DVD News And Reviews

Abigail’s Party was a one-off TV show written by Mike Leigh as part of the BBC’s ‘Play For Today’ series back in 1977. Apparently it received mixed reviews when it was first shown as many viewers simply didn’t get it, but it’s now regarded as a classic piece of television and something of a cult classic.

Anyway you can now buy the Abigail’s Party DVD and watch the whole show all over again if you so wish. I only watched it for the first time myself a few years ago when it was repeated on BBC4 and surprisingly I thought it was actually very good.

Nothing much actually happens in this one-scene play and the whole interplay between the main characters is both awkward and excruciating, and yet it makes for compelling viewing right up until the final scene. Alison Steadman is superb as the lead character Beverley, who is the host of what turns out to be a dull suburban party, and the other characters are also brilliantly portrayed as the uninterested neighbours who don’t really want to be there. Abigail’s Party is really quite funny but at the same time you also feel quite sympathetic towards some of the guests of the party.

As I say if you want to watch this comedy classic again, you can do so thanks to this Abigail’s Party DVD which is currently available to buy for a bargain price of just £4.47 at the time of writing:

Filed under: TV Drama