Some friends at work recommended to me, as I was looking to broaden my repertoire of British television viewing, a sit-com called Early Doors. The show was first aired in 2003 to 2004 but I believe can still be found on the telly as re-runs, though I'd never come across it. Recently, I saw a DVD of the first season at the library, remembered about the recommendation, and snatched it up. Initially I found the show frustratingly difficult to understand; the heavy Northern accents were too much for me to decipher. But then I discovered the sub-titles feature for the hearing impaired and it worked a charm! I suppose you could compare it to the US show "Cheers" in that the show takes place in a pub and it explores all the characters of the pub, the owners and regulars. And like in Cheers, where the characters live has a lot to do with who they are. For Cheers, where they live is Boston; for Early Doors, it's an unnamed town in Northern England, though I'd heard Wythenshawe mentioned (which is in Manchester). Anyway, I write about this here because I found myself, by the time I'd viewed all six episodes, feeling a kind of affinity with the characters on the show and in turn with the real-life people who'd recommended the show to me, who I'm certain also found an affinity with those characters. Hmm, might it be that I am beginning to feel a sense of belonging here in the North of England, and Wigan in particular? Too bad I can't understand the language...
