25/07/2026
When I first watched One Foot in the Grave, Victor just seemed like a grumpy old man who complained about everything. Watching it again as an older person, he doesn't seem that grumpy to me at all. He just seems fed up with all the unnecessary hassle that life throws at you.
Today, there are plenty of things that would have had Victor shaking his head. Ringing a company and spending ten minutes listening to automated options before finally being told to visit the website. Trying to explain a problem to a chatbot that doesn't understand what you're asking. Being passed from one department to another without anyone taking responsibility. Endless passwords, security checks and apps for things that used to take two minutes.
Then there are the everyday frustrations. Traffic everywhere, queues, parcels that never arrive when they say they will, and customer service that often feels impossible to reach. It's not difficult to imagine Victor looking around, throwing his hands in the air and saying, "I don't believe it!"
Richard Wilson played him brilliantly because Victor never came across as a cartoon grump. He was an ordinary man who simply wanted common sense to prevail, and became increasingly exasperated when it didn't. The older you get, the more you realise he wasn't complaining for the sake of it. Most of the time, he was reacting to things that would test anyone's patience.
Watching it now, I find myself agreeing with Victor far more often than I ever expected
