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In Loving Memory: The Complete First Series
R2 - United Kingdom - Network Review written by and copyright: Paul Lewis (1st March 2009). |
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The Show
 In Loving Memory: The Complete First Series (YTV, 1979) 
An undertakers is the situation around which this comedy revolves. Starring Thora Hird and Christopher Beeny, In Loving Memory was produced for Yorkshire Television. Created by Dick Sharples, whose work during the 1960s and 1970s is mostly within the arena of television drama (for example, on shows such as The Saint, ITC 1962-9, and Dr Finlay’s Casebook, BBC 1962-71), the show ran for five series: the first series was broadcast in 1979, and the final episode was shown in 1986. (However, the series’ original pilot had been produced for Thames Television in 1969, as part of an anthology series.) 
Taking place in the late 1920s, In Loving Memory is set in the fictional town of Oldshaw, Lancashire (but filmed in Luddenden in West Yorkshire). The much-loved actress Thora Hird stars as Ivy Unsworth; in the first episode, after the death of her husband Jeremiah (Freddie Jones), Ivy assumes control of the Unsworth family-owned undertaking business. The first episode quickly establishes Jeremiah’s callous promotion of his business: spying Miss Jenkins walking past the shop, Jeremiah asks after her father. When told that he’s ‘coming along nicely’, Jeremiah is lost for words and, returning to the shop, tells Ivy ‘I was sure he’d go by the end of the month; I was banking on it’. Ivy comments, ‘I don’t want people calling this place “The Vulture’s Nest”’. 
In running the business, Ivy enlists the help of her nephew Billy (Christopher Beeny). Billy is a recognisable character type from many British sitcoms: like Private Pike (Ian Lavender) in Dad’s Army (BBC, 1968-77) or Frank Spencer in Some Mothers Do ‘Ave ‘Em (BBC, 1973-8), Billy is childlike, naïve and clumsy. Many of the episodes revolve around Billy’s failing attempts to find romance, which is made difficult for him both due to his Aunt Ivy’s interfering nature and due to the fact that he works at the undertakers (in one episode, ‘Gone Dancing’, he decides to hide his profession and tells a young woman that he’s ‘a plumber’). 
Like several other sitcoms of the 1970s and 1980s (for example, Dad’s Army), In Loving Memory looks to the past, finding humour in nostalgia (or, it could be argued, the disjuncture between nostalgic recollections/representations of the past and reality). The series makes great use of the comic talents of Thora Hird, who worked once again with writer Dick Sharples on the sitcom Hallelujah! (YTV, 1981-4), produced concomitantly with the last few series of In Loving Memory. In her role as Ivy Unsworth, Hird delights in pinpointing the occasional pomposity of the character (who, in the episode ‘Pork’, answers the telephone with the irredeemably pompous but grammatically-incorrect ‘Whom is speaking?’). Episode Breakdown: ‘In Loving Memory’ ‘Legacy’ ‘Gone Dancing’ ‘The Rivals’ ‘Pork’ ‘Come Back Little Malcolm’ ‘Onion’
Video
In Loving Memory is presented in its original broadcast screen ratio of 1.33:1. Mostly shot in-studio on videotape (with one or two examples of shot-on-film location work spread throughout the series), the series is presented very well on this release from Network. The episodes look about as good as a VT-recorded studio-based sitcom should do. Quality is consistent throughout the episodes. 
Audio
Audio is presented via a two-channel monophonic track. This is clear, although there is some background hissing in a couple of the episodes (‘Pork’, for example). Nevertheless, this isn’t too distracting and is most likely due to the recording technology at the time of the series’ production.
Extras
There is no contextual material. It would be nice to have seen the original 1969 pilot, although I’m not entirely sure if this still exists and, if it does, rights issues may have prevented its inclusion on this (or any subsequent) set.
Overall
Long-unseen but very popular at the time of its original broadcast, In Loving Memory is an entertaining show. The humour is fairly gentle and colloquial, in the manner of many other 1980s situation comedies such as The Last of the Summer Wine (BBC, 1973- ), in which Hird also took a major role. Taking the subject of death and the business of funerals as its focus, the series displays a strong vein of black humour, but it never steps into the category of the tasteless. Much of the comedy derives either from pratfalls (as in the depiction of a funeral during which the coffin spills out of the hearse and ends up in a river) or from the sharp wit of Ivy, whose lines Hird delivers with absolute conviction. Whilst not a major situation comedy, In Loving Memory is historically important for being one of the few sitcoms to tackle the world of undertaking. Sharples’ scripts are witty but rarely laugh-out-loud funny: the series never hits such high notes as the works of such writing teams as Galton and Simpson or Clement and La Frenais. In Loving Memory is a gentle, nostalgic situation comedy more along the lines of Jimmy Perry and David Croft’s work (for example, Dad’s Army and Hi-de-Hi!, BBC 1980-8). Considering its long unavailability from home video and the television schedules, this DVD release from Network is more than welcome. Hopefully, Network will continue to release the remaining series of the show. For more information, please refer to the homepage of Network DVD.
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