The Worst Week of My Life - The Complete Series

My first introduction to Ben Miller who plays Howard Steel was in the film The Prince in Me but I really got to know him in Primeval so to see him in this comedy role, even though I know that's where he started, was a little strange yet still enjoyable. I prefer Sarah Alexander in Coupling but this was still a nice role for her and Alison Steadman whose character was closer to Mrs. Bennett from Pride and Prejudice than I would have liked as opposed to something more along the lines of her role in Gavin and Stacey.

The idea of the series, to show the week before his wedding was fascinating. One: it focused on the male perspective when stories about weddings are more associated with women and two: the possibility of the series renewal would be greatly diminished, although they succeeded in two other series albeit the last a three part christmas special. The comedy is very slapstick and based on misunderstandings. It's funny but cringe worthy at the same time. You just know what ever Howard tries to do something will go wrong. He's a man who has the worst luck imaginable.

This is another series which I found while watching the BBC Sex and the Sitcom where I also go Men Behaving Badly and it was well worth the watch. Something I've noticed in not only The Worst Week of My Life but also in other British series is that the women are the ones who are always driving. I notice it I think as an American and maybe it's not such a big deal in the UK but for me it's something that stand out. It might have something to say about the failure of the male which the BBC documentary commented on but its still an intriguing observation.

So the first series tackles the week before the wedding the question is how do they move on from there? The wedding has happened, it was the worst week of Howard Steel's life or was it? Of course not or there couldn't be another series. I was half expecting Mel's sister to come back for the second series who at the end of the last announced her engagement to Howard's fill in best man but that plot was totally dropped and the sister was only mentioned or talked to on the phone for the final two series. Something the series could have dealt with better. The second series was the week before Howard and Mel's baby was born and the third handled Howard's worst Christmas which might have been the funniest of the three series but it also might have something to do with knowing all the characters by now. My favorite was Howard thinking that Mel's father had died and telling both Mel and her mother the bad news but I also really liked the interaction between Howard and Frasier throughout the series.