the guest stars because they’re varied—multiple UK movie and TV stars from famous shows and movies, then the occasional American (which often plays even better because the Americans don’t approach Sheen and Tennant with the professional expectations their UK colleagues put on them). While the American movie stars are the biggest names, they actually tend to have been in more successful projects than their British counterparts. But then it’s going to be spoilers, because every time one of the guest stars shows up, it’s an almost immediate surprise laugh. Because it’s just Sheen and Tennant, who are working with the opposite’s potential actor—so Tennant works with the Sheen actors and Sheen works with the Tennant actors—they all eventually turn into these hilarious bad talk therapy sessions as Sheen and Tennant try to work out their hostilities with each other on the guest stars.

Except since the first series is fictional in the second series, there’s none of that existing character development—initially they even have Sheen play the more Tennant temperament and vice versa–and with no time for subplots, it’s all about the banter and who can banter the best. Until the last guest star episode, where the show once again brings out the big guns, usually Sheen and Tennant “win” their banter scenes with the guest stars. There are a couple notable exceptions. Again, no spoilers, but they’re the Americans.

One of the other things about the show is the reduction of Evans’s part; he’s now in Los Angeles—the series takes place in a window where lockdown had ended and everyone’s trying to get on with their lives, which dates it far more than the first series because the video chatting seems a lot more contrived—but anyway, Evans is in L.A. and he’s working on the new show and deceiving Tennant and Sheen about their roles in it. It’s a glorified cameo.

Though then again everyone from the first series has a glorified cameo, with the wives just scenery and Eaton basically just around a couple times in case you missed her. Given Eaton and Evans had the best character arc in the first series (though probably only in the extended episodes), it feels a lot more like a gimmick than an actual narrative this time around.

For regular supporting cast, the series adds Whoopi Goldberg not playing Whoopi Goldberg, but playing Sheen and Tennant’s agent. Ben Schwartz plays her assistant, who’s got a mad crush on Tennant, something Sheen enjoys leveraging. It’s a pointless stunt cast on Goldberg, who’s barely in it. Schwartz is funny but it’s one note.

“Staged: Series Two” has a great cast, hilarious episodes, a downright rewarding conclusion, but it compares rather poorly to the original series. It doesn’t ask much from Sheen and Tennant, instead just riffing on things they did last series, sometimes to hilarious effect but it’s always easy. And entirely contingent on having seen the first series, which—depending on the version you watched—might make this series seem paltry in comparison.

I’m curious if there will be extended versions but also rather cautious about them. It’s good, but a disappointment. More of it might just be more disappointing.

If you’ve seen the first series, it’s a solid two hour binge watch. Even if you saw the extended versions—the second series plays like a home video special feature—though at that point, they could’ve gone even shorter with this series as a postscript for the first. Like as an hour long holiday special or something.

Takin’ Over the Asylum (1994) s01e06 – Let It Be

The last episode takes place over at most a week, but it feels like much longer. There’s this “show don’t tell” backfire where Ken Stott has hit bottom and he’s laying about in a destroyed apartment, on a bender, and then we find out it’s like three hours after the last scene. And we’ve missed the most important character development he could’ve had in the skipped time.

Everything gets a resolution this episode, which is again very impressive plotting from Donna Franceschild. Thanks to her and director David Blair, “Takin’ Over the Asylum” has a lot of impact in its six hours. Though… I guess it might play different if you’re watching it weekly and not binging over a few days.

Anyway.

While Stott’s got his home with grandma Elizabeth Spriggs moving back to Lithuania (to die, like short long-term plan, which is actually the grimmest “Asylum” gets and it’s real grim), his work with boss Roy Hanlon (who’s got some amazing monologues this episode), the radio show drama with David Tennant at Radio Scotland (they’re waiting to hear back on the response to their pilot), and then Katy Murphy being near catatonic after the events of the previous episode… the show still finds time to give Ruth McCabe a full arc, for episode and show.

Jon Morrison is back as McCabe’s husband, checking in on her at the residential apartments or whatever the euphemism (bed and breakfast, I think), when she finds out she’s got her placement in the nice place. Now, originally the show said that placement would take months, though… in some ways, McCabe’s arc this episode is so entirely disconnected from the rest of it maybe its got a different present action. Certainly feels like it.

It’s also great. McCabe and Morrison get this fantastic spotlight as they try to make sense of their lives after the various tragedies. It balances out Murphy not being too active in her own arc with Stott.

When the episode—and show—ends the Stott arc, the McCabe and Morrison one has done some heavy lifting through juxtaposition, if not directly saying things relevant to Stott and Murphy’s not dissimilar situation, then making a lot of implications about it. I just thought of another one, in fact.

It’s deft writing from Franceschild, well-directed by Blair, but a little too clean. “Asylum” could’ve ended stronger. Though… it’s hard to say what impact the original recording of Let It Be would’ve had. The show does adequate cover versions but they’re always clearly cover versions.

The narrative balance would’ve still been off.

“Asylum”’s actors could’ve used another episode—Tennant especially, he’s been a great, but glorified sidekick since episode two—and it certainly seems like Franceschild and Blair could’ve delivered it, but there might just be too much sadness to it at episode seven.

“Takin’ Over the Asylum”’s an exceptional show. It’s ambitious, it’s assured, great writing from Franceschild, great performances from Stott, McCabe, Tennant, Murphy—Hanlon. Wonderful, wonderful Hanlon. It also puts your heart into a meat grinder and turns and turns and turns.

It’s a guilty relief when it’s over.

Takin’ Over the Asylum (1994) s01e05 – Rainy Night in Georgia

I guess it’s Katy Murphy’s spotlight episode now? The question mark because Murphy’s entirely in support of Ken Stott throughout the episode, so even though she’s in it more and we finally find out her backstory, she’s just the love interest. Especially when Stott’s drinking problems come up—he makes a full disclosure about it to her; to be fair, the drinking at work seemed so casually accepted I thought it was just Scotland in 1994.

But, no, it’s actually a big problem. Especially now Stott and David Tennant seem on the verge of getting a gig at Radio Scotland. It’s really interesting to see how “Asylum” presents Stott’s anxiety over meeting with producer Arabella Weir, as he’s ostensibly the only well-adjusted lead character. Lots of good acting from Stott. Lots. Even if it comes at the expense of other actors, like Tennant and Murphy. Murphy so, so much.

There’s a whole kittens in the wild needing protection and tween boys starting fires subplot, which has tragic consequences but also very human ones, leaving Stott—not Murphy—to realize more about the reality of the hospital and how it actually functions.

Stott’s also got home and work issues—grandmother Elizabeth Spriggs is serious about moving to Lithuania and she really wants Stott to pay for it, which leads to more of an emphasis on work—including getting in a feud with alpha salesman Neil McKinven. As usual, Roy Hanlon’s amazing as Stott’s boss. There’s a whole shenanigan sequence with McKiven, Stott, and Hanlon, which seems like screwball—with director David Blair keeping it from going too far—but only Hanlon is at home in the mixed genres. He’s so good.

But it’s not entirely Stott-centered (with Murphy and Tennant his sidekicks), there’s also the ongoing tragedy of Ruth McCabe’s living situation. She’s still literally hiding from the social worker so she doesn’t get dumped at a gross halfway house. While definitely effective, the humor isn’t quite gallows enough. Writer Donna Franceschild never quite figures it out, even when the arc seemingly resolves here.

As usual, it’s an excellent hour of television. The way Murphy’s still a mystery for Stott to unravel versus the guest lead is unfortunate, albeit narratively driven.

The cliffhanger’s probably the show’s bleakest to date, which is saying something.

Takin’ Over the Asylum (1994) s01e04 – Fool on the Hill

With the radio station seemingly on steady ground for the first time the whole show, “Takin’ Over the Asylum” gets going on some more subplots. This episode gives Angus Macfadyen a spotlight, the station’s de facto engineer who’s about to get released and needs help from someone on the outside to get a job. Luckily, Ken Stott’s willing to give him a good reference, though things at the window company are getting iffy for Stott after boss Roy Hanlon finds out about him volunteering at a mental hospital to run their radio station.

Volunteering isn’t something a salesman should do, Hanlon says. Because salesmen are quite obviously terrible human beings.

But Stott’s also got a lot of other things going on. He takes Katy Murphy on something like a proper date, grandmother Elizabeth Spriggs announces she’s returning to Lithuania to live out her last days and Stott needs to pay for it, and then the small matter of David Tennant getting he and Stott an audition at Radio Scotland.

There’s this great clash of dreams with Stott and Tennant, with Stott getting so close to such an old dream while Tennant’s getting so close so fast. Their success—or nearness to success—comes as Macfadyen clashes with new doctor Kika Markham over his future potential and with hospital administrator Sandra Voe, who refuses to let Macfadyen do technical work in the radio station. And then there’s Ruth McCabe, who’s having to hide from nurse Angela Bruce and the social worker because she’s about to get kicked of the hospital and into a “bed and breakfast” group home because her husband doesn’t want to take her back.

Macfadyen’s got an exceptional arc this episode, with a lot to do at various times, and some excellent support from Murphy. Donna Franceschild’s script once again finds this wonderful way of connecting the characters and subplots, which leads to these profound moments of character development. Really good performance from Macfadyen here; he’s been the most supporting of the radio station “staff” (though maybe it just took until episode four for his spotlight) and he does a fine job scaling up to lead here.

Despite not mentioning him much just because of the nature of the episode structure, Tennant does a great job on his arc too. “Asylum” has its protagonist, Stott, but when Tennant’s on screen you forget he’s not the star. And then Franceschild and director David Blair figure how to spotlight an additional “temporary” lead with Macfadyen. It’s really well-done. This episode’s probably the series’s most impressive so far, if not just the best overall.

Takin’ Over the Asylum (1994) s01e03 – You Always Hurt the One You Love

Was there a doctor appearance last episode? I can’t remember. This episode has the first doctor-involved subplot, this time doctor David Robb, who can’t see a reason to keep Ruth McCabe in the hospital anymore since all she needs is medication to keep her OCD in check and her husband, Jon Morrison (incorrectly credited as Jim Morrison, which almost seems intentional since a Doors poster is prominent in radio station shots), is willing to take her back if she’ll just take that medicine.

Of course, McCabe doesn’t want to take the medicine. She’s been flourishing at the radio station and felt good about herself. David Tennant is basically McCabe’s sidekick for this arc, with her figuring into his arc about saving the radio station. But we also get to hear about McCabe’s backstory, which involves a whole bunch of tragedy and a whole bunch of psychological abuse from Morrison. Except—and the show’s amazing about how it acknowledges this facet without any sort of judgment–Morrison’s kind of dumb. Like. He’s a dumb lug and even though he’s a dick, he’s not unsympathetic. Writer Donna Franceschild does a phenomenal job weaving the subplots through one another, with Tennant’s subplot informing McCabe’s not just throughout but also in their resolutions. It’s deftly done.

Similarly, Ken Stott’s got a lot to do with the saving the station arc—though mostly crapping on it because he’s being a pessimist because he just got to this place two episodes ago and it didn’t seem to occur to the people who brought him in—those unseen people—they might need to keep the equipment running. Sandra Voe is back to rain on Stott’s parade—no money from the hospital and also don’t get too close to those damaged patients. Particularly Katy Murphy, who Stott continues to gently court, often making predictable and unpredictable mistakes.

We find out Stott’s sweet on Murphy for sure when grandma Elizabeth Spriggs presses him on why doesn’t he have a wife yet and why doesn’t she have three great-grandchildren like her friends. Spriggs is a weird character; she ought to be some kind of comic relief but instead she’s just tragic and depressing.

Meanwhile at work, Stott’s now in the elite salesman of the month club, which pisses off work adversary Neil McKinven, who’s now out to get Stott for not being a real salesman. We also miss out on Stott’s speech accepting the award. It does seem like that scene should have been in there, if only to give Stott some awkward time at the podium with obnoxious boss Roy Hanlon.

It’s a somewhat circular episode—the radio station plot is always in pseudo-motion only to get back to where it started from—but the great character development keeps it all moving forward.

Takin’ Over the Asylum (1994) s01e02 – Fly Like an Eagle

This episode seemingly takes place soon after the first one—Ken Stott is giving David Tennant DJ lessons—but apparently in the meantime Stott’s had a chance to look at the station’s accounting since he took over. There’s a subplot about hospital money person Sandra Voe wanting to see Stott’s books for running the radio station and it really seems like he’s only been there two or three times and he brought his own records. When we do get around to seeing the book props, they’re entirely filled out—it’s a plot point getting them filled out but not their content. It’s strange TV show logic in a show seemingly dedicated to not doing such narrative efficiencies.

For example, Stott gentle but still awkward courtship of Katy Murphy. He’s trying to get her interested in the radio station but she’s seemingly not at all.

Meanwhile, Tennant’s got a subplot about his dad—James Grant—ready to take him out of the hospital but only if Tennant gets a job and moves to Perth (Scotland, presumably). And he doesn’t want to hear about Tennant’s wild dreams of becoming a radio DJ, which it turns out would suit the hospital just fine too. See, according to Voe, the hospital never intended for the patients to get interested in the radio station, but other outside volunteers. Don’t trust the patients, she tells Stott.

So it’s hard for Voe not to be a villain this episode. Even when Stott gets a workplace nemesis too. The biggest plots are Tennant and his dad and Stott and work. Everything else is just in-between, but very nicely balanced. Again, Donna Franceschild’s script, David Blair’s direction—excellent work. Stott’s so broke he can’t even pay for the TV license, which majorly pisses off grandma Elizabeth Spriggs, and he’s got to figure out how to sell some windows fast. Because he’s already lied to boss Roy Hanlon, which super-salesman Neil McKinven has noticed and now McKinven has got Stott in his crosshairs.

Luckily, Stott’s got a subplot with guest star Liz Smith as an annoying old lady who he just can’t shake and it’s all going to work out fine. Or at least fine enough to get us to another episode in the end.

Most of the plot lines come together at the end for a bit of a Tennant showcase and gets the series through its first act.

Stott’s still good, Tennant’s still charming—the episode’s a little shaky figuring out how to incorporate Stott’s home and work with the hospital, but it’s finding its footing and has figured out how to get Ruth McCabe on the radio team permanent. The subtle character development is outstanding; the show’s able to get to big dramatic moments without them ever seeming too much. Something about Blair’s direction tempers it all perfectly.

“Takin’ Over the Asylum” is working out to be a rather good show.

Takin’ Over the Asylum (1994) s01e01 – Hey Jude

From the opening, it’s hard to tell if “Takin’ Over the Asylum” is going to be a comedy or not. Window salesman Ken Stott is rushing out of a customer’s house for some reason, running away from a potential sale apparently—I’m not sure you need to have seen Glengarry Glen Ross or Tin Men to really grok the sales culture but they sure helped me with it—because he’s late for his radio show. Stott’s got an oldies show he’s been doing for eight years and it turns out it’s his last show because he’s a volunteer and Ashley Jensen’s staff and she wants her own show and people might actually listen to hers. It’s a quick cameo from Jensen as the hip mid-nineties alternative fan versus classic rock means the fifties too guy Stott.

So Stott’s out. But the radio station manager does tell him about another potential gig, resurrecting the radio station at a local mental hospital. At this point it no longer seems like the show can be a comedy because the title’s so direct it’d be weird to subvert it. Contraction not withstanding.

Before Stott gets to the hospital—St. Jude’s, hence the episode title—we also meet his disappointed Lithuanian grandmother Elizabeth Spriggs. She lives with Stott. Oh. They’re Scottish. It’s not really super important to know right off because once David Tennant shows up, he’s flamboyantly Scottish. Tennant’s a patient at the hospital and quickly becomes Stott’s sidekick, whether Stott wants one or not.

The show’s got an interesting way of handling the radio station at the hospital—we don’t get a big tour, we don’t get to meet Stott’s boss, instead, he just goes to the radio station and starts getting to work. He meets nurse Angela Bruce, who’s around but in the background. No doctors lurking about either. It’s mostly just Stott and the patients (though also jerk tough guy Kenneth Bryans is around for roughing up unruly patients). This episode focuses on Mary MacLeod, who’s speaking something language she’s made up so no one even knows her name for sure.

Outside Tennant, MacLeod becomes Stott’s first real listener. His radio show goes up against some pretty popular television programs the patients prefer watching, so it takes a whole scheme to get people interested in the radio station. As it unfolds, we meet some more of the regular cast, Angus Macfadyen and Ruth McCabe. McCabe’s got OCD and cleans everything, including the disaster zone station, Macfadyen’s a tech genius who can help with the busted old radio equipment.

We also briefly meet a fetching lady patient, Katy Murphy, who Stott notes until her behavior starts throwing him off. And then his boss at the window company—Roy Hanlon—who plays it outrageous, almost absurdist humor without a laugh track and it’s mesmerizingly good.

The finale goes for a sharp stab to the heart; the show’s off to an excellent start. Stott’s great, Tennant’s charming; excellent writing from Donna Franceschild and good direction from David Blair.

Staged (2020) s01e06 – The Cookie Jar, the extended version

“Staged” brings out its biggest gun this episode—bigger than Sam Jackson—but I can’t spoil because it’s way too perfect. There are some great jokes going back to the first episode as we find out how David Tennant and Michael Sheen are going to be able to get over themselves and work on this play together.

Well. Not exactly because the episode starts with Tennant ready to quit the play and not just because Sheen has discovered another thing Tennant doesn’t know but really should know so gets to mock him for it. There’s a little comeuppance for Sheen later one—in the big gun segment, which is perfect—but then the ending sequence kind of makes it all about Tennant being inept again.

It’s funny stuff. And eventually as close to wholesome as “Staged” has ever gotten. But it does lead to the most affecting character development on the show being Lucy Eaton and Simon Davis, as adult siblings who manage to reconnect during lockdown in no small part due to Davis being a bit of a dip, and then Sheen’s concern for his elderly and always offscreen neighbor. The Sheen subplot means more for Anne Lundberg.

Meanwhile, all the Tennant household gets a screenwriting subplot so David doesn’t feel too inferior to novelist wife Georgia. Again… making David Tennant the dopey dad is a waste of talent and way too easy. Though given the lockdown constraint, I guess it should get a pass. Right?

Anyway.

There’s another great scene from Nina Sosanya as the play producer who manages to know more about what’s going on without talking to the stars than Davis who is talking to the stars.

It’s a very nice finish to the series; makes you wonder if they had the special guest star in mind all the time. Because sometimes deus ex machina stunt casts are the right choice.

Staged (2020) s01e05 – Ulysses, the extended version

Two observations after this episode. “Staged” does really well with guest stars—Adrian Lester shows up, more on him in a bit—and it’s relying a little too much on the too easy “David Tennant is the earnestly obtuse one” bit. This episode has Tennant surprised no one else dreams about him, which is really funny but also incredibly… easy. Like, “Staged” has its easy already—Michael Sheen ranting and raving is easy, but glorious. It just seems like giving Tennant the Mutt part is too easy.

Especially since the show’s decidedly not a family sitcom about David and Georgia Tennant’s life during Covid lockdown because their kids aren’t in the show. There are kids, they’re just always offscreen.

Anyway.

Lester. So good. He has this whole arc where he gets, well, emotionally damaged—just a bit—from interacting too much with Sheen and Tennant and it’s really good. The laugh is never about Lester having a rough time during lockdown but it’s still an integral detail of the joke. Really impressively done.

Then the cliffhanger is quite good too. They switch over to drama—“Staged” is able to scale from the gimmicky comedy aspect to the dramatics quite well (not so much with the Tennant household) but otherwise. Like with Simon Evans and Lucy Eaton. Their character development over the season has been great.

Oh, and Amy Lundberg’s really good this episode. Her character is basically delicate artist Sheen’s keeper or tender or whatever, but when it hits the dramatics she moves over to them quite nimbly.

“Staged” works well. Even with the asterisks, it definitely works.