Article first published as Hopefully This Isn't the LAST TANGO IN HALIFAX on TheTVKing.
PBS is airing a BBC drama series currently called Last Tango in Halifax. It has no crimes to investigate, no medical mysteries to solve, no aliens, no disasters, and no chase scenes. Wait, strike that last one. It is, however, remarkable for being a simple love story between two people in their 70s, an age group under served on television today. And it's incredibly sweet.
Alan Buttershaw (Derek Jacobi, The King's Speech) is living with his widowed daughter, Gillian (Nicola Walker, MI-5), and her teenage son, Raff (Josh Bolt, Nowhere Boy), to help them out. Lonely and missing his own departed wife, he decides to search Facebook to look up his old classmates. Alan discovers that his long-ago crush, Celia Dawson (Anne Reid, Upstairs Downstairs), is not only one of the few left alive, but also currently without a spouse. The two begin an electronic pen pal relationship.
It's very touching to see how their communication plays out, Alan afraid to ask Celia to meet up in person, and she hesitant to accept. It's not because she doesn't like him, but rather, both feel snubbed because of a miscommunication decades ago, with Alan's late wife likely to blame. Once they do see each other face to face, though, the years melt away, and they can finally pursue the romance they both always wondered about, but never thought would happen, he still that nervous boy, and she that eager girl.
It's hard to get into Alan's mindset at first. He loved his wife very much, yet still held a torch for Celia. Can one man love two people at once? What would have happened if Celia had come onto him earlier, perhaps while he was still married? Yet, because of the type of man Alan is, this doesn't seem to matter, and to those it does, they will probably assume he would have stayed faithful. It doesn't take long at all to get behind the coupling, something that brings these two joy so late in life they thought it wouldn't happen for them.
See, Celia never had the love Alan did. She disliked her husband, and so her feelings for Alan never lessened. She plays coy at first, not wanting to admit her pain or regrets, but Alan is easy for her to talk to, and it comes out. Alan is the man she has always wanted to be with, and now it's happened.
Yet, Last Tango in Hallifax is not just two old people sitting around and talking. In the first episode, which aired this week in the U.S., they engage in some pretty fun shenanigans that threaten Alan's weak heart. Get your minds out of the gutter, it's not what you're thinking. And it's not what you expect to see from a couple of this age. The show doesn't ignore their advanced years, but rather, presents wholly developed portraits of people not defined by their age. In this, it feel fresh and brilliant.
Of course, things will not be easy for Alan and Celia. Their daughters take an instant dislike of one another, as Gillian insults Celia's uptight daughter, Caroline (Sarah Lancashire, Lark Rise to Candleford). But that's something they have five more episodes to work out (in the first season alone; it has been renewed in Britain), so we can look forward to amusing rivalry.
Last Tango in Halifax does give the younger players their own plots. Caroline has to deal with a cheating husband (Tony Gardner, Lead Balloon) who wants to come home to her and their sons, though Caroline is more interested in colleague Kate (Nina Sosanya, Silk). And Gillian must reassure her son's fears that she might have killed her husband, a suspicion raised by Raff's uncle Robbie (Dean Andrews, Ashes to Ashes). But while I don't complain about serving the entire cast much, each scene that did not involve Alan and Celia made me want more of them.
I think it's just heartwarming to see Celia and Alan find each other after all these years. Their relationship is so much better and simpler than their childrens'. One has to wonder if earned wisdom doesn't allow Alan and Celia to rise above the way they likely were in earlier years, too. It gives us all hope that no matter how life plays out, there's always a chance to end it happily.
Last Tango in Halifax airs on PBS. Check your local PBS listings for showtimes.
PBS is airing a BBC drama series currently called Last Tango in Halifax. It has no crimes to investigate, no medical mysteries to solve, no aliens, no disasters, and no chase scenes. Wait, strike that last one. It is, however, remarkable for being a simple love story between two people in their 70s, an age group under served on television today. And it's incredibly sweet.
Alan Buttershaw (Derek Jacobi, The King's Speech) is living with his widowed daughter, Gillian (Nicola Walker, MI-5), and her teenage son, Raff (Josh Bolt, Nowhere Boy), to help them out. Lonely and missing his own departed wife, he decides to search Facebook to look up his old classmates. Alan discovers that his long-ago crush, Celia Dawson (Anne Reid, Upstairs Downstairs), is not only one of the few left alive, but also currently without a spouse. The two begin an electronic pen pal relationship.
It's very touching to see how their communication plays out, Alan afraid to ask Celia to meet up in person, and she hesitant to accept. It's not because she doesn't like him, but rather, both feel snubbed because of a miscommunication decades ago, with Alan's late wife likely to blame. Once they do see each other face to face, though, the years melt away, and they can finally pursue the romance they both always wondered about, but never thought would happen, he still that nervous boy, and she that eager girl.It's hard to get into Alan's mindset at first. He loved his wife very much, yet still held a torch for Celia. Can one man love two people at once? What would have happened if Celia had come onto him earlier, perhaps while he was still married? Yet, because of the type of man Alan is, this doesn't seem to matter, and to those it does, they will probably assume he would have stayed faithful. It doesn't take long at all to get behind the coupling, something that brings these two joy so late in life they thought it wouldn't happen for them.
See, Celia never had the love Alan did. She disliked her husband, and so her feelings for Alan never lessened. She plays coy at first, not wanting to admit her pain or regrets, but Alan is easy for her to talk to, and it comes out. Alan is the man she has always wanted to be with, and now it's happened.
Yet, Last Tango in Hallifax is not just two old people sitting around and talking. In the first episode, which aired this week in the U.S., they engage in some pretty fun shenanigans that threaten Alan's weak heart. Get your minds out of the gutter, it's not what you're thinking. And it's not what you expect to see from a couple of this age. The show doesn't ignore their advanced years, but rather, presents wholly developed portraits of people not defined by their age. In this, it feel fresh and brilliant.
Of course, things will not be easy for Alan and Celia. Their daughters take an instant dislike of one another, as Gillian insults Celia's uptight daughter, Caroline (Sarah Lancashire, Lark Rise to Candleford). But that's something they have five more episodes to work out (in the first season alone; it has been renewed in Britain), so we can look forward to amusing rivalry.
Last Tango in Halifax does give the younger players their own plots. Caroline has to deal with a cheating husband (Tony Gardner, Lead Balloon) who wants to come home to her and their sons, though Caroline is more interested in colleague Kate (Nina Sosanya, Silk). And Gillian must reassure her son's fears that she might have killed her husband, a suspicion raised by Raff's uncle Robbie (Dean Andrews, Ashes to Ashes). But while I don't complain about serving the entire cast much, each scene that did not involve Alan and Celia made me want more of them.
I think it's just heartwarming to see Celia and Alan find each other after all these years. Their relationship is so much better and simpler than their childrens'. One has to wonder if earned wisdom doesn't allow Alan and Celia to rise above the way they likely were in earlier years, too. It gives us all hope that no matter how life plays out, there's always a chance to end it happily.
Last Tango in Halifax airs on PBS. Check your local PBS listings for showtimes.
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