Whites

Alan Davies as Roland.

Once a promising chef, Roland White now works at the White House restaurant, which is part of a country hotel. "Work" is a loose term for Roland, as he spends most of his days hiding in this office dictating his book. His egotistical natures masks his vulnerability--his greatest fear is that he will never get another shot at the big time.

It makes for a complex situation. Roland relies heavily on Bib, his sous chef and only friend. His cuisine creativity--already at low ebb--is stifled by the hotel's melodramatic owner. And he pines for the hotel manager, Caroline, whose dull boyfriend seems more interested in piglets than her.

A half-hour comedy, Whites debuted on the BBC in 2010 and ran for a single season of six episodes. The BBC's decision to not go forward with a second season is puzzling, because Whites is a sharply-written, well-acted show that mixes laughs with a dash of drama. The latter is typically a result of Roland's poor decision-making, such as when he selfishly sabotages Bib's chance at running his own restaurant in Australia.

Star Alan Davies began his career as a stand-up comic, first earning fame on television as the star of the mystery series Jonathan Creek. American viewers may know him best from the long-running, pseudo quiz show QI hosted by Stephen Fry (it's available on Acorn TV).

Katherine Parkinson as Caroline.

Yet, though Davies is clearly the star, Whites is an ensemble comedy at heart. Darren Boyd (from the original Dirk Gently) as Bib and Katherine Parkinson (Doc Martin) as Caroline make the most of their scenes with Roland. They allow viewers to see that vulnerable side of the head chef and that's key to the show's success. The other characters are just there for fun, but there's nothing wrong with that. Isy Suttie is hilarious as a wacky waitress romantically interested in Bib's sneaky ambitious assistant Skoose (Stephen Wight). Maggie Steed rounds out the cast as the hotel's offbeat owner.

Darren Boyd as Bib.

Sometimes, the humor may border on bad taste, but it's typically at the expense of Roland who gets his comeuppance by the end of an episode. An example is when Roland fails to notice that his new potential girlfriend has only one arm--until Caroline points it out to him. From that point on, Roland constantly notices it and a romantic dinner goes horribly wrong. In another outing, Roland notes that a health inspector is wearing a Parkinson's charity wristband. To increases the likelihood of surviving the inspection, he quickly passes Bib off as his brother--and states he has the disease. Bib and later Caroline are trapped in the lie and have to participate in the deception.

There are various reasons given for the quick cancellation of Whites. Some sources claim that the BBC thought it was too expensive to continue production. In a 2013 interview, Alan Davies said he thought the BBC may have canceled it because he was still doing QI:  "I asked, ‘Is that a factor? Can anyone give me a straight answer on that? If it is a factor, I’d rather quit QI.' Will I get cast as anything else?"

Still, six very funny episodes make a memorable season and a good reason to still watch Whites.


Whites is currently streaming on Acorn TV.