I Watch TV: Delicious
Leo Vincent (Iain Glen) is a chef and hotel owner in Cornwall who dies and leaves his affairs in a mess. He’s been sleeping with his ex-wife Gina (Dawn French) who is the inspiration for his cookery. His wife Sam (Emilia Fox) finds out just before he dies. The hotel, it turns out, is on the verge of bankruptcy and in Gina’s name. His son (with Sam) and his daughter (with Gina) are both kind of messed up.
It’s very funny when it tries to be. It aims for black comedy and doesn’t quite get there; I think it needs to be sharper. For example the money problem drives Gina and Sam to work together at the hotel. Then, in the last episode of Season ,1 it’s resolved relatively simply. Two characters can’t be together then rather than confront this problem the reasons why they can’t just go away, and then one of the characters does as well.
Season two is a bit sharper, or maybe just drives the knife home a little more; the major threat is resolved with everyone losing out through their own flaws.
Iain Glen’s voiceover from beyond the grave is extremely soothing. I would have liked to see more cooking, though lingering shots of food with glorious descriptions almost make up for it.
Watch This: For a darkly funny drama about family, death, sex and running a restaurant.
Don’t Watch This: If you aren’t really interested in the problems of a bunch of people trying to make a broken family and bankrupt hotel work.
You May Have Seen Iain Glen: In Game of Thrones in which he plays Jorah Mormont.
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