I kind of doubt that any film so perfectly conveys my experiences with the English countryside and people therein. Also the bit where the central couple sing their song to Ray is ridiculous and brilliant (it's a very irritating moment but all the more hilarious because of it as you can immediately understand Ray's feelings over the situation). That Mike Leigh can make the central couple so funny to watch and yet also so believable and realistic is a true credit to his skills as a filmmaker.

If words can even start to describe how this film so thoroughly rocked my world, then I will try my best. Most of my totally bemused friends have written off this BBC teleplay as a boring travelogue of an even more insufferably boring, nattering "middle-upper-class" couple who really don't do a hell of a lot. Even the most inane visual detail (a close-up of a walking meter strapped around an ankle), or inconsequential, throw-away line of dialogue has me rapt with inexplicable awe. I genuflect.