Stephen Tompkinson return to Brassed Off town

Brassed Off star Stephen Tompkinson makes emotional return to film's mining town 20 years on and is stunned by changes.

Rated or Dated: Brassed Off

It's 20 years since the release of Mark Herman's tale of the Grimley Colliery band. Karen Campbell wonders if it's more relevant than ever.

This is the start of Trollied's fifth series. It's a sitcom set in a fictional supermarket called Valco which has the slogan "SERVES YOU RIGHT!"

I'd never watched it before - Sky1's comedy rarely tempts me - so I was pleasantly surprised to see so many famous faces in it, including Jason Watkins whom I'd last seen in the brilliant ITV drama about Christopher Jefferies. He's joined by Sarah Parrish, Stephen Tompkinson and another actor, playing the store security guard, whom I recognised but just couldn't place till it suddenly hit me: he was in Bread. That's a blast from the past!

The episodes opens with bad news: a new supermarket is opening next door and it's "one of them dead cheap Yugoslavian places" whose name translates as, "we're all gonna lose our jobs."

It annoyed me that the checkout staff are all simpletons or overweight, whilst the middle-class management are impeccably groomed and tailored, but I had to shrug off thoughts of exploitation of the workers and remind myself it's a comedy - although there weren't many reminders of its comic status with jokes such as, "Can you tell me where I can find eggs?". "Chickens," comes the reply.

With Miriam Margolyes on the checkout, you would think this supermarket comedy would be funny, but despite a strong ensemble cast, Trollied is still short-changing viewers in the laughs department. Samuel Anderson is great as the exasperated boss battling his way through first-aid training, as Brian (Stephen Tompkinson) spouts David Brent-esque words of wisdom. Elsewhere, Neville (Dominic Coleman) is desperate to stand up to his evil ex-wife, and when Linda (Faye McKeever) gets involved it produces moderately slapstick results.

Radio Times review

An exodus of cast members in the last series means that we have lots of new employees to meet. Some, like Colin's nan Rose (Miriam Margolyes) feel too caricatured to be credible, but Stephen Tompkinson as thwarted doctor-turned-pharmacist Brian hits the right note.

On the whole, though, Trollied is now a shadow of its former self: the comedy is far too broad and the warmth seems to have left along with most of the original line-up. But at least the seedy Colin is still clocking on. He's been promoted, but is struggling with knotting a tie. Apparently, it's because all the ones he wore for his court appearances were clip-ons.

Sky1's big attempt at a mainstream sitcom is now in its fourth series. This is partly down to solid writing, but it's mainly because Trollied has an ensemble large enough to absorb cast changes. Jane Horrocks and Mark Addy have gone, and in their place come Stephen Tompkinson and Miriam Margoyles. It's hard to fight the sensation that Trollied is basically Waterloo Road with a deli counter, but it's likely to deliver regardless.