IT’S not just the glimpses of Bolton School and other local landmarks that make “Last Tango in Halifax” such a must-see series for viewers in the area.
The programme also touches on a few seldom seen scenarios, particularly on love between older people. Here are Celia and Alan, in their 70s, finally getting together after a lifetime with other people, marrying and starting a new life.
It doesn’t sound groundbreaking or even particularly entertaining, but it is. Sir Derek Jacobi and Anne Reid are remarkable in this touching series because of their ordinariness, and the programme is fascinating because of the down-to-earth relationships and storylines, all devised by the enormously talented Sally Wainwright.
She says of the series that “there is not much drama in people being happy,” but she blends in moments of supreme happiness with much darker times for all her characters.
The result is a riveting portrayal of Northern folk that’s a million miles from “Coronation Street”, and yet completely familiar. And it makes absolutely compelling TV.
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