By chance I happened upon Bucket on BBC4 with Miriam Margoyles growing old disgracefully as Mim and Frog Stone as Fran a deeply intense history teacher (not that they were sitting on the sofa with me, but oh well you know what I mean) and decided to give it ago.
It was shockingly rude, hilariously funny, stomach achingly cringeworthy, tense, observational and poignant in parts, oh and body parts! As a mother of girls and the daughter of a mother I saw a lot of how I am with my mother and girls and the fractious relationships of my friends and my girls' friends.
I laughed, oh how I laughed! I snorted out loud and sniggered at the double entendres, the hidden messages and the sweet way in which both Mim and Fran attempted to move on from dysfunction. Miriam Margoyles was superb as a dotty old bat and when she said "ok I might not have been the best mother in the world" to which Frog Stone replied along the lines of "in the house" it hit me that the mother/daughter relationship is one of the most fraught I have been in for 48 years and counting as a daughter and 18 years as a mother.
The one upmanship of cousins and their daughters was hilarious with each character putting on an act and Mim being the embarrassing mother "whats'a s duplex? A condom?", Stephanie Beacham being very twee and prim,, with scenes of two second cousins both with demanding and difficult mothers albeit one was conventional and the other was totally out to lunch. The scene where the gifts were discussed had me howling with laughter, who hasn't been given something they so nearly gave back?
However it wasn't all bawdy laughter and slap stick school girl silliness. Mim told Fran she was dying and they both made an effort. Then the relationship soured and it could have gone one of two ways. I say it could have done but it went off at a tangent. I cried. Both of them wanted to make amends, both of them were scared of each other and neither of them wanted to be the one to admit it was their fault. I know it's only acting but I could see so many people in both of the characters.
I enjoyed Bucket, it made me laugh and it made me think. I don't just want a bucket list to tick off before I die, I want to do things before I die and I want to do them all with love, laughter, family and friends (and if Fran and Mim want to join in then let's do it) - the more the merrier!