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Waiting for God
Sundays at 7:30pm
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Diana Trent's smile, her geriatric boyfriend Tom tells her, is "like a crack in the gates of hell." And to her hopefully eternal credit, no one does an eye roll, a grimace, and a nasty one-liner quite like the retired photojournalist. Waiting for God, a series that ran between 1990 and 1994 on the BBC, is an idea primer for those who seek to perfect the slash-and-burn insult.
One would think that a sitcom set in a retirement home would be a bit grim, but it's in fact a bit uplifting: Squeezing every last drop of venomous, gin-and-tonic infused wit out of one's last days must surely make waiting to die a bit entertaining, and it's a relief to know that even fogies like Basil need condoms. Plus, with just one scene with Jane, the secretary of the retirement "village", one is reminded that in the context of Waiting for God, "Jane" = "hopelessly and greasily insipid." (It takes a lot of courage to play a character that pathetic, hats off to actress Janine Duvitsky.)
What else have the cast members done? Find out on the Internet Movie Database:
- Stephanie Cole (Diana Trent) was in Talking Heads, a wonderful monologue series that also starred Maggie Smith.
- Graham Crowden (Tom) has performed with the National Theatre and played John of Gaunt in a TV version of Richard II.
- Daniel Hill (the revolting Harvey Bains) has appeared on a wide array of television shows, including several episodes of a series called Bad Girls, a drama set in a women's prison.
- Janine Duvitski (Jane) has appeared in a recent series called The Worst Week of My Life and has also appeared in Foyle's War as well as 1994's The Madness of King George.
