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Toast proved to be a charming, cosy drama perfect for a winter evening when it was shown on Thursday night. However, despite being an enjoyable 90 minutes of television, it struggled to elevate itself above similar dramas that have gone before it.
It was adapted from Nigel Slater’s autobiographical book of the same name, and it started off by introducing us to nine year old Nigel (Oscar Kennedy) who longed to eat fresh food, as his mother (Victoria Hamilton) was a hopeless cook who always bought tinned food. Tragedy struck, however, and she died, leaving Nigel with his father (Ken Stott). To help around the house, his father employed Joan (Helena Bonham-Carter), a married, working class woman who Nigel instantly disliked, but his father fell in love with her, and bought a house in the countryside for them all to live in. It was then finally time for Nigel (now 16 and played by Freddie Highmore) to learn how to cook and allow himself to discover who he really was.
Despite a familiar setup, Toast often worked brilliantly, particularly in the humourous scenes. For example, there was a wonderful scene where Nigel was forced to drink milk by his teacher, and a superb montage of Joan cooking endless delicious meals and cakes. The competition that developed between Joan and Nigel as to who could make the best food was also great fun. Unfortunately, there wasn’t enough of these scenes, and I couldn’t help feeling that if this sense of fun had been present throughout, then it would have improved the programme overall.
The performances were universally excellent, with the two actors playing Nigel managing to do so better than Nigel himself, who of course popped up for an obligatory cameo in the final scene. Furthermore, Hamilton was heartbreaking as his mother, and Stott was a delight as his father, particularly with a very funny image of his shirt not fitting him any more, as he struggled to cope with the amount of cooking that Joan did for him. But, as is the case in everything she appears, it was Bonham-Carter that stood out the most, perfectly embodying the role and being a real hate figure for the audience.
However, despite having all the right ingredients, they didn’t quite mix into as satisfying a final product as they should have done; instead it felt a little undercooked. The story was very meaningful, and it was good that the meanings weren’t rammed home but, because of this, it lacked power. If anything, a little extra time added on would have been helpful, as the ending was rushed. It would have also been nice to have seen more of Nigel’s struggle to become a cook, as he went from being laughed at by his classmates for choosing Home Economics to suddenly being adored by them as he produced culinary masterpieces, with little to none of the transition between the two being shown.
Therefore, Toast was an entertaining piece of television, but it could be compared to a slightly soggy piece of toast: warm, satisfying and mushy, but lacking bite.
I agree that although Toast was a charming piece it was rather lacking something. For those that read Nigel Slater's autobiography this may be somewhat disappointing. I personal felt rather cheated as the portrayal of the complex relationship between Joan, Nigel and his Father was unfortunately sacrificed to Bonham-Carter's abilities to play the character to hate, a viewing experience that is usually very enjoyable but felt somewhat out of place here.
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