Ever Decreasing Circles The Party Re-watch

After John Esmonde and Bob Larbey wrote The Good Life, they teamed up with Richard Briers once again in a series called The Other One. I must confess that it is a series that has left no impression on me at all. Briers was playing opposite Michael Gambon in what sounds like a riff on The Odd Couple if the synopsis is anything to go by. However, nothing comes to mind where that series is concerned. Whilst successful enough to stretch to two series, from 1977 – 1979, it is one of those comedy series that has sunk without trace in the wider public consciousness. Apparently, Briers was playing a fairly obnoxious character, but his role in The Good Life perhaps made it very difficult for the public to accept him as anything other than the bumbling but affable Tom Good. A similar fate befell Felicity Kendal when she tried to move away from Barbara Good into portraying more flawed and arguably more interesting characters. Five years later, however, Esmonde and Larbey once again struck gold with a vehicle for Richard Briers entitled Ever Decreasing Circles.

The Programme

Ever Decreasing Circles was probably designed to be a Richard Briers centred comedy, but what Esmonde and Larbey ended up with was a comedy with three actors at the centre giving sublime performances and playing off of each other superbly. Briers was Martin Bryce, a very organised man, and that’s putting it mildly! He would no doubt be diagnosed as being on the autistic spectrum today, but in those days he would have just been seen as weirdly obsessed. Martin organises everything in his close, from the extremely unsuccessful football team for boys to the residents committee and, from there, the social events for everyone. When we see him at the start of the series, he is the unquestioned leader of the close. His wife, Ann, played by Penelope Wilton was alternately irritated and amused by his hyper organised approach to everything, but she gave him her wholehearted support because she saw that what he was doing came from a place of goodness. She is sometimes frustrated that her wishes take second place to whatever Martin is organising, but she accepts that it is just the way things are.

This situation is turned on its head by the arrival of Paul Ryman, who moves in next door to him. Paul Egan played Paul, the ultra confident, effortlessly charming, utterly charismatic businessman in a performance that is amongst the best in the history of sitcoms. Paul from the start was seen to be sending up Martin’s role as close leader, but it was never done unpleasantly. You could tell that he actually liked Martin, and the fun Paul had at his expense was always tempered by an admiration for someone who was putting himself out for others. However, all Martin could see was someone who was trying to replace him in the affections of all his friends. Often, when Martin had problems, the incredibly well connected Paul was able to call in a favour from someone who he knew from his business, his school, his university or the army. You didn’t always know if Paul was teasing him with the sheer range of his connections, but he was clearly very well ensconced in the upper echelons of society. He was also supernaturally talented at just about anything he turned his hand to, most memorably in the cricket match where Paul, a Cambridge Blue who played at Lords manages to lead the team to a miraculous win. The only thing that Martin didn’t realise, luckily enough, was the growing attraction that Paul was developing for Ann, one that was very much reciprocated. Their flirting was an absolute joy to watch, particularly when you realised that the affection of both of them for Martin would always stop them from taking it any further.

Along with the three central characters, there were two supporting roles that became just as well remembered. Howard Hughes and his wife Hilda were a couple so in tune with each other that they always wore identical jumpers! Even now, when my wife and I inadvertently dress in very similar colours, we refer to it as a ‘Howard and Hilda’! Stanley Lebor played Howard, initially as comic relief, but increasingly, as the series progressed, became a more complex character who was given the confidence by Paul to come out of Martin’s shadow and show steel and occasional anger. This was brilliantly showcased in Snooker, the episode that really introduced Howard as a different man to the one we were used to. He was often irritated by Martin’s brusque nature, but he had never directly challenged him until the final of the snooker tournament, where Martin’s certainty that he was better than Howard riled him like nothing else had done previously. Geraldine Newman’s Hilda was an uncomplicated character, driven totally by love and admiration for her husband. When Martin dismissed Howard’s abilities and contributions she was tigerish in his defence, calling out Martin’s unkindness in a way that no one else would do. With their closeness and their growth during the four series, and the superb comic timing of Lebor and Newman, Howard and Hilda became very important elements of the show.

The Party

From the start this is a classic episode. Martin comes in from work with a scarf wrapped tightly around his head. Ann sees him in the hall and immediately asks why. Eventually, Martin removes his scarf to show ‘confidential’ stamped twice on his forehead and ‘urgent’ stamped on each cheek! This was retaliation for him trying to stop the Christmas party at work from starting before the designated time of 4 o’clock! When he is washing off the stamps, Paul rings up and invites them to his party. Martin, naturally declines and suggests a night in for Ann and himself. She agrees until he tells her he’ll only be two hours servicing his minibus! At that point she heads round to Paul’s on her own. The following morning, a very disgruntled Martin sees a shape in the bed next to him and he proceeds to make his displeasure known to Ann, except it isn’t Ann! The reveal and the subsequent exchange are an absolute delight and a comic highpoint in an episode full of them. When Martin gets down to his lounge he finds Howard and Hilda on the sofa bed! It turns out that there were so many people at Paul’s party that they spent ages working out where everyone could fit and Howard and Hilda let 8 people have their house and ended up in his front room. Later on, Paul arranges a girls v boys football match with about 20 a side. Martin refuses to consider joining in, making a very 80s comment about Women’s Football along the way. Paul comes in to see Martin, saying how sorry he is for the situation and how he wishes he had organised things more effectively. Martin steps straight into the trap and spends the next three hours arranging sleeping quarters, meals and bathroom rotors. Ann comes back after the game to inform him that the girls won 83 – 69! With everyone staying until the day after Boxing Day, Ann admits that she is missing Martin and Martin has a brainwave.

This is pretty much the perfect episode of Ever Decreasing Circles with Briers, Wilton and Egan on top form, and clearly having a marvellous time filming it. It is, in my opinion, Richard Briers’ crowning comedic role, making a character that would be simply annoying in any other hands, into a very flawed hero whose reaction to life brings pathos to the mix as well as humour. Peter Egan is just as good as Paul, mining laughs with every scene and often making himself and his co-stars laugh in the process. I get the impression that some of the lines may have been ad-libbed, but I can’t be sure. All I know is that both actors are at the top of their game, scripted or otherwise. Wilton is the mostly calm centre of the piece. She loves Martin but she also loves the flirtatious relationship she has with Paul, and as a, mostly, straight woman she is peerless.

Ever Decreasing Circles is one of the jewels in the comedy crown and bears comparison with any other comedy before or since. If you haven’t seen this yet, then do yourself a favour and find it on Gold, because every single episode is a gem.