С любовью, Нина Online

Just watched the second episode of Love Nina and enjoyed it just as I did the first. Yes you do have to free yourself from some of the awkward things and then it becomes a wonderful amusing charming piece of work. I think that as it is from a book by Nina Stibbe that it is taken from her real life experiences.

I read the first review and was shocked that anyone could not like this refreshing programme. I come from London and find the depiction of the comfortably well off London family with ghastly children and odd bods of notoriety as lodgers pretty accurate.

I have groaned almost wept at the poor comedy that BBC1 has served up over the past year, wonderful comedy actors but with terrible scripts.

At last there is still hope for BBC1. Can't wait for episode 3 if LOVE NINA!

This is the real life story of a nanny in early 80's gentrified Camden.

Was the recent past so different? Yes Central London was that grubby, pubs were that bad, butchers were that rude and yes, you could live that close to Euston Road and park anywhere back then. And people did hire nannies without qualifications.

Love, Nina reminds the viewer of its roots with short readings from Nina's letters home, then carefully weaves from them a slow moving, steadily developing group of characters in an unusual community. It's sad that Alan Bennet (the basis for the Malcolm Tanner character) wanted to disassociate himself but you can still hear echoes of Barnsley in the background. The script is excellent, sharp, realistic and the humour is well augmented by great performances from the support with outstanding comic work by the two leads. HBC is a well-known stalwart, gifted with excellent timing but Faye Marsay, recently great in Pride but underused in Game of Thrones, is the standout here, adding a great deal of visual comedy as she reads the world about her and works out whether to stick or twist, fit in or stand out, adjust or stand firm.

She signs off each episode, like signing off a letter, with a 1 second glance to camera, neither knowing nor coquettish. These short but riveting moments encapsulate the charm and intelligence of the whole project. A neat and difficult trick. With an interesting twist in the final episode.

Five minutes before the series ends, Bonham Carter's character has to deal with Marsay's character's resignation after a series of minor disasters. HBC delivers a roller coaster speech, half strong rebuke, half recognition of the genuine love between the nanny and the children. She finishes with "Is it your exam tomorrow? Good Luck. Be less crap". The skill and craft she invests in these ten words is a great example of what has made this series such a pleasure. Because the whole series is full of examples of how much great acting can contribute to a witty, well-written script. Even the child actors were natural and up to the challenge.

Whilst I didn't much like the actress/nanny in Episode 4, who seemed to have blown in from another show, breaking the family dynamic rather badly, she wasn't there long and everything else was a delight.

This show has everything I want from a comedy. It has a quirky lead who may not seem lovable at first but becomes more and more endearing as time goes on. Her bare feet, her botched attempts at social interaction and covering up her failings are unerringly realistic and her faltering, 'where is this going?' relationship with 'the boy next door' makes you cringe with remembrance of relationships past. Her gradual grasp on how to deal with the smart, sneaky lads in her charge is reflective of any parent/carer's journey to know a child, especially a gifted one.

The cast of supporting characters - including the always sublime Helena - are gently fleshed out at a pace which allows the viewer to wonder about them rather than be force-fed a stereotype instantly.

Add to this the delicious background of 80's nostalgia and you have a winning formula and a show I hope makes a swift return as 5 episodes is definitely not enough!

Maybe it's the lack of good quality drama being made in the UK that allows this to stand out, or maybe it's as charming as i found it. Looks and feels like a British film more than a sitcom but it made me laugh and feel warm. The young girl that plays Nina is terrific and the two kids are great. The whole dynamic of the show was inspired and that is what gives it its eighties authenticity more than the set pieces.

I am about 10 minutes into the first episode on BBC iplayer and I hate it already. Nothing rings true about it and comedy has to have a ring of truth for it to work. The children in it are obnoxious and the woman who plays Nina just is not up to it. Only Helena Bonham Carter works in this. Nina would have been out of a job in a heartbeat if she had been the way she was in this debacle. I have been really disappointed by this as I have always enjoyed Nick Hornby's writing in previous outings. It just goes to show how difficult the sitcom form can be. The way children speak in front of their parents is ridiculously inappropriate and it jars horribly on the ears. Likewise the way her employers speak in front of her, their employee.