Product Description

At the Bayview Retirement Village the elderly are expected to grow old gracefully, enjoying their final years in peace, quiet and comfort... but not if Tom (Graham Crowden) and Diana (Stephanie Cole) have anything to do with it! Meet two elderly eccentrics who refuse to put up with the appalling food and condescending staff, in the hilariously cynical BAFTA-nominated comedy that won Stephanie Cole a British Comedy Award in 1992.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #6332 in DVD
• Brand: WARNER HOME VIDEO
• Released on: 2006-06-13
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .20 pounds
• Running time: 205 minutes

Features

• At the Bayview Retirement Village the elderly are expected to grow old gracefully, enjoying their final years in peace, quiet and comfort. but not if Tom (Graham Crowden) and Diana (Stephanie Cole) have anything to do with it! Meet two elderly eccentrics who refuse to put up with the appalling food and condescending staff, in the hilariously cynical BAFTA-nominated comedy that won Stephanie Cole

Amazon.com
It's strange that a British comedy series in the tradition of Monty Python and Mr. Bean would sit fifteen years before being released on DVD. However, Waiting for God's humor has less slapstick mixed in with its dark, dry wit, making its style uniquely relevant to facing old age and death. The first seven episodes are collected on this disc: Welcome to Bayview, A Trip to Brighton, Cheering Up Tom, The Christening, Fraulein Mueller, The Psychiatrist, and The Helicopter. In each, elderly citizen Tom Ballard (Graham Crowden) and his grumpy spinster friend, Diana Trent (Stephanie Cole) overcome boredom and malaise within Bayview Retirement Village, having some adventures outside its confines (like when they drive a Porsche to Brighton in "A Trip to Brighton"), but mostly relying on conversation to entertain themselves. Waiting for God exemplifies smart writing paired with solid acting, since there is little dramatic action to distract from its premise. As a result, Tom and Diana's characters have well-rendered personalities, making their conversations pleasantly predictable. Tom always fantasizes, believing he can enact change, like when he stages a hunger strike against Bayview's food in "Welcome to Bayview." Diana is the quintessential pessimist, her nose always buried in a novel or in a game of solitaire to pass time until death. She's bitter towards people who "revere everything ancient except themselves." Diana and Tom bond over broken families and a love of sarcasm, and their unlikely friendship is both realistic and entertaining. Plots against their refusal to accept senior citizen status grow heated, as in "The Psychiatrist," when Harvey, Bayview's manager, aims to prove Tom and Diana mentally incompetent in order to confiscate their rights. In "The Helicopter," Tom and Diana sneak a ride in a helicopter, causing panic and chaos amongst their caretakers. Instead of poking fun at the elderly, as does the other British comedy about an old couple, Keeping Up Appearances, Waiting for God satirically highlights the absurd notion that our elders are incapable of living intelligently. --Trinie Dalton

Customer Reviews

Aging with ATTITUDE, British Style!
Don't be put off by the title - this is one of the best Britcoms to hit the US Shores. This show is totally unique - set in the British retirement community of Bayview, and it's inmates...er, I mean RESIDENTS, are taking steps to NOT gracefully fade away!

I have never laughed aloud so much at a series as I have at the adventures of Stephanie Cole's Diana Trent (spinster & proud of it) and Graham Crowden's Tom (part-time bullfighter on the moon, when he wasn't digging out of Colditz with "Dickie and Johnny"), and their battles against Daniel Hill's "The Idiot Baines" and Janine Duvitski's love-starved Jane. Together with sex-fiend Basil and other inmates, and constantly thwarting the efforts of Tom's revolting family to control them, the antics are pricelss.

What keeps me watching the episodes is the way the characters are presented. Diana puts it thusly: "We are not a group to be managed." Fighting for the respect they deserve - in a society that reveres age in everything but itself - Diana and Tom carve such a niche at Bayview that Harvey spends the entire run of the show trying to chuck them out! Ideas that would be handled with all the tact of a road roller in the US get treated with a sense of decorum. The episode entitled "Scandal," first aired in October of 1993, is proof of that. The final episode of the show ('Two Weddings')is so well done that it literally leaves one's ribs sore from laughing.

I have been hunting for all 47 episodes of the show, which form a total story, with a beginning (Tom's arrival), a middle (the Scandal!), and an end (call it two weddings and a funeral - not the one released). This series is done with wit and taste, and in many ways I am GLAD it never made it across the Atlantic. American producers would have surely messed it up. My home-taped episodes are in danger of wearing out.

Now, FINALLY, there is hope on the horizon in the form of a DVD of Series (Season) 1. I have no idea why BBC won't go ahead and release the whole thing - there are only 45 episodes plus two Christmas specials (only one Christmas special has ever been shown in the US to my knowledge; it was a double length show). If BBC is simply going to release them series by series (or season by season), let's hope that enough of the first one sells!

Once you visit Bayview, you'll want to go back, and seven episodes won't be enough!

Two Great Stars in a Social Comedy
This is a show that would never be made in the US because it is about the elderly with a cast mostly over the age of 50. But that is what makes it so great.

Stephanie Cole is Diana Trent who is a retired photojournalist who spent all her time working and never raised a family. She has lived her life at full throtle and has not slowed down for retirement. She believes that being old is not fatal. (Note: Stephanie was only 49 when the series premiered!)

Graham Crowden is Tom Ballard. He raised an extremely boring son who is married to an alcoholic nymphomanic. Tom goes on mental walkabouts with famous dead people. Tom is actually very together, he just doesn't like to admit it.

They are neighbors at Bayview Retirement Community which is run by the superego Harvey Baines (Better known as the Idiot Baines.)and the overly kind Jane. Harvey always has a plan to make more money or a plan to get rid of a pesky resident but you know that Diana and Tom will foil his plans.

This dvd has seven episodes.

Welcome to Bayview (Pilot) - Tom's family is trying to dump him at a retirement home but to his surprise his neighbor has decided not to go gently into the night and she is taking Tom on her joy ride.

A Trip to Brighton - Diana's sole relative, her niece, leaves her Porsche while she is abroad and Diana and Tom go for a joy ride! (Watch for Tom's great "courtroom" scene at the end!)

Cheering Up Tom - Tom think he is dying but the doctor has another diagnosis! Diana is charged with cheering Tom up.

The Christening - The christening is just a side bit. Harvey finds out that Diana forgot to disclose a malady on her application and now is trying to get her evicted! But Tom and Diana each have their own way to foil his plan.

Fraulein Mueller - Harvey hires a new matron but Diana realizes that she is Jane's replacement and Diana and Tom will not have this.

The Psychiatrist - Harvey tries to get rid Diana by proving she is incompetent and tries to enlist her neice Sarah. But Sarah is a chip off her "Auntie's" block and Tom and Diana have the last laugh.

The Helicopeter - It's time for the local elections and Diana has had it with politicians.

The series had 45 regular episodes and two christmas specials.

Waiting forever
Well, hooooraaaay BBC, you finally are getting down to releasing some of the greatest comedy series ever produced. "Waiting for God" is a MUST HAVE for your Brit-com collection. As other reviews have stated, the episodes have a humor of wit that will draw you into the supberb acting and keep you laughing out loud (so healthy for the soul). Bet you can't just watch one episode at a time!! Please don't let us down, BBC, and release ALL the episodes (47 including Christmas specials)-- my tv vhs recordings are worn out from being watched over and over.

Now, BBC, for the sake of all your devoted fans, you need to release the series "One Foot in The Grave" and "George & Mildred" in the US (these are currently being released in the UK). No comedy diet should be without these 2 excellent series to compliment "Waiting For God".

For anyone interested, 2 other great Brit-coms, "My Hero" and "Mulberry-the complete series" are being released on Amazon mid-year.