Just like London buses autobiographical comedies seem to be coming in threes at the moment. We’ve just had Lenny Henry’s story, we’ve got Emma Kennedy’s The Kennedys to come shortly. And this week, sandwiched between the two like jam between two slices of a crusty white loaf, comes Cradle to Grave, the series based on Danny Baker’s 1970s Bermondsey childhood and book-of-the-life Going To Sea In A Sieve.
This eight-part series is more comedy drama than conventional sitcom. In fact with the voiceover it actually feels quite filmic, even a bit Goodfellas. Peter Kay plays Fred "Spud" Baker, a ducking and diving docker always on the lookout for a dodgy deal, more Del Boy than Robert De Niro. If he’s not nicking pillows, he’s liberating nodding dogs. In one memorable scene he gets into a right pickle when he opens up what he thinks is a crate of booze.
The action is distinctly episodic, shuttling between Spud’s shouty antics and the rest of the Baker clan’s growing pains. Laurie Kynaston plays the amiable young Danny, variously hanging out after school at an old run-down house known as “mud island”, hankering after fancy trousers, getting his first taste of full-frontal nudity and ending up with a slap in the face.
While some scenes are shamelessly nostalgic or pretty generic – lots of beige, Radio Rentals man repossessing the telly, anxious dates, nervous seventies disco anyone? – the dialogue, penned by Baker and Jeff Pope, brings things to life and does have a ring of authenticity. The period detail is good too, except for some modern short haircuts among Baker’s mates.
This will probably get a lot of attention because of the casting of Kay as a Londoner. Bolton’s most famous son does well with the accent. So well at times, in fact, I did wonder briefly at first if Baker’s actual voice had been dubbed over Kay's northern twang. It’s not exactly a role Kay was born to play, but after a while you forget that he normally sounds for Corrie than EastEnder. Huge fun, nice theme tune from Squeeze and good period soundtrack too.
Cradle To Grave, Thursdays from Sept 3, 9pm, BBC2
