0 4 mins 11 yrs

Mr and Mrs Goodman aren’t speaking, well not to each other anyway!

Aunty Val has come to visit and support Jackie but Adam has his own reasons for not wanting to see her.

While perhaps not as laugh out loud hilarious as previous episodes, this wasn’t a bad episode, I just felt that a few comedy opportunities were missed. For example, Jim on a date? Dressed up in formal dinner attire and awaiting the arrival of a woman to his home, only to get wet in the water tank – this was funny but what happened afterwards? Did he have the date? I would have loved to see the woman who was about to have dinner with Jim rather than the pub visit that didn’t really come to anything.

The Goodman’s were having their regular Friday night meal as usual but with Jackie and Martin not speaking to what could only be gleaned as a ‘personal’ problem, things were somewhat strained at the dinner table. The addition of ‘Aunty’ Val to the dinner table did little to calm the mood as it turned out that Adam had gone on a date with Val’s niece, slept with her then never called but this was something he hadn’t discussed with Val and didn’t particularly want to. Jonny was pretending to have a dislocated shoulder so that he didn’t have to assist in cleaning the loft and when Adam found out that he was malingering he was all set to blow the whistle but Jonny had a trick up his sleeve. Adam’s reason for not calling back Val’s niece was that she smelled like his mum and this had put him off her and Jonny threatened to let the cat out of the bag unless Adam went along with his ruse.

After Jim called round for a phone charger so that he could call his date, a slight mishap occurred with his suit for the evening and an even more disastrous pub visit had the Goodman’s returning home only for further mayhem meaning a trip to A and E. Would Jonny’s secret be revealed and furthermore, would Jackie and Martin’s disagreement be resolved?

All in all, this episode perhaps wasn’t as cohesive as others have been. It managed to raise a smile but certainly didn’t fall into the category of hilarious. Perhaps after last week’s hugely funny outing, expectations were phenomenally high making this episode seem mediocre in comparison? Things seem unfinished really – the loft water tank didn’t get cleaned, the outcome of Jim’s date wasn’t revealed, apparently the crumble smelt funny but we never found out if anything had happened to it. Martin also washed his bird mess covered chest over a colander of potatoes that everyone ate but no one seemed particularly bothered and Adam didn’t say anything despite catching his father in the act when usually he would have revelled in what he usually sees as a childish prank and not had potatoes. The pub scene seemed a little pointless other than to show Martin’s confusion in social situations out of the house. Despite the loose ends, the episode was still entertaining but I’m hoping that it is back to its fun packed best next week and I’ll be hoping for some real comedy gold to get it back on track. Here’s hoping.