User reviews

if anybody has been set upon by a company, felt hard done by in life, thought as if people aren't as moral as they should be, this is the programme that they should watch. Some people may feel that it is predictable but it does so with intelligence and humour that is such that the viewer doesn't care if they have guessed the ending or not, the programme relies on receiving the empathy of the viewer which I believe, for the most part, this programme achieves extremely well. Very well written, very well acted, and extremely missed.

Superbly written and matched with comic timing from all involved.

Probably won't be a hit with the yanks because of too many UK pop culture references. But if you are from across the pond give it a go. It gets so very strong from series 2 to the end.

This is a very good sitcom that's well-written and well-acted. It used to gain huge viewing figures.

A show about a grumpy old man doesn't sound like it'll be good, but it is. The situations that the protagonist gets into and his interactions with other people are great. Angus Deayton is hilarious as his neighbour.

One Foot In the Grave has to be one of the funnest comedies to exist. It is up there with Dad's Army, Faulty Towers and Only Fools And Horses.

This is about Victor Meldrew and his long suffering wife Margaret and all the adventures they confront. Over the years, their home has had a lamppost in their bedroom, a Citreon 2CV in a rubbish skip on their front, an inn sign also on the front and a gravestone made for Victor's funeral when he dies. Plus Victor bedding an old lady, who was dropped off at their address by mistake from hospital. He thought it was Margaret! One of the best episodes was the one featuring Victor and Margaret in bed having a sleepless night.

Victor is of course noted for his well known catchphrase "I Don't Believe It".

Victor was played by Richard Wilson, Annette Crosbie was Margaret and former Have I got News For You host Angus Deayton and Janine Duvitski as the suffering neighbours Patrick and Pippa. The other regular cast were Doreen Mantle as Margaret's friend Jean Warboys and Owen Brenman as the other neighbour Nick Swainey.

The BBC still regularly show repeats of One Foot In the Grave and I still sometimes watch them. Very funny.

Which of us doesn't know a Victor Meldrew? It's nigh on 15 years since the last episode was transmitted, and I still know many families that refer to their equivalent as 'Victor.'

David Renwick penned some seminal, hilarious, moving, surreal and down right brilliant episodes, he made us fall in love with Victor, and have huge sympathies for his poor wife Margaret. Lots of fun always provided by friends and neighbours, the rather sad Nick, the long suffering Patrick and Pippa, and the star turn that was Mrs Warboys, she definitely had some of the best lines.

This show could have you screaming laughing, then shedding a tear in sorrow, the balance was incredible. Who will ever forget the tough to watch 'Hearts of Darkness' in which Victor liberates a house full of pensioners from an abusive Nursing home, an episode which drew large numbers of complaints. Who could forget Victor and Margaret's holiday in the Algarve, or UK break with Vince and April.

It took me ages to come to terms with this being finished, and to this day I can't look at Hannah Gordon without thinking 'you killed Victor.'

A brave decision from David Renwick and co to end it when they did, but I wish they'd made a few more. A case of quit at the top I guess.

TV doesn't get much better then this, one of the finest examples of bittersweet comedy gold. 10/10

'Not with the Pastry.'

It is so hard to write a review for this program other than to say, it's one of my favourites, it's funny, sad and sometimes unbelievable (I don't believe it, it's so good). I grew up watching this program and remember watching the last episode as it aired and feeling so sad. In a recent interview, Annette Crosby said she didn't want it to end. Me too. At least I can watch the DVD whenever.

This never gets old. It always makes me laugh, and comforts me to a degree as I do identify with victor!! Not many shows or films have this impact of longevity.

Surreal at times-mundane at others.Why does self-absorbed irritable Victor keep getting his gear off?I mean,I've watched the whole series and Annette Crosbie seems to be able to keep her clothes on but Victor is always peering down the front of his trousers or fiddling with his fly,seems obsessed with a state of undress. For me,the star of the show was Mrs Warboys-always good for a laugh at a most inappropriate moment. Patrick and Pippa...could they be real?I think not.Patrick had watched Fawlty Towers once to often-whilst Pippa was anyone's for the price of a sherry. Must say I miss the Meldrews though. Full marks to Mr Renwick and cast for a great series!.

I almost stopped after the first episode of season 1 as I wasn't sure I was going to like this series. I was hooked by episode 2 and ended up binge-watching this entire series in 5 days and couldn't stop laughing. Richard Wilson is superb ... he was made for this part. Annette Crosby is great as his long-suffering wife. And Angus Deayton as his neighbor is probably my favorite character. I personally thought the entire cast was outstanding. I'm a big fan of British comedy but I'd be hard-pressed to say I enjoyed any other shows as much as I enjoyed this. I had 3 or 4 good belly laughs with each episode. I could have easily watched 6 more seasons. I put it on a par with "Still Game." Absolutely superb.

Having just turned 50, I totally sympathize with how exasperating and unrecognizable the world becomes. I also admit that the tidbits from this show I saw on the internet looked clever and entertaining. But now that I've watched it on DVD (there... I'm a dinosaur), my impression is nowhere near as flattering as the impression I had of other BBC sitcoms from the 1990s, like AbFab and Keeping Up Appearances. To start with, the main character often comes across as effeminate rather than irate. The wife initially provided a pleasant counterbalance - but only for one season, before someone decided to chop off her hair and make her irritable as well. Mixing comedy with fist-in-your-face "social issues" may have been edgy 30 years ago; today it's a yawn. And animals that are routinely locked in a freezer, burned alive or buried alive - well, I doubt that that was ever funny. All in all, a letdown.

Victor Meldrew, retired security guard and human sponge 'soaking up every misery in the world' will surely be remembered in many years to come as one of comedy's greatest creations. Not to say that 'One Foot in the Grave' is strictly 2-D comedy. As with all the best of these kinds of things, it is more of a drama series which just happens to be funny. There is a good cast of genuine characters, all played with believability. Among them are Victor's long-suffering wife Margaret, her friend Mrs Warboys (who always seems to end up on the wrong end of disaster), next-door neighbours Patrick and Pippa (the former a Victor-in-the-making), and the enigmatic Mr Swainey who lives with his mysterious never-seen mother. And the programme certainly manages non-stop hilarity and plenty of genuine belly laughs throughout its six series and various extra-long specials. Well-written,inventive and clever plots involve everything from the everyday to the bizarre. Especially notable are hundreds of garden gnomes turning up on Victor's doorstep, Victor and Mrs Warboys both getting a foot stuck in a bag of plaster and having to heave it along with them as they attempt to find their way out of 'the set from Apocolypse Now', a caravan which contains the ghost of a devil worshipper, a chimpanzee which has a 'thing' for Victor, a scorpion talisman which brings down a plague of bad luck on its owner, and a guest house which is 'more like a wildlife kingdom'. Also memorable are the episodes involving one long scene - Victor stuck in a traffic jam, waiting for a telephone call and sitting in a waiting area. The fact that a half-hour episode in which nothing actually happens can be hilarious, entertaining and meaningful demonstrates the skill and depth of writing and the high quality of acting present throughout the series. Victor himself, despite initially coming across as a grumpy old man, is actually one of the most sympathetic characters ever created. Everybody can relate to the problems he faces on a daily basis, and everyone can cheer him on as he says and does the kinds of things we've all longed to do in certain trying situations. If you're a fan of any kind of comedy then this is unmissable.

Only a couple of bad reviews about One foot in the grave on here which says alot about how entertaining and amusing this series is. One reviewer said they can't understand how anyone under the age of 60 could enjoy it well my response to that is most people have a sense of humour regardless of age. I was about 9 or 10 when I discovered this classic and ive watched them all several times over the past 20 years and they still crack me up now. The other reviewer that had issues with it found the humour "too sick" I mean come on! 90% of the episodes are rated PG the remaining episodes are rated 12 how bad can it be? Yes theres some mild swearing and Yes there are one or 2 scenes which involve the concept of animal cruelty ie a tortoise being burned alive and a cat getting locked in a freezer both are done accidentally and are portrayed in a very comedic way its hard to imagine anyone taking ither instance seriously.

I came across this in my 30's when it first aired in Australia and told my parents about it and they like me loved it so much they told all their friends who enjoyed it also. I bought videos for my parents as Xmas presents which they loved as they could watch them again. After my father passed and my mother had to be put into aged care due to dementia I donated her videos to the facility. The manager thought the title would put the residents off but he played one for my mother and her friend and they laughed so much that other residents came out to watch and asked that more episodes could be shown. It became a favourite at the facility and I ended up buying some more videos for them.

One Foot In The Grave is arguably the most tightly written sitcom of all-time, only Fawlty Towers could really contest that. And whilst John Cleese and Connie Booth could 'only' conjure up twelve immaculate gems, David Renwick managed an entire six series' worth, plus a number of Christmas specials, on his own. The only relatively disposable offerings were the Children in Need/Comic Relief specials, but those were 5-10 minute shorts hastily drafted for a very good cause.

We kid ourselves as the viewer that everything Victor Meldrew finds hilariously irritating about the world - from littering to vandals, car mechanics to madcap neighbours - relates mostly to curmudgeonly pensioners, yet the truth is anybody from their 20s onwards can relate.

It's a dark, occasionally surreal comedy posing as a traditional suburban sitcom, groundbreaking for its' time.

The final episode - NO SPOILERS - polarised opinion, but then finales often do and in my view, fits the tone that One Foot always chased.

Richard Wilson still hears regular "I DON'T BELIEVE IT"s during stage performances and walks down the street, almost 20 years after he last portrayed Victor. That was the level of impact One Foot had on British culture.

One Foot In The Grave is my favorite ever sitcom. I can't think of another UK sitcom that ran for as many episodes and remained consistently of a high quality all the way through in the same way OFITG did.Fawlty Towers was consistently great throughout but only ran for 12 episodes, most other sitcoms that stay great from start to finish usually have 2 or 3 series at most.One foot ran for over 40 episodes and 6 series and remained great throughout, that's quite an achievement that no other sitcom has managed with that many episodes, If they do run that long than most begin to decline after Series 2 or 3, or at best become hit and miss.

Only fools and Horses was brilliant at times but imho opinion the quality was inconsistent throughout, there were often a couple of substandard episodes in every series and some of the later Christmas specials were far too long and short on laughs. It was a hit and miss, patchy sitcom. One Foot on the other hand never had a single bad episode and the Specials were all wonderful ( especially the excellent One Foot In The Algarve)While i do enjoy some episodes less than others, even the ones i enjoy less are of high standard and always have something funny in them.

I have seen some people suggest that the quality dipped in Series 6, the final series. I don't really see that, i think it was just as great as all the others. The last episode is very sad but a powerful ending for the series. Series 1 i might say was maybe not as good as the others, but again that doesn't make it bad, its still high quality but i didn't like the house they lived in as much as the one from Series 2 onwards.

Another thing i like is writer David Renwick's ability to keep it fresh and bring different elements and scenarios into it to avoid repetition. Sometimes i get bored watching the same things being repeated over and over in other sitcoms, it gets where the episode is a different episode but its basically the same episode you already saw the other week but they changed the name. This doesn't happen with One Foot In The Grave and while Victor does of course have his famous catchphrase i wouldn't say its overused to the point of tedium like the catchphrases often are in other sitcoms.

Another thing i like is the depth and pathos this show has, its like a comedy-drama at times with some incredibly poignant and moving moments. Its also very surreal often and even brutal on occasion. There are times when David Renwick takes us to places we weren't expecting to go to and places the characters in unnerving or even scary situations where you really do think they are in danger. Other times you are in fits of laughter one minute and the next you feel emotional without warning because what was very funny suddenly turned into something incredibly sad and emotional (like the sublime moment when Victor is buried up to his neck in the ground and Margaret gets a phone call to tell her that her mother has died, you're roaring with laughter one second and the next you're in tears)This darker side is part of the appeal to me, it really makes the show interesting and adds extra layers to it. If i wanted something cosy and safe i'd watch The Good Life.

Rihard Wilson gives a superb performance as Meldrew, a role i feel he was born to play. While he is very much the star and the main focus i would say that Margaret is crucial as well and she appears in all but one of the episodes. Also worth mentioning are the supporting cast, all of whom play their part also and i can't imagine it without them in it either. Doreen Mantle at times steals the show as the well meaning but annoying Mrs Warboys and Owen Brenman gives some moving performances as Victors oddball neighbour Mr Swainey. Angus Deayton and Janine Duvitski were also very good as Victor's other neighbours Patrick and Pippa. I liked the feuds between Victor and Patrick while the two wives shared a friendship and tried hard to keep the peace between the two men. Patrick was like a younger (and much more spiteful) version of Victor.

Victor himself is actually a very likable character, he is a kind hearted person who basically means well but gets mad at the world around him, at the insanity, cruelty and injustice. I often find myself agreeing with him and siding with him to be fair. He is on the side of whats good and decent. Margaret is the one who can be quite mean and insufferable at times (along with Patrick),but you realize she puts up with a lot and the show wouldn't be the same without her there. Annette Crosbie is very natural in the part.

Favourite episode is probably ''Warm Champagne'' but every episode is great so its hard to pick just one, but the moment when Margaret finds Victor in bed with the old woman is just priceless ''Its not every day you arrive home to find that your husband has taken up necrophilia!'' I never tire of watching repeats of this and i have the complete boxset. Even just talking about it now makes me want to watch them all again!

This sitcom, while not ever being touted as being the best us Brits have ever produced, is still loved by many, so I thought I'd better see what the fuss was about.

Having seen numerous episodes I'm still left wondering. Apart from the classic British sitcom monster style character in the form of Victor (where 99% of the jokes come from) this sitcom seems to have very little else to offer.

I'm aware people will disagree, but comedy is subjective, and this show is a good example of that.

Forced to retire early from his job as a security guard, Victor Meldrew (Richard Wilson) struggles to cope with the problems that retired life throws his way alongside his long suffering wife, Margaret (played by Annette Crosbie). It is no wonder he is grumpy, if it can go wrong it will.

Annette Crosbie gives a brilliant performance and it is a delight to watch her express the wonderful array of emotions that being married to Victor requires.

Richard Wilson endeared himself to a nation with this role that catapulted him into the minds of every viewer.

One Foot in the Grave is a national treasure that is amongst the very best of British Comedy.

I have such fond memories of this 90's gem, I was very young at the time but my parents used to let me stay up to watch it. UK gold has recently started showing the reruns. As I watch the reruns despite not seen it for years I still remember most of the episodes. The sitcom followed the misadventures of elderly couple grumpy old man Victor Meldrew and his long suffering wife Margaret. The show made Victor Meldrew a household name and his catchphrase "I don't believe it" became just as popular. What set it apart from other 90's sitcoms was that some of the situations were absolutely absurd and implausible, but that was what made it so memorable. One of my favourite moments of one foot in grave is in the episode in which a delivery man actually places a plant pot in the toilet. The show went on for 10 years and in the finale Victor gets killed. One foot in the grave in my opinion was one of the best British sitcoms of the 90's.

After reading the generally favourable reviews here of this top sit.com I would add nothing to merely repeat the valid points I wholeheartedly agree with about the brilliant portrayals by the actors and superb writing achievement. I could draw attention to an outstanding episode IMO, that in which Victor takes the job of doorman (grandly entitled "Commisionaire") at a swanky hotel. To say he finds this job demeaning to himself is putting it mildly with the ridiculous uniform and mauve top hat; apparent pain radiates from every pore I think from the off and things soon come to boiling point. Victor is a bit distracted as a taxi pulls up as he is observing the struggle of a disabled person to negotiate their way out of a car and complete the transfer to a fold-up wheelchair.Accordingly he does not immediately notice the couple of customers arriving at the hotel, an apparent smart gentleman and lady the male barking at him as a result for having to wait his attendance at the vehicle. Victor is duly dressed down for his not holding the taxi door open and getting the case of the gent's companion. Our hero, and I warmed to him almost cheered at this juncture, having not toadied sufficiently in the required manner is threatened with being reported to the management of the hotel. Victor has meanwhile looked again across the road at the single handed efforts of the disabled driver receiving no help from anyone. Gasket blowing time: in a terrific beautifully delivered (of course) by Richard Wilson) magnificently composed speech (Mr Renwick at his socialist best) suffice to say the up themselves pair are put in their place the top hat has been thrown down and Victor Meldrew has resigned. He did not need a job that much, he still had some pride. Bravos all round for this great work I say. LOL to the power of 10.

Written by the great David Renwick, One foot in the grave is truly hilarious with fantastic situation comedy. The sort of things that we all can relate to ,when similar things happen to us like car repair men and sales men and the dreaded Jehovah's witnesses.Richard Wilson brilliantly plays Victor Meldrew a man on a mission to try and stay sane in a crazy world. He shouts and rants with purpose while his lovely wife Margeret uses her tolerance to try and cope with her husband. She is wonderfully portrayed by Annett Crosbee. Margerets best friend Mrs Wareboys is so kind at heart but yet blindingly tack less which makes her one of the funniest characters.While the meldrews are placed in the middle of naibours of whom they cant ascape.Mr swaney comes through and annoys Victor with his unpredictability while on the other side Patrick and Pippa are desperate to move house after the daily disturbances victor has accidentally brought on them.

I don't believe it!!!

Victor Meldrew is grumpy, annoyed, fed up with the world and amazingly funny! He has been made redundant and his life is now a frustrating mess of annoyance! He finds random bits of rubbish in his garden and ends up in situations that would drive anyone round the bend...

Entertaining and Funny... Definitely worth a watch