Haven't seen the Christmas Special, but I imagine it was as disturbingly awful as one of Aaron's sweaty 3am homo-erotic dreams.

As with all Christmas Specials, unless they weirdly changed the premise, cast & writers, then it will have been just as offensively shit as the series, though with a few more bits of tinsel & sleigh bells.

Heard an interview with the wonderful Derek Jacobi the other night. This show was not a great way to finally 'come out'. He's better than this show. McKellen, on the other hand, is at his zenith.

Ooh - bitch!

Although I enjoyed the first two episodes of Vicious, I never really felt drawn back to watch any more. The constant bitching did have some good laughs, but I kind of felt I wanted a little more from the show.

The Ash character is one of the all time irritating sitcom characters and actors imo, the character is annoying enough in his indecisive ways, the actor is simply hideous. Miss Jones is coasting through it and virtually winking at the audience, it's such a self consciously stagey show. Shame after her great performances in RD. The gags are as old as the main characters, is that the point of it? It's just a bit pointless and too obvious and so out of date you have to wonder how the hell it got selected as a primetime sitcom. The gay crowd factor, no doubt, they always had a strong influence on TV execs. Wonder why that is, eh.

I wasn't very keen on Ash. Much like the 'son of Granville', he seems to have been selected mainly for his looks. Not sure it says very good things about society if a pretty face is all that's required to get in a sitcom these days. Obviously you had Richard Beckinsale in Rising Damp, but there were many layers to his character apart from his delightful looks.

Maybe you (understandably) only notice it when it's men, but this happens with female characters in numerous sitcoms/TV shows. I agree it's annoying.

Bloody awful full stop.

Alright, kamikaze time.

I like 'Vicious'.
I rate 'Vicious'.

It is an oasis in a desert of really poor comedy.
I am not alone. Folks I know really enjoyed this.
Again, much more than anything else.
I gave a friend of mine a DVD of 'Vicious' for Christmas, cause he liked it that much.

Now first off, I will gladly concede that the Christmas special was not much cop.

But the series. It was proper funny. I laughed. Repeatedly. Loudly. Heartily.

Claiming this is some sort of throwback to the 70s just seems a little odd.
One is suggesting homophobia when it's clearly two gay actors hamming it up to their own hearts' content.
Tricky to be a gay homophobe, I'd venture.

Some people here seem to criticise it as theatrical. But I think that was very much the aim.
It was theatre. Farce. It tried to convey the very experience you would share in a theatre.
In that regard it was communal. The actors didn't merely deliver the lines, but visibly enjoyed them - together with their audience.

Nothing quite prepares you for Sir Ian McKellen descending a staircase, tugging his sleeve cuffs and inquiring 'Where is that piece of shit?'

It was truly, gloriously, fantastically over the top.

I'm guessing here, but I suspect it may divide audiences along pretty much the same lines as does Mrs. Brown's Boys. Precisely because of the theatricality.

I for one say more strength to their elbow.

I would rate it as the best thing to be produced on these shores for the past ten years at least.
Admittedly, that isn't really saying much as the competition is so very poor.

I've not seen much of it, but liked what I did for the same reasons as Gussie. It was like watching a pantomime, very tongue in cheek and knowing, or like a Carry On film.

It was an excellent series, IMO. I am eagerly awaiting Series 2 to start.