DVD Review: Personal Affairs


“It’s always going to be someone else's lipstick”
A completely random discovery, via an excellent bundle of birthday presents, was this BBC3 series from 2009, Personal Affairs. In its easy mixture of comedy and drama of 4 City PAs trying to discover what happened to one of their friends who has disappeared, it was rather enjoyable if hardly ground-breaking over its six episodes. But where it was huge amounts of fun was in the sheer number of theatrical spots it contained which made it a highly entertaining watch for me.
Whether it was Annabel Scholey as Scouse X-Factor wannabe Midge or Ruth Negga’s strident temp Sid amongst the leads, Al Weaver as a plotting boyfriend or a gorgeously bearded Kieran Bew (correctly assessed as the main attraction for me!)  as a potential love interest and Mark Benton and Emily Bruni amongst the bosses, the regular cast held much delight. Combined with a supporting guest cast which featured the likes of Ben Lloyd-Hughes, Mark Bonnar and Annette Badland, the acting was predictably of a high quality which ensured it was always extremely watchable.
Storylines did sometimes veer a little too close to the improbable, an inevitable consequence of both the shortness of TV series in the UK and the demands of creating light entertainment, and so it was perhaps not hugely surprising that it only lasted for one series, especially on a small channel like BBC3, but I reckon it is worth trying to track the series down on Lovefilm or somesuch for a veritable feast of theatrical totty on your screen.

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