It’s been a rocky road this season for Stuart (Sir Derek Jacobi) and Freddie (Sir Ian McKellen) but we’re finally there – this week’s episode of Vicious is their long-awaited wedding day. With all the bickering finally sorted out last week, it’s bound to be plain sailing for our favourite elderly gay couple – right?

Well, of course not. For one thing, Violet (Frances de la Tour) is doing her best to upstage the pair because erstwhile husband Jasper has returned. Predictably, Jasper is a bad lot; he has only returned to Violet for money and proceeds to spend the episode having verbal swipes at her, culminating in Ash (Iwan Rheon) eventually knocking his block off.

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Much of the physical comedy is provided courtesy of Mason (Philip Voss) and – our favourite character – Penelope (Marcia Cross). Penelope is most definitely to Viciouswhat Jane Horrock’s Bubble is to Absolutely Fabulous – comedy gold. Mason and Penelope are dispatched to pick up the wedding cake for Stuart, blissfully unaware of the fact that the cake hasn’t actually been paid for. Having shelled out £250 to pick it up, they then have the ‘small’ task of transporting the huge cake to the venue. Disaster ensues and Penelope ends up wearing the cake – no less than three times. Yes, it’s predictable slapstick but the combination of Penelope’s battiness and Mason’s dour personality makes it laugh out loud hilarious.

Cake aside, the wedding ceremony itself is somewhat rudely interrupted when Stuart’s mother, having waited over 90 years for Stuart’s nuptials, ends up shuffling off the mortal coil whilst giving Ash a hug just before the ceremony. Hashtag – awkward. It’s left to Violet, in typically understated fashion, to break the news to Freddie

Seriously – we’re one step away from someone suggesting a ‘nice cup of tea’ will solve all these problems. Freddie resolves to carry on as normal and not tell Stuart that ‘mother’ has died until the end of the ceremony, so as not to ruin the day for him. Cue, comic (if in somewhat delightfully bad taste) scenes where Mason and Penelope are charged with the unenviable task of literally propping ‘mother’ up to maintain the pretence.

There are lots of traditional elements that make this a typical episode of Vicious – Freddie is on top form, remarking upon the fact that Violet has turned up in what looks suspiciously like a wedding dress with:

It’s funny because it’s McKellen saying it – that’s all. This aside, Freddie is noticeably on ‘best behaviour’ this week and there’s good reason for that. We’ve already passed comment on the fact that Freddie’s character has been mellowed and there’s been a conscious attempt to make him and Stuart appear an actual couple, as opposed to just a couple of bitches. Stuart is initially philosophical about his mother’s death, reflecting that the main thing is that she saw him married. Of course, this is simply denial and it is in the closing scenes of the episode that Stuart breaks down over the loss of his mother; it’s left to Freddie to comfort him, which he does with extraordinary tenderness. It’s a mature and very tender ending for the series, not to mention a fitting representation of how the series as a whole has changed and developed over the course of its second season.

All in all, this was a solid, funny and thoughtful close to this season of Vicious. We have seen the sitcom honed and developed in a coherent and intelligent fashion over the last 6 weeks. Good job.

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