Susan Belbin's sitcom direction is patient with difficult people and attentive to the actors playing them. One Foot in the Grave shows how well that works, even when the writing strains to give Victor another grievance.
Fi1m perspective
Victor has a reasonable complaint, and then he keeps talking. In One Foot in the Grave (1990), the length of that outburst matters: stop him too soon and the comedy loses its discomfort. Susan Belbin gives Richard Wilson and Annette Crosbie room to make David Renwick's retirement comedy funny and unexpectedly painful. We laughed at Victor and then felt exhausted by him, because Wilson is allowed to keep protesting beyond the point where sympathy comes easily. Belbin understands how much a scene can gain from making us sit through that.
Her earlier work was in the BBC's studio sitcom tradition, including three years with Morecambe and Wise and seven with David Croft. She directed all seven episodes of the fourth series of Only Fools and Horses (1985), then the first three series of Carla Lane's Bread (1986). These are programmes that need a director to keep the tone consistent through repeated encounters with the same characters. With One Foot in the Grave, she took on both directing and producing across its first five series, from 1990 to 1996. Her credits also include producing the first series of the mystery comedy-drama Jonathan Creek (1997).
Belbin is not the only director responsible for that patience: Christine Gernon and Sydney Lotterby also give the performers the attention they need. The achievement is shared with Wilson and Crosbie, and with Renwick, whose writing gives the actors such uncomfortable feelings to work with. The plotting sometimes works too hard to produce another grievance, and no amount of time spent on a performance can make every contrivance convincing. The half-hour format is a useful restraint, keeping Victor's company to a length we can enjoy without wanting to leave him to it. Start with One Foot in the Grave, and resist the temptation to watch several episodes in a row.
Biography
Susan Jane Belbin (born 20 October 1948) is a Scottish retired television director and producer. She began her career working with Morecambe and Wise and later collaborated extensively with David Croft on several BBC sitcoms.
Belbin directed episodes of Only Fools and Horses (1985) and Bread (1986–87). She produced and directed most episodes of the first five series of One Foot in the Grave (1990–96) and produced the first series of Jonathan Creek (1997). She also directed episodes of 'Allo 'Allo! and other comedies.
She retired from television in 1997 owing to ill health but briefly returned to contribute to the final series of One Foot in the Grave before stepping down permanently.
