Oi’ve Got One Word To Say To Youse. Noice!

I must confess to being a secret Kath & Kim fan.

Hey guys, I’m only yuman, roight?

So I’m enjoying the fact that BBC 2 is currently showing series 3 on Monday nights. I’m also sad enough to be getting email updates from the official Kath & Kim site in Australia where they are currently enjoying the new episodes of series 4. But it’s a (veggie)mite frustrating knowing we’ll have to wait a good 6 months before they hit our TV screens here in the UK...

For those of you who don’t know the show it’s a weird mix of sit-com, docu-drama and soap. Kind of like Neighbours meets French & Saunders. The humour (or yumour) isn’t to everybody’s taste I must admit but it’s a real shame that the show isn’t as big in the UK as its fans here would like it to be. Nevertheless the girls have built up a respectable and loyal following outside of Oz.

Although the show frequently utilizes slapstick and some fabulous comedy set-pieces what I like most about it is the way the show constantly plays with, twists and mangles the English language. You have to listen very closely to all the conversations or you’ll miss some real gems...

Pacifically, things like the dreadfully permed Kath Day-Knight telling her bitchy daughter, Kim, that Kel (Kath’s husband) thinks her hair is her “clowning glory”... it’s delivered deadpan and in all seriousness and actually makes us feel a great deal of affection for the hapless characters. The joke is always on them, never on us, and yet we persistently wish them all well – even as we’re hooting with laughter at their latest predicament.

In fact the show’s stars/writers – Jane Turner and Gina Riley – constantly walk a fine line between the grotesque and the loveable but always manage to keep the viewers in a warm and friendly place, even when the action is making you cringe with embarrassment.

There’s a realness to the character’s relationships too which makes them easy to indemnify with – the same quality that makes Only Fools & Horses so great but is sadly lacking in new shows like Hyperdrive. It’s a corny thing to say but Kath & Kim has got real emotional heart.

It’s also got an ex-navy butcher with a penchant for man-bags and disturbingly short shorts and the fabulously funny Magda Szubanski as Sharon Strezlecki whose unquenchable sporting fanaticism in light of her morbid obesity is always handled with a curious sense of respect rather than ridicule.

What can I say? The girl’s have got unimpoachable standards as well as being absolute horn-bags. Do yourselves a favour and tune in, toot sweet...