The danger of judging a series after one or two episodes is that you may not get the whole picture. The same goes for reviewing a series too soon as it may take the complete picture to do the whole series justice.
That certainly applies to series 2 of The Cockfields. The premature review (here), written after the first episode, did not do the show justice. So apologies are in order. Although Sue Johnston’s character, Sue Cockfield, remains very irritating throughout, by being overly well intentioned, the family unit generates plenty of laughs. She is the proverbial dog that won’t let go of the bone. Gregor Fisher has blended seamlessly into the role of know-it-all Ray, in fact is very much making it his own having taken on the role played by Bobby Ball in the first series. His confrontations with his new neighbours are a joy.
Susannah Fielding shines as the tactful and diplomatic Esther. Despite having ample provocation she contains the urge to scream out loud at the dog with the bone. The second son/step-brother David (Ben Rufus Green) who is seemingly straddling some degree of the spectrum, struggles with normal relationships, in fact any relationship.
The scripts by Joe Wilkinson and David Earl are superbly constructed and consistently good, with episode 5, featuring a scene at the bowling club, being an absolute doozy.
The series is nicely set up for a third (at least) series with Dad (Nigel Havers) and partner Melissa (Sarah Parish) inviting themselves over to the mainland to stay with Simon and Esther. However before then there will be a Christmas Special, so keep an eye out for transmission a date.
You don’t need to have seen series one to enjoy the second but If you missed either then you would be well advised to catch them now on Gold On Demand