As the saying goes, all good things must come to an end. On New Year’s Day, it was BBC sitcom Miranda’s turn to enter telly heaven – and my, did it go out with a bang!
When we last left Miranda, she had two marriage proposals to consider: one from lovely news reporter Mike and one from the love of her life, Gary. The Christmas special (part one of two), picks up where series three left off: both men still down on bended knee, waiting for her answer. In typical Miranda style, things go spectacularly wrong but after a little to-ing and fro-ing, she chooses Gary. It seems that, after three series of hilarious disasters and mishaps, she’s finally found the happy ending she’s been looking for. However, things aren’t quite that simple. Her mum, Penny (Patricia Hodge) and frenemy, Tilly (Sally Phillips) appoint themselves wedding planners, vowing to give them a wedding to rival William and Kate’s, and Gary hasn’t said those three little words to Miranda. Doubts begin to gather in her mind and she wonders whether Gary REALLY loves her at all. The end of the episode sees them reluctantly call the wedding off and end their relationship. Both Miranda Hart (Miranda) and Tom Ellis (Gary) give heartbreakingly raw performances of two people who want to be with each other more than anything, if only the world didn’t get in the way.
The New Year’s special- also the final episode- begins directly after Miranda and Gary’s split. She’s back to making Fruit Friends (including Aubrey the Aubergine) and is clearly not dealing with the break-up that well. However, as only she can, Miranda decides to pick herself up, dust herself off and move on. Her attempts to do this include standing up to Penny, whose overbearing nature has been well-documented over the three series, and riding a horse on a beach. However, she comes to realise that while she may not need Gary as she thought she did, she wants to spend the rest of her life with him. A hilarious mix-up involving a wedding and a mad dash to the church culminates in a wonderful finale, which for fans of the show will be bittersweet. Look out for cameos by Gary Barlow and Heather Small, plus Dominic Coleman makes yet another appearance as Fave Customer (spoiler alert: he still doesn’t get to buy anything!)
This pair of episodes round off Miranda’s journey beautifully. Emotional performances from Tom Ellis and Miranda Hart tug at the heartstrings, while sterling comedy support comes from Sarah Hadland (Stevie), Patricia Hodge, Sally Phillips and Adrian Scarborough (Dreamboat Charlie). They balance drama and comedy perfectly, providing the right amount of light and shade. Miranda’s journey from a clumsy and insecure woman to one who is completely comfortable with herself is truly beautiful: die-hard fans of the show, expect some serious tears! When she addresses the camera for the final time at the end of the New Year’s special, you can see how far she’s come as a character and that she really has found everything she was looking for. The pure emotion etched into Miranda Hart’s face as she says goodbye gives a sense of just how much she’ll miss her character. And slowly, you come to realise that you’ll miss her every bit as much.
