Mount Pleasant has been an unparalleled joy

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Mount Pleasant has been an unparalleled joy

July 02, 2017 - 11:28
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Last autumn, I gushed when I wrote about the sixth series of Mount Pleasant, Sky One’s superlative comedy drama. After another superb ten episodes of tears, laughter and a terrific mix of light and shade, there was no doubt in my mind that, come September 2017, I’d be sitting down again to enjoy another run. Sadly, that wasn’t to be. For some inexplicable reason, Sky bosses have decided that enough is enough, and have put the ‘cull’ into the cul-de-sac.

Mount Pleasant

By Matthew Gormley @MatthewPGormley

Last autumn, I gushed when I wrote about the sixth series of Mount Pleasant, Sky One’s superlative comedy drama. After another superb ten episodes of tears, laughter and a terrific mix of light and shade, there was no doubt in my mind that, come September 2017, I’d be sitting down again to enjoy another run. Sadly, that wasn’t to be. For some inexplicable reason, Sky bosses have decided that enough is enough, and have put the ‘cull’ into the cul-de-sac.

Thankfully, rather than stopping the series dead in its tracks, we were given the opportunity to bid farewell with this ninety minute special. The self-contained episode had all the ingredients of a classic dose of Mount Pleasant.

In our last ever trip to the idyllic cul-de-sac in a seemingly affluent area of Manchester, it was Dan and Lisa’s (Dan Ryan and Sally Lindsay) 25th wedding anniversary. Lisa (Sally Lindsay) was offered a life-changing job opportunity in Milton Keynes, which she promptly accepted without so much as a thought for how her family and friends might react to the news. Within three hours, she’d planned a whole new life for herself and her family, mentally spending the money that she hadn’t yet earned. Lisa’s dad Barry (Bobby Hall) and Dan’s mum Pauline (Paula Wilcox) sent them on an overnight trip to a Blackpool B ‘n’ B to mark their silver celebration, much to Lisa’s initial disgust. She was expecting a gondola ride in Venice or lunch at The Louvre in Paris.

The script writers were in danger of turning down-to-earth Lisa into a modern incarnation of Hyacinth Bouquet as she encouraged husband Dan to swap their poky room, complete with single beds and no bath, for a posh hotel, just off the motorway. She turned her nose up at fish and chips on the promenade, opting instead for fine dining in a suave hotel, where the portions were so small they barely existed. As it looked like one of the most believable marriages on television was drifting into choppy waters, the moment was salvaged by the realisation that she was trying to become somebody else. It was one of the many poignant moments between the pair that have bridged the gap between comedy and drama over the years. The pair’s eyes lit up simultaneously as she pulled on a Kiss Me Quick hat, dropped all pretences and dragged Dan up the sea front for a chippy supper.

One of my favourite elements of Mount Pleasant has always been the montage sequence which concludes each episode. It was a unique way of providing a glimpse into the lives of each of the characters at that particular moment in time. Producers would have missed a trick if they hadn’t put the montage to use in Blackpool. Luckily, they did, as we saw Lisa and Dan race around the Pleasure Beach, riding the big dipper and struggling to get to grips with the dodgems in a series of clips set to Alright by Supergrass. It perfectly summed up what Mount Pleasant is all about.

Meanwhile, back at the close, no sooner had the bickering pair left for Blackpool and their house was ransacked by a gang of youths, after Dan violently clipped their wing mirror, sending it flying clean off onto the pavement. Choosing to flee the scene in the light of day, driving a ‘Dan Johnson Plumbing’ van was only going to end one way.

Perhaps for the very first time, Mount Pleasant became a little far-fetched. Hero of the hour Barry decided that Lisa and Dan should never know. All they had to do was tidy up and redecorate the whole house in order to disguise the graffiti that was sprayed all over the walls. Repaint, wallpaper and replace the carpets in under 24 hours. As you do.

We can forgive the writers, though, as they meant well. The whole bunch pulled together to save the day. While it may have stretched the boundary of belief just a little, it didn’t matter. This was the kind of heart-warming, fuzzy plot that Mount Pleasant has gained so much affection for. Their hard-work almost paid off, as Dan and Lisa returned, none the wiser that their gorgeous, modern home had, the previous day, been a shell of its former glory. That was, until they ran a bath and the steam caused the newly applied layer of wallpaper to peel away. The bathroom scene was a nice throwback to the show’s early days, when we frequently saw the couple sharing an enormous bathtub in the middle of a bathroom that would be an interior designer’s dream.

While Lisa and Dan were front and centre of the finale, it wasn’t just the Johnsons who were on track for their happy ending. Fergus and his ex-wife Jayne got back together, with work-shy Jayne even looking for a job. Dan’s widowed mother Pauline fell for the charms of late newcomer Callum (Mark Brotherhood), police constable Cameron Miller (Patrick Robinson) got his old job Inspector job back and his painfully naive apprentice Ollie (Jordan) became a Sergeant. All’s well that ends well.

In an interview with Good Morning Britain on Thursday, Sally Lindsay didn’t dance around the fact that she can’t understand why the decision was made to cancel the series. Emotions were running high both on and off set, as Sally claimed her tears in the final scene were real. As I’m sure were the tears of many of the show’s loyal fans.

Lisa announced that she couldn’t leave her cushy life in Mount Pleasant behind for Milton Keynes, leaving the door open for a possible return in the future. If I were a telly exec, I’d be buying the rights to this series immediately and taking it to a terrestrial channel. It’s criminal that this joyous series has been buried away on Sky. It’s fared extremely well in the ratings for a digital channel, but had it been broadcast in a 9 o’clock slot on ITV, it would have been enormous, undoubtedly replicating the success of Cold Feet in the early 2000s.

Friday’s finale was a fitting farewell to our favourite northern cul-de-sac. Alas, all good things must end and the one blessing to be taken from this is that Mount Pleasant has been consistently superb throughout its lifetime. There’s nothing more frustrating than seeing a once great programme outstay its welcome, its plots becoming repetitive and the writers seemingly oblivious to the fact that everybody can see they’re running out of ideas. That said, it doesn’t soften the blow when it’s clear something had plenty more mileage in it.

Mount Pleasant was a real hidden gem. It’s made us laugh and cry and equal measure. The stellar cast list is credit to the show’s writers for producing material that everybody wanted to be a part of. It’s attracted acting royalty in the form of Pauline Collins, David Bradley, Robson Green and Sian Reeves, not to mention two of the long serving cast members, Paula Wilcox and comedy legend Bobby Ball. The show’s leading lights, Sally Lindsay and Dan Ryan, have formed a phenomenal on-screen partnership and you genuinely invested in their relationship. The story lines may not have been particularly gritty and at times it lacked pace, but it was authentic and, above all, thoroughly enjoyable.

So, it’s farewell to Mount Pleasant. It’s been an unparalleled joy.