Albert's Memorial

There’s rarely a more disheartening and phrase than ‘comedy drama’ - normally a cast iron guarantee that you’ll find neither. Fortunately that’s not the case with ITV1's one-off Sunday night drama Albert’s Memorial, which, apart from that punning title, shows great wit and charm.

If nothing else, this serves to remind you what an embarrassment of riches this country has when it comes to great screen actors. Davids Jason and Warner (and, briefly, Michael Jayston) are perfect as life-long friends; their onscreen chemistry suggesting that they’ve spent their entire lives together.

A simple idea: three old friends, their links forged in wartime, meet one last time - one of them is dying, and elicits a promise from the other two that when he’s dead, his mates should steal and carry his corpse back to the last and only place that he felt alive. It’s to be expected that his final request is less a burden to his friends, and more a gift. They themselves begin to feel alive (almost immediately, in fact, when they pick up a cute blonde within minutes of arriving in another country), and this is the first time that these old friends have actually had a chance to speak with each other.

‘Seventy six, and what have I got to show for it? Bugger all.’ Witty, while being both dark and uplifting, this shows the three actors at their best - Michael Jayston gets to do a cute cameo after his character has died and, while it’s a given that David Jason is a skilled comedic actor, it’s lovely to see a twinkly and sly performance from David Warner.

This is a pretty travelogue through Europe that takes as its cue the idea that when we’re lost, we may not know where we’re going, but we almost always end up where we need to be. More than anything, this is the spirit of this gentle but intelligent film - it’s not about the destination, but the journey: and the little clues as to the character’s own private histories are littered across the way like roadsigns. Although it’s a journey many dramas have taken before, this is more than a welcome diversion.



Released on DVD on 13th September 2010 by ITV Studios Home Entertainment.

> Buy the DVD on Amazon.

Reviewed by Andrew Allen.