Review: Vicious, S02E03 - Ballroom

Overall, it's good that Janetti is taking time to develop his characters more and there's a clear progression in how Stuart and Freddie's relationship is progressing in the series. That said, the balance between this and the humour is a tricky one to strike and this undoubtedly felt like the weakest offering so far.

Radio Times review

There are some hilariously catty insults this week (inevitably one or two misfires, too) but the novelty of seeing Sir Ian and Sir Derek as two seniors behaving badly still hasn't quite worn off - especially when blurting out the odd expletive.

The entire cast decide to attend a ballroom-dancing class, where ever-game Violet (Frances de la Tour) gets the hots for a very camp dance master. When Stuart shows his prowess, Freddie flounces off. Home alone, however, he soon finds he doesn't even know how to make tea.

We've been asked to keep schtum about a surprise development in this edition. Don't worry, Vicious fans. Nobody dies.

Radio Times review

There's a big effort to open out the "situation" of the comedy, as we see Stuart and Freddie getting out of their cavernous, fusty living room and onto the streets of London - with all the withering putdowns still in place, of course. And while they're out, Violet and Penelope virtually move in, helping themselves to chicken and soufflé.

Stuart and Freddie join a gym - cue Sir Derek and Sir Ian dolled up in ghastly kit. They're suckered in by a handsome trainer, who dupes them into getting fit for the London Marathon. He soon usurps Ash, their former, straight beau, in their affections - but Ash proves he's not as dopey as he looks.

ITV's Vicious reviewed

Imagine if Are You Being Served? had starred Laurence Olivier.

Sir Ian McKellen and Sir Derek Jacobi star as cohabiting actors Freddie and Stewart in this otherwise traditional comedy. Really, though, the thespian pair are straight men to Frances de la Tour, who owns the show as the endearing Vi, and gets most of the best lines. That's all particularly true in tonight's episode, as the pair participate in a ruse to help Vi deceive her sister Lillian, who believes Vi lives a glamorous life. With Stewart playing the role of Vi's husband and Freddie as the butler, what could conceivably go wrong?

Radio Times review

Loathe it or love it (and I'm in the latter camp), Vicious is back for a second run. It's been a long time coming - it isn't easy coordinating the diaries of this stellar cast. Derek Jacobi and Ian McKellen are back chewing the scenery as bickering couple Stuart and Freddie, with Game of Thrones' Iwan Rheon as their doe-eyed neighbour Ash and Marcia Warren upstaging all as the forgetful Penelope.

Tonight, their voracious best pal Violet (Frances de la Tour) panics when her long-absent sister Lillian pays a visit. Violet pleads with Stuart to butch up - it's a struggle - and pretend to be her husband. Mirth ensues, not least because Lillian is played by goddess of camp, Celia Imrie.

Vicious - how the mighty have fallen

The ITV comedy consigns some of our most famous thespians to 70s sitcom purgatory - a very cruel fate indeed.

Vicious, series 2 episode 1, review: a waste of talent

Presumably it took almost two years for Vicious to return in order to negotiate high enough fees to coerce such accomplished actors to come back. We must hope that in future their many, infinitely superior, other projects delay the process even longer.

Vicious: hammy seventies throwback saved by stars

Despite the stellar cast the writing is snore-inducing and the acting is of the Miranda Hart School of Hammy Self-consciousness.

Episode review: Vicious, series 2, episode 1, 'Sister'

All in all, a pretty solid start for the second season of Vicious.