“For the greater

ractors rumble along the lanes, elderly ladies take a stroll to the local shop for a pint of milk and the newspaper. A youth moodily mutters that his village is “SO boring,” as he kicks a coke can along the gritty pavement, and a 4x4 races down the road closely past a little girl waiting at the zebra crossing to go to her charming primary school in it’s antiquated building. This is Sandford (not to be confused with ‘Sandford,’ in the Simon Pegg comedy ‘Hot Fuzz.’)

Through handheld camera techniques, this performative and expository new documentary gives the viewer an accurate sense of what it is like to live in an English village. Charming local ‘lad’ Charlie Lucy has an abundance of interesting encounters with eccentric and heart-warming characters, as he follows

his bright, bubbly instincts and tries get involved in his local community, Sandford, and is jolly keen to get stuck in with his

local community.

The subject matter of community and local people leads ‘The English Village’ to some brilliant and entertaining places such as the village Gardening Club, where the members are simply thrilled to learn how to make Christmas floral arrangements. It is the people of ‘Sandford,’ that make this documentary a success, with their quaint associations, clubs and personal quirks.

With pictures of rioting scallywags on the news, the idea that English

communities are decaying seems very much supported. In slushy American rom-coms such as ‘The Holiday,’ and

British classics like ‘Vicar of Dibley’ and ‘Midsomer Murders,’ it seems unquestionable in

these representations, that it is in these

sleepy, residential havens that are our picturesque villages, where community has been carefully preserved like a jar of homemade jam.

This programme offers England a reality check, showing a modern English village as it really is. Featuring a mumbling teenager stating “there’s not much going on around here really,” through to old biddies who are members/chairmen/treasurers of every club/association/committee within five miles. This energetic look at villages

Sandford This Way…

“For the greater

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Channel 4, Good Friday, 8.00pm

Funny, friendly and slightly cringily upbeat, ‘The English Village,’ can be added to the pile of

REVIEW

from a personal perspective doesn’t make us feel like ‘we’re not from round ‘ere,’ but doesn’t quite encourage us to move there next week either.

In this merry production we can see how a ‘proper local,’ fits in when a hidden camera is attached to a villager, as well as how a camera crew can make Charlie the talk of

the village, and reveals how the villagers want to present themselves pleasantly. For the cameras that they are aware of anyway…