RickAns
Dedicated Member
Watched this show a few months back. Was slow to take to it but I started liking more as it grew on me after a few episodes. I discovered the show when I saw that Peter Bowles was in it and liked him from Rising Damp and Manor Born.
At first I thought there was a central character that the show Only When I Laugh was about. Someone whose eyes we see through as the story takes place. Originally thought the main was Norman because he is the first we see in the ward and then he meets the rest of his fellow ward members Figgis and Archie. Part way through the series I started to think there was no central character and it was more about the guys in the ward. Near the end of the series I started thinking that Figgis was the central character.
I thought it was Norman because he mentions his mom singing to him the song that plays as the show opens and closes. The H-A-P-P-Y song. Which strangely enough when the other singers break into the chorus causes me think of the Lumberjack Song from Monty Python. As I watched the show I realized that it seems to be Figgis singing that song for the intro. Also that it appears to be Figgis who we see on the stretcher. In the end the camera (us the viewer) stays in the ward with Figgis and not follows Norman or Archie out of the hospital. Which also has me believe Figgis (or the ward itself) to be the main character after all.
What are your thoughts, is there supposed to be a central character of this show? If so then who? Or is it more about the guys of ward in general?
At first I thought there was a central character that the show Only When I Laugh was about. Someone whose eyes we see through as the story takes place. Originally thought the main was Norman because he is the first we see in the ward and then he meets the rest of his fellow ward members Figgis and Archie. Part way through the series I started to think there was no central character and it was more about the guys in the ward. Near the end of the series I started thinking that Figgis was the central character.
I thought it was Norman because he mentions his mom singing to him the song that plays as the show opens and closes. The H-A-P-P-Y song. Which strangely enough when the other singers break into the chorus causes me think of the Lumberjack Song from Monty Python. As I watched the show I realized that it seems to be Figgis singing that song for the intro. Also that it appears to be Figgis who we see on the stretcher. In the end the camera (us the viewer) stays in the ward with Figgis and not follows Norman or Archie out of the hospital. Which also has me believe Figgis (or the ward itself) to be the main character after all.
What are your thoughts, is there supposed to be a central character of this show? If so then who? Or is it more about the guys of ward in general?