Victor Meldrew

Last updated

Victor Meldrew
One Foot in the Grave character
Victor Meldrew.png
Victor Meldrew as seen in the first episode
of One Foot in the Grave
Portrayed by Richard Wilson
Duration1990–2000
First appearance"Alive and Buried"
(4 January 1990)
Last appearance"Things Aren't Simple Any More"
(20 November 2000)
Created by David Renwick
Introduced by Susan Belbin
In-universe information
Occupation Security guard (retired)
FatherVictor Meldrew Sr.
BrothersAlfred Meldrew
WifeMargaret Pellow (1958–2000; his death)
SonsStuart Meldrew
First cousinsGeoffrey
Ivor
Roger

Victor Meldrew is a fictional character in the BBC One sitcom One Foot in the Grave , created by David Renwick and portrayed by Richard Wilson. The character epitomised the archetypal grumpy old man. Meldrew is a foil for the bothersome aspects of children, cars, animals, power cuts and next-door neighbours.

Contents

The character was created specifically for Wilson, with whom Renwick had worked on the series Hot Metal , though Wilson initially turned the part down as at 53, he felt he was too young to play the 60-year-old Meldrew. Renwick considered Les Dawson for the part before Wilson changed his mind. [1]

Character

In the first episode, Meldrew, aged 60, is forced into early retirement from his job as a security guard when the office where he worked installs an automatic security system (which he describes as "being replaced by a box"). The series follows Meldrew as he tries to fill his new-found leisure with odd jobs and unusual idiosyncrasies, or to get a new job. However, he regularly finds himself mistreated, misunderstood or simply the victim of bad luck, and consequently leads to his complaining heartily. [2]

Meldrew is famous for his catchphrase, "I don't believe it!!". [2] Other frequently used expressions of exasperation are "Unbe-lieeeve-able!", "What in the name of bloody hell?!" and "In the name of sanity!" Victor is something of a hypochondriac, keeping a medical dictionary with him to look up every ailment he believes has befallen him (Margaret describes it as "browsing through to see what he can die of next").

The series was so successful that in the United Kingdom, "Victor Meldrew" has become a byword for a bitter and complaining elderly man. However, both Renwick and Wilson himself have disagreed that Victor is an example of this stereotype and he is shown to be more of a tragicomedy character, not bitter and grumpy by nature, but driven to it due to his habit of attracting trouble. Renwick once pointed out in an interview that the name "Victor" is ironic, since he almost always ends up as the loser. [3]

In the final episode, "Things Aren't Simple Any More", Meldrew is killed by a hit-and-run driver. This eliminated any realistic possibility of a seventh series. Passers-by left bouquets of flowers in homage at the filming location, a railway bridge in Shawford, a small village in Hampshire. [4]

Reception

Phil Wickham of the University of Exeter observed that "the whole point of the series is that Meldrew is the only sane voice in a mad world". [5]

Jonathan Bignell in his book Media Semiotics observes that the reason people laugh at Victor Meldrew is not simply that his behaviour is excessive, but that it contrasts with how all the other characters in the TV series are behaving. [6]

Meldrew's name is associated with aggression or grumpiness; the journal Age and Ageing notes that "Viewers of Victor Meldrew (One Foot in the Grave) would not be surprised that hostility contributes to mortality in grumpy old men." [7] Similarly, The Daily Telegraph uses Richard Wilson's Meldrew to refer to people who enjoy "a good moan", [8] while Jenny Turner in the London Review of Books can observe that "the timing and rhythm (of Geoff Dyer's Jeff in Venice, Death in Varanasi) have the flippancy of stand-up comedy. The voice has Eeyore in it, and Morrissey and Victor Meldrew, and could only be English and from that postwar, post-punk generation". [9]

The BBC recalls first that "the role of Victor Meldrew transformed Scottish TV-actor Richard Wilson into a household name and award-winning comedy performer." In addition, "So popular was his character that 'Victor Meldrew' has endured as a cultural reference for any grumpy old man." And finally and more loosely, "many viewers identified with his rages at the irritants of modern life: litter, junk mail, traffic, rudeness, streetlamps and car mechanics and to some, Victor Meldrew was a champion of the people, albeit a very grumpy one." [2]

Meldrew's persona is so powerful that Richard Wilson is perceived as "99 per cent Meldrew" by at least one critic, and when taking on a serious role as Malvolio in Shakespeare's Twelfth Night , another critic felt that Wilson's "performance was overly influenced by his desire to 'shed the Victor Meldrew stereotype'". [10]

In the modern series of Doctor Who , after the debut of the Twelfth Doctor, as portrayed by Peter Capaldi, Alison Graham of the Radio Times compared Capaldi's Doctor to Meldrew, as both were "abrasive, acerbic and [have] no truck with modern life".

The third series of the Channel 4 comedy Father Ted features Wilson playing a fictional version of himself, and the Meldrew character's catchphrase is repeated several times during one episode. [11]

Related Research Articles

<i>One Foot in the Grave</i> British TV sitcom (1990–2000)

One Foot in the Grave is a British television sitcom written by David Renwick. There were six series and seven Christmas specials over a period of ten years from early 1990 to late 2000. The first five series were broadcast between January 1990 and January 1995. For the next five years, the show appeared only as Christmas specials, followed by the sixth and final series in 2000.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Les Dawson</span> English comedian

Leslie Dawson was an English comedian, actor, writer, presenter, and pianist. He was known for his deadpan style, curmudgeonly persona, musical routines, and jokes about his mother-in-law and wife.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Angus Deayton</span> English television presenter, actor, writer, and comedian (born 1956)

Gordon Angus Deayton is an English actor, writer, musician, comedian and broadcaster.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Wilson (Scottish actor)</span> Scottish actor, theatre director and broadcaster

Richard Wilson is a Scottish actor, theatre director and broadcaster. He is most famous for playing Victor Meldrew in the BBC sitcom One Foot in the Grave. Another notable role was as Gaius, the court physician of Camelot, in the BBC drama Merlin.

<i>Some Mothers Do Ave Em</i> British TV sitcom (1973–1978)

Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em is a British sitcom broadcast on BBC1, created and written by Raymond Allen and starring Michael Crawford and Michele Dotrice. It was first broadcast in 1973 and ran for two series, including two Christmas specials in 1974 and 1975. After a three-year absence, the programme returned for a third series in 1978 and again in 2016 for a one-off special. The series regularly garnered 25 million viewers and was broadcast in 60 countries.

Annette Crosbie is a Scottish actress. She is best known for her role as Margaret Meldrew in the BBC sitcom One Foot in the Grave (1990–2000). She twice won the BAFTA TV Award for Best Actress, for The Six Wives of Henry VIII in 1971 and in 1976 for Edward the Seventh. Also in 1976, she was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for the 1976 film The Slipper and the Rose and she won the award for Best Actress at the Evening Standard British Film Awards for the same role. Her other film appearances include The Pope Must Die (1991), Shooting Fish (1997), The Debt Collector (1999), Calendar Girls (2003) and Into the Woods (2014).

<i>Jonathan Creek</i> British television mystery crime drama series (1997–2016)

Jonathan Creek is a long-running British mystery crime drama series produced by the BBC and written by David Renwick. It stars Alan Davies as the titular character, who works as a creative consultant to a stage magician while also solving seemingly supernatural mysteries through his talent for logical deduction and his understanding of illusions.

<i>Cosby</i> (TV series) American television series

Cosby is an American television sitcom that aired on CBS from September 16, 1996, to April 28, 2000. The program starred Bill Cosby and Phylicia Rashad, who had previously worked together in the NBC sitcom The Cosby Show (1984–1992). Madeline Kahn portrayed their neighborly friend, Pauline, until her death in 1999. The show was adapted from the British sitcom One Foot in the Grave.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Doreen Mantle</span> South African-born British actress (1926–2023)

Doreen June Mantle was a South African-born British actress who played Jean Warboys in One Foot in the Grave (1990–2000). She appeared in many British television series since the 1960s, including The Duchess of Duke Street, The Wild House, Sam Saturday, Chalk, Casualty, The Bill, Doctors, Holby City, Lovejoy, Coronation Street and Jonathan Creek. She played lollipop lady Queenie in Jam & Jerusalem (2006–2009).

David Peter Renwick is an English author, television writer, actor, director and executive producer. He created the sitcom One Foot in the Grave and the mystery series Jonathan Creek. He was awarded the Writers Guild Ronnie Barker Award at the 2008 British Comedy Awards.

Michael James Dominic Sweeney is an English actor and comedian, best known for his improvisation partnership with Steve Steen.

Susie Blake is an English television, radio and stage actress.

Owen Brenman is an English actor best known for his role as next-door neighbour Nick Swainey in the multi-award-winning BBC sitcom One Foot in the Grave, which ran for ten years (1990–2000) and was written by David Renwick. He subsequently played Heston Carter in the BBC drama series Doctors from 2008 to 2018.

<i>In Loving Memory</i> (TV series) British TV series or programme

In Loving Memory is a British period sitcom set in an undertakers business that starred Thora Hird and Christopher Beeny. A pilot with Marjorie Rhodes in the Thora Hird role was transmitted in 1969 by Thames Television, who rejected the idea before it was finally accepted by Yorkshire Television nearly 10 years later, where it ran for a further five series between 21 May 1979 and 27 March 1986.

Gordon Peter Wilkinson, known professionally as Gordon Peters, was an English actor and comedian.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Things Aren't Simple Any More</span> 6th episode of the 6th series of One Foot in the Grave

"Things Aren't Simple Any More" is the final episode of the British television sitcom One Foot in the Grave. It was written by David Renwick and stars Richard Wilson as Victor Meldrew, Annette Crosbie as his wife Margaret and features guest appearances by Hannah Gordon and Paul Merton. The episode depicts the death of the series' protagonist, Victor Meldrew, in a hit-and-run road accident and his wife's efforts to deal with the driver who killed him. Renwick had been struggling to conceive and write new stories for the series and decided to kill off the character. The episode was filmed at Shawford, Hampshire and at BBC Television Centre in London.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Grinning Man</span> Episode of Jonathan Creek

"The Grinning Man" is a feature-length and the twenty-sixth episode of the BBC crime drama series Jonathan Creek, first broadcast on 1 January 2009. The episode marked the series' return to television following a five-year hiatus and saw the return of Alan Davies as the show's titular sleuth. Stuart Milligan returned to the series as Jonathan's boss, magician Adam Klaus, while the episode also introduced Sheridan Smith as Joey Ross, Jonathan's crime-solving assistant. The episode was written and directed by series creator David Renwick, who chose to revive the show as a means of delaying his retirement.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Twelfth Doctor</span> Fictional character from Doctor Who

The Twelfth Doctor is an incarnation of the Doctor, the protagonist of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. He is portrayed by Scottish actor Peter Capaldi in three series as well as four specials. As with previous incarnations of the Doctor, the character has also appeared in other Doctor Who spin-offs. Capaldi's portrayal of the Twelfth Doctor has been met with praise.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clara Oswald</span> Fictional character in the TV series Doctor Who

Clara Oswald is a fictional character in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. She was created by series producer Steven Moffat and portrayed by Jenna Coleman. Clara was introduced in the seventh series as a new travelling companion of the series protagonist, the Doctor, in his eleventh and twelfth incarnations.

References

  1. "I don't believe it! Victor Meldrew role almost went to les Dawson". TheGuardian.com . 26 July 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 BBC: One Foot in the Grave. Retrieved 2 June 2012.
  3. "The original British loser that we recognise in Victor Meldrew and Alan Partridge." Tony Hancock, The Definitive Biography . HarperCollins, 2008. Retrieved 2 June 2012.
  4. "Meldrew fans lay floral tributes". BBC News. 24 November 2000. Retrieved 28 January 2007.
  5. [cdn.cstonline.tv/assets/file/user_92/6.1reviewsCST.pdf Critical Studies in Television: Reviews]
  6. Jonathan Bignell. Media Semiotics, an Introduction. Manchester University Press, 2nd Edition, 2002. Pages 166–167.
  7. Age and Ageing: News and Reviews. Hostility, age and mortality in patients with cardiac disease. Volume 35, Issue 1, January 2006. pages 3–4. doi:10.1093/ageing/afi213
  8. Richard Alleyne. The Telegraph: The Victor Meldrew effect: a good moan makes elderly feel better . 31 August 2010.
  9. [Jenny Turner. How Dare He? . London Review of Books. Volume 31, Number 11. 11 June 2009, pages 24–25.
  10. What's On Stage: Review Round-up. Wilson's Festive First 'Night'. 12 January 2010.
  11. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0578520/