Reviewing the situation comedy Home to Roost – Eric Chappell was master of the art

Give me the comforting, comfortable, not particularly funny Home to Roost any day of the week – which is when you can watch the Eric Chappell gem on freeview channel That’s TV.

The premise is that Henry Willows, a 40-something who has been divorced from his wife for seven years and is happy living alone in London, has his life turned upside down when his oldest child moves in.

The episodes revolve around Henry’s annoyance at having his solitude disturbed and the age gap between father and son.

Henry employs two cleaners during the show’s life; first Enid Thompson, played by Elizabeth Bennett, and in the third series Fiona Fennell, Joan Blackham.

It stars John Thaw as Henry Willows and Reece Dinsdale as Matthew. It was a rare foray into comedy for Thaw and the scripts demanded no more of him than to be grumpy – which by Morse he had down to a fine art.

An early role for Dinsdale who had all the acting chops needed to star opposite Thaw with his years of experience including The Sweeney.

The conceit was always the same – experience versus youthful exuberance. The clichéd set-ups were rolled out – father teaching son to drive, a parent disapproving of the choice of girlfriend/boyfriend and the ‘delinquent’ son throwing a party the second his dad’s back is turned.

The sitcom launched in 1985 and ran for four series until 1990. By the end of the second series, Rebecca Lacey had joined the cast as Matthew’s sister Julie.

What makes it an appealing watch is the rapport between Thaw and Dinsdale – and there are no nasty bits or foul language.

For the absence of the latter two elements I can forgive it for not being side-splittingly funny – it merely raises a smile as I sink into my sofa cushions and am wrapped in suburban comfort.

Chappell was a master of situation comedy. He also wrote the classics Rising Damp and Duty Free. He also penned Only When I Laugh and Haggard.

Dinsdale also appeared in Haggard – which brings me to Take Me Home – a three-part BBC drama from 1989. It has enjoyed a re-run on BBC 4.

It starred Dinsdale as one half of a couple who move from London to ‘somewhere up north’ in pursuit of a Yuppy lifestyle.

The wonderful Maggie O’Neill, in one of her earliest TV roles, played Dinsdale’s unhappy wife Kathy. It also provided a downbeat role for the inimitable Keith Barron as taxi driver Tom, who Kathy falls in love with. Annette Crosbie played Tom’s wife Liz.

Tony Marchant’s excellent script captures the Thatcher years – when you were either earning mega bucks and sipping champagne or on a picket line trying to protect your way of life.

Dinsdale plays a computer expert, determined to out-stride his corporate peers.

Taxi driver Tom has been made redundant from a factory, Liz works, and they are just about scraping by.

Tom and Kathy’s relationship is at the centre of a brutal portrayal of the human wreckage left behind when an illicit affair is exposed and explodes into misery, doubt and heartbreak.

The soundtrack is Dusty Springfield’s greatest hits – Tom listens to her on his taxi CD player – and underscores the drama perfectly.