Paul O'Grady is one of Britain's most underrated comedians. 'Eyes Down' was his first regular comedy series since 'The Lily Savage Show' ( for the uninitiated, Lily Savage was his drag-queen alter ego ). Angela Clarke's sitcom cast him as Ray Temple, a lugubrious manager of a glitzy bingo hall in Liverpool. Like the earlier Basil Fawlty, Ray makes no attempt to hide his contempt for his staff and customers.
Ray's staff aren't up to much either. Handyman Bobby is an illicit womanizer, dowdy canteen supervisor Christine is lovelorn, as is Ray's overweight bingo checker Martin, who has deep feelings for Christine. Ray's other bingo checker Sandy is light on brain cells and later becomes pregnant. The member of staff to suffer the most from Ray's caustic remarks is Mary, a toothless cleaner whose body is a breeding ground for skin ailments.
In the second series, Sandy gives birth to a baby girl and Martin looks to finally make progress with Christine. The first series was well received enough but the second series was not so popular and did not return. A shame as while 'Eyes Down' was not a wonderful show, laughs were still to be had and Angela Clarke's scripts gave O'Grady some great lines, such as the time an unattractive patron had designs on Ray.
MARY: She thinks Ray wants her body!
RAY: I do want her body! I want it under the wheels of a bus!
O'Grady was brilliant as always and the gorgeous Rosie Caverliro evoked much sympathy and humour as Christine, ditto Tony Maudsley. Sheridan Smith annoyed me as Sandy, much the same way as she did in 'Two Pints Of Lager & A Packet Of Crisps'. Neil Fitzmaurice I could not make up my mind about. His Bobby could sometimes be funny but on other occasions was boring. The late Edna Dore stole the show as the ghastly Mary. She reminded me of a cleaner I had the misfortune to work with in a pub I used to work in. Ted Robbins had a memorable guest role as a protection rackateer.
'Eyes Down' was superior to some of the shows that were around at the time and a DVD release would be welcome.
6 out of 7 found this helpful