Don’t Drink the Water

1970s British tv sitcom

Retired bus inspector, Cyril Blake, and his sister Dorothy, move to a sunny Spain. Their promised land turns out to be completely different from what they expected.

Retired bus inspector, Cyril Blake, and his sister Dorothy, move to their new home, an apartment on the coast in sunny Spain. Soon after arrival they discover that what was suppose to be their promised land, a perfect place to retire, is far from being perfect. First, their new house is in the middle of construction site, second, they are building new apartment complexes that will block their view of the sea, third, there is very little infrastructure around, so even shopping could be a challenge.

With help of the local porter / handyman Carlos they try to adapt to the new reality, which is far from what they were expecting, hence, the constant regrets of Dorothy that they did not moved to Bognor Regis. But since all of their savings are tied in the apartment in Spain, they have very little choice than making the best of the situation.

Created as a spin-off of popular On The Buses, the premise of Don’t Drink the Water plus using the least likeable character from original series to start afresh, was a bold choice. The jokes about poor quality, unfinished buildings in Spain were overused in British comedy during the 1970s, Cyril Blake was hardly a character worth a spin-off, yet... Don’t Drink the Water actually wasn’t really all that bad. Even though the whole series is based around just three characters (Cyril, Dorothy and Carlos), this sitcom had its atmosphere and style. The humour wasn’t that great, the second series was lacking new ideas, but overall it was a decent 1980s sitcom in fish out of the water style.

Rating	6.0
Funny	6 / 10
Entertaining	3 / 5
Characters	3 / 5
Nonrepetitive	3 / 5