Eight women looking for love is all a bit genteel, except for the fabulous Nancy Dell’Olio who doles out drinks and tells it as it is “When I came to Greece, I knew it was going to be spiritual,” says comedian Ninia Benjamin. “I did not expect to be shaking my vagina.” But shake it for Our Shirley Valentine Summer (ITV), she does, along with seven other celebrity women who are single and ready to give their lives a sun-and-sea overhaul. ITV has carved out a kind of niche recently in sticking vintage celebrities into unusual situations and hoping for fireworks. They got Pat Butcher high on Gone to Pot, stripped Ainsley Harriot naked for The Real Full Monty, and sent Su Pollard to Sin City for Last Laugh in Vegas. It’s a Partridge-esque approach to commissioning, but the results have been oddly compelling, not least for offering viewers the unforgettable sight of a meal made with edible pot all getting a bit much for Christopher Biggins. It has been a while since I have seen Shirley Valentine, the film, but I am fairly certain that it isn’t quite the romcom that it is remembered to be when people talk about “doing a Shirley Valentine”. Helpfully, there are three disclaimers at the start of the show, stating clearly that it is only “inspired by” the story, that any similarities to the play or film are coincidental, and that it has not actually been licensed as an official Shirley Valentine product, if there could be such a thing. I think even Willy Russell might struggle to conjure dramatic intrigue out of Siân Lloyd admitting that she quite fancies her hill-walking instructor, or Melinda Messenger deciding that she is going to spend the month looking after chickens, so the group can have their own eggs. Continue reading...
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