Purely Joyful Movie!

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

A story that's too fascinating to pass by...

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

"Man Stroke Woman" is one of the better adult comedies produced for BBC3 - and indeed the BBC in general (just look at "After You've Gone") in recent years and was deservedly repeated on BBC2. The acting talent on screen is great - and better than the material in my opinion. The cast deserve to get onto more mainstream content, which at the moment is pretty poor since it appears to have run out of ideas. In particular the mainstream seems to rely on the same tired comedy actors they have for years instead of giving new talent a chance. Hopefully BBC3 and "Man Stroke Woman" proves to be a good platform for rising stars.Like any sketch show, some of the sketches are repetitive and don't work for some people, but at least they don't make the mistake of allowing them to run on too long which can really try the patience of the viewer. Also the writers don't rely on swearing (though there is plenty) and bodily functions for about 90% of the gags like "Tittybangbang" which inexplicably managed to get a DVD release and a second series despite the jokes wearing thin after a couple of episodes and very few fresh sketches seemed to be introduced in the latest run. In comparison, the characters in this show are new and although some don't really work, the others manage to make up for it on the whole. My favourites at the moment are probably the irresponsible uncle who takes his 12 year nephew to pubs, strip-clubs, and blind dates and also the woman who predicts terrible futures for children based on how they act at the playground - to the horror of their parents.The new series of "Man Stroke Woman" seems to have run out of steam a little bit after the last few episodes were really good. It is inconsistent like the recent series of "Mitchell and Webb" which had some really funny episodes and some in which I barely laughed. I wonder if the footage is purposefully edited in this way to create at least some great episodes instead of six lukewarm ones.It definitely won't be to everyones' taste and everybody will have particular sketches that they like and dislike, the range of humour is quite broad. Hopefully it may be re-commissioned as it is actually funny compared to the many pretenders out there currently that are just weird or trying to be too clever for their own good and forgetting to put any humour in.

Man Stroke Woman is a sketch show, and as such suffers from the problem of all sketch shows: if you don't have an episode-length story every week in which to let the audience get to know the characters, then the jokes had better be pretty damn thermonuclear. In this case, they aren't, and an excellent cast can't make them better than they are. Example: a dinner party sketch, in which a character (Meredith McNeill) tries to top someone else's story of something-funny-that-happened by her own pathetic retelling of something else not very funny that happened on a quite different occasion, doesn't work because it fizzles out on screen exactly as it would have fizzled out for real. If the writers had taken the other characters' reaction and amplified it beyond the bounds of probability, it could have been truly hilarious. If, for example, they'd all turned on her and actually kicked the crap out of her because her story was so rubbish, now that would have been funny. Potentially very offensive, sure, but very funny. But nobody will listen to me because I'm just some guy on an internet site. Maybe I can interest you in my autobiographical novel.Time and again, sketches stop just when potential comic momentum is starting to build up. Surely we've had enough sketch shows. Bring back the sitcom.

This is just the latest in a long line of programmes that have started off life on BBC3 and then been promoted to BBC2. The idea is that non-digital viewers will be so entranced by what they see that they'll go out and upgrade to digital so that they can get all these wee gems as soon as they come out. It's a good tactic, undermined by a small flaw: most of the programmes are rubbish. This one is no exception. It's all over the place. No cohesion, no central binding attitude that stands it out: it's hard to avoid the feeling that every idea put forward during the initial production meeting was included in the final script, however risible it might have been. It's not as bad as Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps (which is actually so bad it has made the reverse jump back to BBC3), but only in the sense that Mussolini was not as bad as Hitler. If this is the standard fare, I'm going to stop watching television as soon as the analogue signal is switched off. Getting more crap for your licence fee is not a reason for upgrading.

I thought this programme was a breath of fresh air. Yes some of it is variable - what sketch show isn't but I think the four main actors are just great together. Some of the sketches are down right silly. Others excellent observation - taken just that little bit (well quite a lot sometimes)further. Many are ensemble pieces often with all four and there are some really good running jokes "you can't just say I look nice", the guy thats always crying, the "posh" cosmetics assistants and particularly this evening I thought the three on the sofa discussing their horrible "perfect" boyfriends excellent stuff.Try not to compare it other shows and where the actors may have come from. Look at it for what it is - a bit of a laugh at men and women together.If you get the chance watch it. I think it works. I don't think you will be disappointed.