Well... Em. How do I begin? On the DVD there's a small "making of" where writer/actor Julia Davis reveals two key facts about her writing.
1. It took her over three years to write the first series.
2. She writes scenes which amuse her and then fits them into a longer narrative.
Which probably helps to explain the fall from grace of Nighty Night S2, turned around in 12-18 months (I'm not sure of the timing). But the main reason that S2 is a shadow of it's former self is that the story of Jill was told and finished with the conclusion of Nighty Night S1.
She went from manipulator to murderer, but got away with it scott free, because we, the audience loved/hated her. It was a perfect conclusion for a perfect story. In hindsight, continuing it was bound to disappoint.
But... for all that... If you just want a few guilty laughs at bad taste humour Nighty Night still delivers.
There's still some stand out scenes in this which will either make you laugh or boggle in surprise (and possibly disgust). S2 is much closer to the knuckle than the first series was. Initially I thought a couple of the acts crossed the boundary of taste, but I've since changed my mind back again. Everybody watching Nighty Night should know what to expect.
But its telling that for all the physical bad-taste stunts (I won't even mention what happens in the hospital
) the true humour, like the first series, is Jill's relationship with and manipulations of others. Its at times like this we once again find ourselves actually rooting for Jill, one of the most vile and evil human beings created for a comedy, rather than her victims. We end up hating her victims for being so easily deceived and weak. And that's down to the spot-on writing and acting from everyone involved. (Talking of acting, Julia is freakishly good when Jill's trying to murder Glenn – the expression on her face each time is chilling, just for a few seconds in-between her laughs and smiles).If the whole series was built on the relationships, and ditched some of the physical stunts, it would have been much more consistent and focused.
It's not a total disaster like some reviewers have stated, but it falls incredibly short of the groundbreaking original series.
Wikipedia: Nighty Night
