Trollied Season 2

Is it me, or does the new series of  the supermarket comedy Trollied seem a little laboured? Well, the opening two episodes certainly appeared to be. I liked the first series, it was  the best of that whole Sky homegrown thing; but with competition like Mount Pleasant and The Cafe, it didn't have to try too hard. It was funny and the characters were well observed. But this time out everything seems broader and, although the first series wasn't exactly the most subtle of shows, there seems to be  more of a sledge hammer approach.

Case in point, the addition of Stephanie Beacham (doing a, no doubt intentional, spot on impression of Hilary Devey) as Lorraine the new Valco store manager; by moving Gavin on up to regional manager the Jane Horrocks Julie character gets a little sidelined. And, as a result, the whole unrequited Julie and Gavin story also gets sidelined. This gives more time for Mark Addy's character  Andy, the butcher, to fill the gap, and he seems to have taken on a bit of a change, he seems to have gotten sillier. There was a scene, in the opening episode, where in a vain attempt to charm Lorraine, he bowls into her office wearing his vest. The whole thing seemed forced, unfunny, and out of character. In series one, we saw how he successfully wooed the ladies, and he didn't do it with his vest on.

 

It is not just Andy, other characters have been reved up to suit the way the show is going. Well meaning, but not too bright Leighton is now is a lot more stupid and less funny. Margaret gets more screen time, but less was more with her character. Her mad asides were great when rationed, but getting them all the time, tends to water it all down. The one thing that hasn't taken a little dip is the quality of the acting that is still spot on, but you wouldn't expect any less from a cast of this quality.

 

There are thirteen episodes in this series (does that constitute a season, who knows?) and let's hope Trollied quietens down a little and we get back some of what made the first outing enjoyable. A whole review and not a single pun on supermarkets, I should get extra club points for that.

(D'oh)

 

Over