Sunday 14 August 2022 10:07 PM At long last! A brilliant BBC drama about normal people: CHRISTOPHER STEVENS ... trends now
Marriage, BBC1, last night
Rating: 
Do not adjust your set. Emma and Ian are ordinary people – and, whisper it, they're starring in a BBC drama.
They drive an eight-year-old Ford Focus. Loading the dishwasher is a nightly ritual they could do blindfolded.
They holiday on the Costa del Sol, but stick to 'normal restaurants'.
There are millions like them. These are the people of Middle England – the mainstay of the nation. But the Beeb drama department rarely acknowledges their existence.
Couples in prime-time serials are expected to have bifold doors opening onto landscaped gardens with firepits and off-road parking.
Where's the designer fridge? The marble-topped island? Where's the wine rack? Is that a bedroom without an ensuite bathroom? Am I really watching THE BBC?
The only hint of fantasy in this depiction of suburban life is the casting. Emma is played by Nicola Walker and Sean Bean is Ian.
I suspect almost every British woman of a certain age, however posh, would settle for a lifetime of holidays in Torremolinos if it meant sharing a bed with Sean.
In BBC1's Marriage, Emma is played by Nicola Walker (left) and Sean Bean is Ian (right)
The likes of Emma and Ian are usually seen only in sitcoms such as Two Doors Down.
It's telling that Marriage is written by Stefan Golaszewski, best-known for the poignant comedy Mum, starring Lesley Manville.
Laughs are sparse in Marriage, though you'll find a few hidden gems.
In one wordless vignette, as the pair watched TV, Ian tipped his slippers off and stretched his toes.
His wife said nothing, just a sideways flick of the eyes. But it was enough. Like a draught under the door, he felt the disapproval and wriggled his slippers back on.
It was a perfect evocation of
