| | A Place in France - Weekdays, Channel4 | <*dv_0*>Two middle aged old duffers, Nippi and Nigel, decide to buy a house in France. Sounds like a crap idea for a TV programme. But bugger me if this isn't compulsive viewing! It has it all, intrigue, deception, love, conflict, all set against the beautiful backdrop of the Ardeche region of France. When old friends Nigel and Nippi decide to plough most of their finances into buying a house in France, where property prices are a fraction of those in Britain, both are enthusiastic, and at first everything goes well. They decide on an old farmhouse on a hill overlooking the most breathtaking scenery - however it isn't until the farmhouse is actually bought that things begin to go completely awry. Friendship is strained to breaking point on a regular basis, as the house begins to become a money pit. Wrangles with French authorities, planning departments, mortgage brokers, builders and neighbours, and a huge language barrier, only add to the frustrations as timescales and plans begin to slip and slide out of sight. Add to that the loss of Nigel's job, forcing him to move out to live in the house prematurely, Nigel's love interest (his attractive and much younger, femme fatale mortgage broker) and the deceptions of both friends (Nigel hiding the fact that they are 14,000 over budget, and Nippi hiding the fact that he wants to sell the house from under Nigel's feet) and you have a tragically addictive mixture. But the endearing naivety of the two men makes you want them to succeed, even when they are being so stupid you just want to shout at them. Nigel's optimism and often adventurous buffoonery, and Nippi's erring always on the side of caution and permanently furrowed brow often make for comical viewing, and it's this chemistry which turns what could have been a very very dull series into something quite unique. As the two men work their painful way to the final conclusion - a beautiful house in a foreign country, and as they accustom themselves to the French way of life, you begin to envy them, and also to feel that yeah, you'd quite like to have been asked to join in yourself - to be mates with Nigel and Nippi.
| | | Back to TV | |
