# Vicious (2013)

> An elderly gay couple's decades-long bickering is upended when a provocative young neighbour moves in upstairs.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/42578

## Facts

- Seasons: 2
- Episodes: 12
- Episode runtime: 22 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: comedy
- Created by: Mark Ravenhill
- Network: ITV1
- Cast: Ian McKellen, Derek Jacobi, Frances de la Tour, Iwan Rheon, Marcia Warren, Philip Voss, Christopher Villiers, Jonathan Readwin
- TMDB rating: 8.1/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2582590/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: brisk
- Intensity: mild
- Complexity: simple
- Violence: none
- Tone: sarcastic, witty, irreverent, affectionate, breezy

## What critics say

Audiences rate the sitcom positively, praising its sharp sarcastic banter between its veteran leads and the comic friction their neighbor brings.

## Synopsis

Vicious (2013-2015) is a British sitcom created by Mark Ravenhill for ITV1. Freddie Thornhill (Ian McKellen) and Stuart Bixby (Derek Jacobi) are an elderly couple who have been together for decades and whose daily life in a London flat is built on constant, cutting bickering. Their routine is upended when the brash young upstairs neighbour Ash Weston (Iwan Rheon) arrives and begins stirring trouble in their mundane world. Frances de la Tour plays their sharp-tongued friend Violet Crosby, whose visits add further sparring to the household. The series runs across two seasons of twelve short episodes, each around twenty-two minutes, built on quick exchanges and a sardonic sense of humour that the couple aim at each other and at the friends they encounter. Its tone is witty, irreverent and affectionate, with the warmth of a long marriage sitting underneath the barbs. Set in contemporary London, it is a domestic comedy of neighbour friction and rivalry rather than a broad farce. Fans of Last of the Summer Wine, Absolutely Fabulous and Waiting for God will find the same mix of acerbic banter and older-character comedy.

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