Ever Decreasing Circles

infobox television
show_name = Ever Decreasing Circles


caption = Opening titles of "Ever Decreasing Circles"
format = Sitcom
runtime = 30 minutes
creator = John Esmonde and Bob Larbey
starring = Richard Briers
Penelope Wilton
Peter Egan
Stanley Lebor
Geraldine Newman
country = UK
network = BBC
first_aired = 29 January fy|1984
last_aired = 24 December fy|1989
num_episodes = 27
imdb_id = 0086708

"Ever Decreasing Circles" is a British situation comedy which ran on BBC One for four series from 1984 to 1989.

Introduction

It was written by John Esmonde and Bob Larbey, and reunited them with Richard Briers, the star of their previous hit show, "The Good Life". It was much less brash than most situation comedies, and was more like a comedy-drama in places. This move into darker areas of comedy was continued with Briers's later series "If You See God, Tell Him".

Characters and plot

Briers played Martin Bryce, an obsessive middle-aged man who is at the centre of his local suburban community.

He is married to Ann (Penelope Wilton), and has a settled, orderly lifestyle, until he encounters their new next-door neighbour, Paul Ryman (Peter Egan). Paul is everything Martin is not – adventurous, "laissez-faire", flippant, witty, handsome and charming. He attempts to try to join in with the activities of Martin and his friends, but his fresh thinking causes Martin to see him as a rival, who might want to "take over" Martin's self-appointed role as organiser. Martin's obsession with order and stability also leads him to get upset at Paul's minor changes to routine, such as sitting at a different table in the local pub. A running joke throughout the four series is Martin's insistence that the telephone receiver be placed a particular way on the cradle (this being an old-style telephone, where the receiver could go either way [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
] ).

An undercurrent through the series was the unresolved sexual tension and flirting between Paul and Ann, but nothing ever happened between them, despite many opportunities. Despite Martin's foibles, he clearly adores Ann, and although Ann is often infuriated by him, she obviously loves him, allowing the couple the ability to ride out even their most difficult disagreements.

It is suggested that the rather unlikely marriage between the Bryces came about because Martin went to great lengths to help Ann through a difficult period in her earlier life, and that she still feels indebted to him for this. Martin, in his quieter moments, is well aware of the danger of Ann running away with Paul. Indeed, in one episode, he wrongly believes that she "has" done so, and leaves home, leaving Ann a note admitting defeat, wishing her happiness, and stating that he will always love her. Martin's relationship with Paul is double-edged. Paul is always friendly to Martin, who veers between treating him with thinly disguised hatred, and grudging acknowledgement of Paul's virtues.

Central to the show is Martin's jealousy of Paul. Although he rarely admits it, Martin would clearly like to be more like him in many respects, particularly the ease with which he is able to make friends and get jobs done with a minimum of fuss. Paul is shown to be significantly better than Martin at many things, most notably cricket, where Paul joins the local team and promptly smashes all the records that Martin proudly holds. A notable event comes when the two have to play in a snooker tournament, where Martin is delighted to find that Paul is useless (the tragedy being that the tournament coincides with Howard's anger at being seen as "a loser", and demolishing Martin in the final). A parallel is drawn to a story of him as a child, where Martin's own "gang", was ruined by the arrival of a new boy in the school, implying that he is scared that Paul's arrival will see a similar process of losing his friends and his status to the new arrival.

Although it in many ways retained the dynamics and atmosphere of earlier "sofa sitcoms" like "Terry and June" the tone was, owing to the studies of Martin's obsessiveness and the unrequited romance between Ann and Paul, refreshingly darker than most of what had gone before. Ann's frustration at being trapped in a dull routine and looking for ways out had resonances of "The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin". Unlike Perrin, however, Ann only lived out her escape fantasies in very minor ways, such as spontaneously taking a trip to Boulogne, to Martin's horror ("They won't try and do anything French to you, will they?" screams an appalled Martin over the phone).

Other regular characters included Howard and Hilda (Stanley Lebor and Geraldine Newman), neighbours of Martin's who share some of his obsessiveness while having plenty of quirks of their own (such as always wearing "his and hers" matching outfits) but are also attracted by Paul's personality. Although Howard and Hilda are often seen as being rather timid, they do have strong moral values, and can be very forthright in chastising other characters (usually Martin or Paul) when they believe them to have done something wrong.

After four series, "Ever Decreasing Circles" ended on Christmas Eve 1989 with an 80 minute finale entitled "Moving On" (sometimes referred to by the name "New Horizons", as the DVD release titles it) in which Martin's employer, Mole Valley Valves, merges with another company and moves to Oswestry. Ann discovers she is pregnant, and despite Martin initially resenting the unborn child for forcing him to move away from The Close, the story ends on a high note with the couple bidding a fond farewell to their neighbours. The final scene sees Martin standing in his empty hallway, going over to the telephone (the only thing left from the Bryce's ownership), and turning the receiver around, suggesting that Martin's obsessiveness will live on.

Popularity

The show was voted number 52 in the BBC's "Britain's Best Sitcom" poll in 2003. At its peak it attracted television audiences of around 12 million people.

Music

The title music was not written specifically for the series, but was instead a witty piano piece, Shostakovich's Prelude No.15 from his "Twenty four Preludes", op. 36, played by Ronnie Lane. The key is in the contrasting rhythms: a regular, tarantella-like rhythm plays in the background while over it, a more insistent, slightly frantic minor theme chatters away obsessively.

DVD Release

The complete series of "Ever Decreasing Circles" is available on DVD (Region 2, UK) from Cinema Club.

External links

*imdb title|0086708
* [http://www.phill.co.uk/comedy/circles/index.html "Ever Decreasing Circles"] at phill.co.uk
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/classic/titles/everdecreasing.shtml Title Sequence]