australian television information archive

Love is a Four Letter Word

Undernourished in terms of viewers, rich in amusing character development, well regarded in rural areas, where the ABC remains much loved and where there has long been a high demand for quality TV, this 30-part series has only a few weeks left. Among regular watchers, it will leave fond feelings for a bunch of inner-city characters whose lives centre round a noisy pub and a cockeyed publishing business.

Some support possibly stems from the regular repeats when Angus and Albee, Paul and Klaus, Bernie and Juliette, have popped up, at first unexpectedly and then with growing anticipation, after Aunty's mainline drama sessions concludes on Friday nights. Yet Love is a Four Letter Word, sometimes unfairly dismissed as soap, is a commendable drama that possibly goes to the core of the ABC problems. If Aunty cannot get viewers to watch a well-filmed, beautifully acted and often tantalisingly brief series of half-hour episodes, then it needs to pull it socks up in in areas other than production.

Angus's (Peter Fenton) pub is a source of constant complaint from the neighbours for the noise from the bands (real bands, nicely featured without stopping the action). His brief fling with his father's accountant, Juliette (Teresa Page), was complicated by then-girlfriend Albee (Kate Beahan) pricking holes in his condoms. Juliette is now in an advanced state of pregnancy.

I suppose we regulars are all roaring for Albee, a great girl, though as muddled as hell, to get back with Angus, a great guy with feelings, but with the somewhat unfortunate aspect that everything he touches turns to crap.

By Robin Oliver
July 04, 2001
Sydney Morning Herald