Victor Meldrew

Victor Meldrew
Victor Meldrew
First appearance	Alive and Buried
Last appearance	Things Aren't Simple Anymore
Cause/reason	Hit and run
Created by	David Renwick
Portrayed by	Richard Wilson
Information
Gender	Male
Date of birth	1928
Date of death	20 November 2000
Spouse(s)	Margaret (wife)
Children	Stuart (implied, deceased)
Address	37 Wyngate Drive (Series 1) 19 Riverbank (Series 2-6)

Victor Meldrew is the main character in the BBC1 sitcom One Foot In The Grave. Created by David Renwick and played by Richard Wilson, the character was the archetypal grumpy old man. However, many fans of the series saw him as a mouthpiece for the very things that always got on their nerves, whether it was children, cars, animals, power cuts or the neighbour next door (the latter, in Victor's case, played by Angus Deayton).

Character

The pensioner is most famous for his catch phrase, "I don't believe it!", an expression of discontent which was actually used fairly infrequently. Quite often, he would stop short at "don't". According to Wilson this is because David Renwick wanted to avoid the catch phrase becoming overused. Renwick once pointed out in an interview that the name "Victor" is ironic, since he almost always ends up as the loser. The series was so successful that in the UK the term a Victor Meldrew has become shorthand for a constantly bitter and complaining elderly man, in much the same way as the name Ebenezer Scrooge. This is a little unfair to the character, as the bizarre misfortunes that befell Meldrew would be enough to exasperate anyone. Wilson himself once said in an interview that he was a "normal man in a world full of idiots". Victor is a tragic comedy character, however, and many people found themselves sympathising with him, rather than laughing at him as he became embroiled in complex misunderstandings, bureaucratic vanity and, at times, sheer bad luck. His long-suffering wife Margaret points out in one episode (when she hears someone accuse Victor of being insensitive) that he is in fact the most sensitive man she's ever met, since if he weren't so sensitive he wouldn't get so upset by things, and that's why she chose him. In the final episode, "Things Aren't Simple Anymore", Meldrew was killed off after being hit by a car. This eliminated any potential rumour of a seventh series being made. Despite the incident being fictional, passers-by left bouquets of flowers at the railway bridge in Shawford, a small village in Hampshire, England, the location where it had been filmed.[1]

Trivia

Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines. The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.

• The character used to work as a security guard, but was replaced by a machine, or "box". He also used to work as a stage magician, and for a long time kept a guillotine for the "head trick".
• After comments in "Timeless Time", it was implied that he had a son with Margaret that died. Beyond this, Annette Crosbie (who played his long-suffering spouse) has said that we can never be sure whether or not the two of them had any kind of sex life.
• Victor's bad luck in life even extended to his car registration plate which Margaret justifiably complained about: P 155 OLE