Grandma's House is a sitcom television series broadcast on BBC Two. Written by Simon Amstell and long-term collaborator Dan Swimer, the series stars Simon Amstell playing a version of himself: an ex-television presenter searching for meaning in his life. Each episode takes place at his grandmother's house, where Grandma (Linda Bassett) welcomes her family, desperate to see everyone happy.
The first series was shown in 2010, the second in 2012. In December 2012 Amstell stated that there would not be a third series.
Cast and characters Character Actor/actress Series Duration Notes Simon Simon Amstell 1–2 2010–12 Grandma (Lily) Linda Bassett 1–2 2010–12 Simon and Adam's grandmother Grandpa (Bernie) Geoffrey Hutchings 1 2010 Simon and Adam's grandfather Tanya Rebecca Front 1–2 2010–12 Simon's mother Clive James Smith 1–2 2010–12 Tanya's fiancé Liz Samantha Spiro 1–2 2010–12 Simon's aunt Adam Jamal Hadjkura 1–2 2010–12 Simon's cousin Ben Theodore Iwan Rheon 1-2 2010–12 Simon's love interest Barry Vincent Franklin 2 2012 Liz's husband Mark Oliver Coopersmith 2 2012 School friend of Adam
Production The show was created and written by Simon Amstell and Dan Swimer. Six 30-minutes episodes were produced for the first series by Tiger Aspect Productions for BBC Two. These were filmed at Pinewood Studios.
The house used for exterior filming is located in Highwood Gardens in Clayhall, Greater London.
On 1 July 2010, Geoffrey Hutchings, who portrayed Grandpa, died. The death of his character was said to have occurred between the two series.
Episodes
Series 1 (2010)
Series 2 (2012)
Critical reception The show received a generally positive reaction from critics and audiences alike. TV.com's Ruth Margolis claimed that "[Amstell's] written a sitcom stuffed with gently funny moments and acerbic gems", but suggested "a few more naturalistic pauses would have just polished this into the self-assured comedy it so wants to be." Other publications had differing opinions. The UK's Metro newspaper stated on their website that "[Amstell's] brilliantly funny but we won't be inviting him round for tea." Sam Wollaston of The Guardian asked, "Can Simon act, though? Well, it's hard to know really, given that he's essentially just being himself", but comes around to the opinion that "Grandma's House is sharply written, with some nice lines and a bit of edge to it." Two weeks later, Wollaston revealed, "I'm enjoying Grandma's House more and more (...) there's a subtlety and a sharpness about it. And yeah, it's funny."
Jewish media outlets such as the Jewish Chronicle were pleased that the show was bringing Jewish humour to mainstream audiences, and the newspaper also described the show as "genius".
Awards Year Award Category Nominee ResultRefs British Comedy Award Best Female Comedy Breakthrough Artist Samantha Spiro as Auntie Liz British Comedy Award Best New TV Comedy Grandma's House
DVD release 2 Entertain released the first series of Grandma's House on DVD on 20 September 2010; it includes all six episodes, a making-of documentary, a booklet and an audio commentary on one of the episodes by Amstell and his mother.
International broadcast In Australia, the first season commenced airing on ABC2 each Thursday at 10pm from 23 February 2012.
References
External links