Cabin Pressure: 'Zurich' Review

Zurich: How do you achieve an ending?

Quick Review
Name:Cabin Pressure, Zurich
Platform: Radio
Genre: Sitcom

Series rating: 10/10

Episode: 9/10

Recommended for fans of: Miranda, the Now Show, John Finnemore’s Souvenir Programme, Frank Skinner’s Argumentative.

“Arthur:..doesn't feel like a happy ending.

Carolyn: It is a happy ending! Just not a fairytale ending. We can’t expect that. Real happy endings are never simple. “

How do you end your project? You may kind of know where your story, essay, or blog post is going, you may know what you want to say, but how do you actually finish it? When you write you want to reach the endgame- surely that’s the whole point-, but the best projects, the ones that makes artists and audience alike truly happy, are the ones where the journey has been so great you don’t actually want it to end. This is especially true for series', whether in print (Game of Thrones), televised (Game of Thrones), or on the radio (where the Archers shows the reverse is also true, that no matter how much you may want it to end, some things really, really don't.). Great shows have to wrap up eventually, otherwise the writers run out of ideas, and move too far from the heart of the show, and so you end up with the later seasons of Scrubs,and no one wants that.

So it must end, even when you're curled up in a corner crying as you wish it could go on forever, but what should an ending for a long series be like? What pay off do you give your audience?

The last episode of John Finnemore’s ‘Cabin Pressure’ was a bitter-sweet experience, as all meaningful goodbyes should be. Comedy wise it may have lacked the punch of Finnemore’s usual episodes- but it had to, because as the writer himself put it this was the episode where the characters graduated from being part of a sitcom. We walk away from the characters knowing that they too are moving on with their lives.

The Cast of Cabin Pressure: (from Left to Right) John , Roger Allam, Stephanie Cole, and Benedict Cumberbatch

This works. This emotional graduation is the pay-off both the audience and the characters deserve. Radio fills an empty room with voices, and feels more intimate than TV, like books do. Actually radio more so than books, because the listener is closer to the thoughts of the characters than the viewer. You are not watching their lives from a distance, but actively listening to people talk about their most vulnerable moments. Like you would for the people you care about. The confessional atmosphere of hearing a private conversation between the characters allows you to feel like the character trusts you, as you listen to their pain. It's a friendship.

My disk copies of ‘Cabin Pressure’ are the most listened to things I own. When I feel sad or lonely, I stick them on and fall into the world of a struggling charter firm, filled with flawed and loveable characters. Over the years the protagonists have come to mean a lot to me, and like I would for my real human friends, I wanted to leave them knowing they were ok.

That was the pay off that Cabin Pressure fans wanted. For the characters to be ok. Arthur gains strength, Carolyn weakness, Douglas softens, and Martin? Well Martin gets the princess and the airport in a faraway land. It was a good ending. Everything clicked into place and changed enough that you knew after listening to it, that it was over. That Martin, Douglas, Carolyn, and Arthur, as well as their friends and nemeses, were moving on, and that you, the listener, would move on too.

The rules of yellow car? click here.

This was the show that stole my heart. And now it leaves my life, the characters have all learned what they needed to. But what did I learn as an audience member?

I learned that I want to write for radio.I learned that things worth caring about are worth listening too, and, most importantly, when their isn’t a silver lining, their may just be a gold one. So thank you Abby, for introducing it to me- I guess I have also learned that Abby is always right.

What show's ending do you like best? Or can you think of some shows that should have ended earlier? Let me know in the comments bellow.

Take care,
Alice :)