This witty BAFTA-nominated sitcom features Maureen Lipman as sassy "agony aunt" Jane Lucas, who finds that while dishing out advice to strangers is simple enough, sorting out one's own personal life can prove a lot more complicated.
Lipman earned a BAFTA nomination for the role and her wry yet warm comic delivery is sure to elicit both laughs and sympathy in what is a refreshingly bittersweet, nuanced show. The second series is comprised of seven episodes, complete and uncut, and was essential viewing on Sunday nights.
In series one, Jane must confront a situation she is accustomed to mediating from the outside: her psychiatrist husband Laurence (veteran television actor Simon Williams) announces he is leaving her to go "find himself".
The two try to reconcile their differences but in series two their marriage is still on the rocks.
Throughout the seven half-hour episodes, Jane must juggle heartache, career-related stress (she both writes a column and hosts a radio show), constant demands from her widowed Jewish mother (Maria Charles - Never the Twain), and overbearing criticism from her bosses.
Meanwhile, she finds comfort in her gay friends, Rob and Michael, and in the arms of charming journalist Vince (BAFTA- and Golden Globe-winning actor Bill Nighy).
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Agony originally aired on ITV from 1979 to 1981 yet still comes across as a highly intelligent and progressive show; no wonder then that it has been retrospectively compared to the popular 1990s American sitcom Frasier.
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