A Moody Christmas was a comedic find for ABC1 in 2012, and just as good in repeat leading into Christmas 2013. To transform this delightfully mental-if-a-little-broken family into a new series was going to take something special.
They more than found it with The Moodys.
Dan (Ian Meadows) & Cora (Jane Harber) hooked up at the end of the last Christmas and young love is blossoming. Of course Dan still feels he’s batting well outside his league – a fact Sean (Patrick Brammall) isn’t gonna let him forget – and so the series continues at a raft of Moody celebrations with the undercurrent of Dan & Cora maybe possibly considering the chance of maybe marrying. Australia Day, Wedding Anniversaries, Birthdays – experiencing all these events with the Moodys is a sound reminder why even though our own family may be dysfunctional we can all rest easy we’re not related to this mob.
The entire cast reprise their roles (except GwanGwan, naturally) and the character development shines in the hands of the hilarious cast. Uncle Terry (Darren Gilshenan), always unlucky in love, may have now found someone special in Yvonne (Sacha Horler) while Bridget (Rachel Gorden) and Roger (Phil Lloyd) maintain an eerie connected-distance-thing that nobody really understands (least of all them). Brammall again shines as the awkward older sibling who never really grew up and seems to have never really wanted to. Tina Bursill and Danny Adcock return as the Moody parents responsible for this whole mess. Then there’s Bridget’s possible new love and a crazy collection of others that just makes it So. Freaking. Good.
The Moodys are back and it’s very possible they’ll have killed each other by the end of the season. Or be sitting around singing Kum Bye Yah together, holding hands. Either way enjoy the destructively awkward love.
The Moodys – Wed 9pm, ABC1.