Getting On: Series 2 Episode 1

This BBC Two comedy series, co-written by former nurse Jo Brand, is jet black satire that will probably be too much for some tastes. Getting On portrays the trials of the nurses and the other medical staff who come into contact with patients on the B4 female medical ward.

The first five minutes show Nurse Wilde (Brand) and Sister Den Flixter dealing with a new arrival who has been on the streets. The reactions to the smell and the dirt ring true, while their matter of factness comes across as a shield to keep their professional distance rather than callousness. Throughout the episode, Wilde is criticised for her lack of professionalism but she comes across as the most caring of the three.

Sister Flixter finds herself trapped between the requirements of patients and the demands of management as the new NHS moves away from the traditional patient focussed model to the income based model. Doctor Pippa Moore is a perfect example of the public image obsessed modern manager and is easily the least sympathetic character, which is saying something in this programme!

Therein lies its problem for many viewers. It is, quite simply, too bleak. Apart from Jo Brand’s character, an extremely toned down version of her stage persona, the viewer is left with no one to identify with.

The writing is excellent, bitter, angry and humourous by turn, but if it is to build a larger audience, which it deserves in terms of quality, it may need to show a lightness of tone from time to time.



Airs at 10pm on Tuesday 26th October 2010 on BBC Four.

> Buy the Series 1 DVD on Amazon.

Reviewed by David Pearce.