2002, UK
Comedy, TV
For once, the BBC falls behind a U.S. series, rather than the other way around. Not that this show is as poor a copy as the U.S. usually produces of its BBC counterparts, it simply shares similarities. The TV series "Manchild" centers around four wealthy, fifty-something London mates seeking hedonistic pleasures in all the wrong places -- sound similar to its Manhattan cousin?
All but one of the men are single, but all seek the delusion of the perfect fling, no strings attached. The lead narrator, Terry (Nigel Havers in suave form), reveals his belief of the stages of life: Kids mindlessly seek simple pleasures, teenagers mindlessly seek stoned pleasures, newlyweds perfect the art of married sex, and long-marrieds hopelessly attempt to recapture that magic. But if a man times life perfectly, by fifty he has made his fortune and can now work at spending it on women half his age. Such is the post-divorce illusion, which each episode works on breaking down.
Terry's blokes include Patrick (debonair Don Warrington), an art collector always looking for a good investment, Gary (a comically fumbling Ray Burdis), the married fellow in need of a bit of reassurance from his wife, and James (most familiar to American audiences as "Buffy the Vampire Slayer's" Anthony Head), whose inadequacies downstairs lead to some interesting solutions.
The series is entertaining, though not quite as quirky and explicit as the series in the American city. An untapped age group gets credit, and gives a warning to those who run into them. No extras on this two-disc DVD set.