What have you done today to make you feel proud? Well, Miranda (Miranda Hart) has succeeded in bringing her show to a close with two episodes that fulfilled all our hopes and we, well, we watched it. Oh Miranda, it was all ‘such fun’. From the human dressage prancing to the personal touch of the aside to camera, everything that we know and love about Miranda featured in the last episodes. The will-they-won’t-they Miranda and Gary (Tom Ellis) relationship, which was entwined with Miranda’s classic slapstick comedy, left us in an emotional heap as the curtain fell.
She did it well, she did it very well. Miranda received two proposals at the end of the last series, so who would she decide to marry? She chose to marry Gary (a decision made not just because it rhymes, as she tells us), which was what we had all wished for. We thought this was it; Miranda finally gets her fairy-tale ending. But it wasn’t that simple. Turbulence was caused in Miranda and Stevie’s (Sarah Hadland) friendship and this was just not okay. You can’t have Miranda without Stevie and you can’t have Stevie without Miranda, it’s just not right. But, to our delight, the strength of their friendship got them through and once again they were calling each other ‘big one’ and ‘little one’. So everything was back to how it should be. But we weren’t allowed to get too comfortable as Gary was ready and waiting with another load of turbulence: cold feet, resulting in him calling off the wedding. With this cliff-hanger ending the Christmas special, it meant that the New Year’s special couldn’t come fast enough. We were enthralled as the engagement was on again, then off again, then on again. We willed Miranda to get her happy ending; with all her mishaps and awkward social encounters, she really did deserve it.
Of course, it isn’t just Miranda that makes Miranda the hit it is, it’s the host of other characters and their quirks that have an important place in our hearts. There was the return of some familiar friendly faces, the psychiatrist (Mark Heap) who attempted to understand the reason why Miranda no longer had her fruit friends or wanted to push Stevie over. This had us slightly worried too, but she did explain that it was time to grow up in certain situations and we accepted this because she finally had the confidence to stand up to her hilarious but rather pushy mother, (plus, she did keep her aubergine fruit friend Aubrey and said she would continue to gallop, phew). There were also some celebrity appearances, Heather Small and Gary Barlow, stars frequently referenced in the show, whose entrances made the final episode all the more special. And of course, not forgetting the forever important friends: Stevie (Sarah Hadland) revealing her ‘allure’, Tilly (Sally Phillips) telling us to ‘bear with’ and Penny (Patricia Hodge) with her notorious ‘such fun’. They were all there and you couldn’t imagine Miranda without them.
These characters all play a significant role in Miranda’s life and many of our lives too, as I’m sure a number of you, me included, have similar relationships and experiences that make us who we are. Okay, maybe the frequent loss of clothes in public is an occurrence not so common in the everyday (I hope), but uncomfortable social situations, the irritation with those family members who just don’t get that you are capable of making your own decisions, and well, the love of food, are all parts of Miranda that we share. The show celebrates those bits of life that many people don’t believe they should be proud of, and that is what we love.
Oh how I will miss the fruit friends, pushing Stevie over, the galloping (promise us that you will never stop galloping Miranda) and the love of great words. We join you Miranda in your love of the word ‘plunge’, but never forget viewers: ‘the Queen of all words “moist”, the King of all words “plinth”’. The show may have ended, but in watching we have been encouraged to embrace life and have fun! Miranda left us with her belief that sometimes the world needs to be jollied and Miranda, we will follow your lead, and the world shall be jollied.
5 Stars
Edited by Georgina Varley
Sources
https://www.tumblr.com/search/me:%20miranda#
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