Joking Apart was a bittersweet comedy written by Steven Moffat and broadcast on BBC2.

Two series (totalling 12 episodes) abot a divorced couple grew from an episode of Comic Asides (a series of pilot shows) broadcast on 12 January 1991. The first series began on 7 January 1993 and initially followed a dual structure of Mark (Robert Bathurst ) and Becky (Fiona Gillies) meeting/falling in love, juxtaposed with the break up of their marriage. The theme was Chris Rea's Fool If You Think it's Over, arranged and performed by Kenny Craddock .

Most of the first series of six episodes opened with Mark, a sit-com writer, using his relationship as material for stand-up performances. Episodes regularly cut back to Mark's performances, designed as fantasy sequences. The first episode showed the couple meeting at a funeral, marrying, going through the honeymoon phase, and Becky admitting she was an adultress. Although she inadvertently admitted this fact before realising that all of her friends were hiding around her living room before the surprise party was started, the performances of Bathurst and Gillies took the scene above mere farce. This episode was basically a re-recorded version of the pilot, utilising a revised set design.

After being postponed from the autumn schedules, even though the show had won an award at Montreux, the six episodes of the second series begun transmission on 3 January 1995.

The show attracted a small amount of viewers, but the internet is helping elevate the show to cult status. There is a campaign to get the show released on DVD.

External links

• Joking Apart Unofficial Site
• Manchester Online: Robert's fatherly fear Interview with Robert Bathurst, and comments about the DVD release