TWO weeks in and Britain’s favourite comedy drama series Cold Feet has been reviewed a little critically; “Cold Feet is showing its age: a little arthritic, occasionally losing its way,” said one reviewer of the 1997-created show.

What? How can this be? More than one writer went on to suggest that its fiftysomething characters no longer appeal because they are ageing, that viewers are tired of seeing them continue to face problems and puzzles that as thirtysomething were fun – but no longer.

This suggests the lives of the 50-plus generation aren’t worthy of translation onto the screen. Which is nonsense. The wonderful existentialist crises that increases with age are all the more heightened when you have to factor in an ever-increasing awareness of mortality and moles, of strange lumps arriving in places they shouldn’t, of the breakdown of both meniscus and relationships. How can this not make good television?

To suggest older characters on TV don’t work is like saying a classic car is valueless because it doesn’t have a satnav. Age implies a better defined character, which suggests heightened comedic possibility. Look at how Still Game has mined this seam of opportunity so wondrously over nine series.

Two Doors Down, the second major TV comedy success story to come out of Scotland in recent years, also tunes in brilliantly to middle-aged induced fragility. And BBC 2’s Mum, starring Lesley Manville and Peter Mullan was right on the money. (Love stories shouldn’t be confined to those with taut waists and lush hair).

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One of the best comedies around right now is The Kominsky Method, the Netflix series which this year won a Golden Globe, starring 74-year-old Michael Douglas and 84-year-old Alan Arkin.

The age of the actors is important. James Nesbitt (54) is arguably better than he’s ever been. The Kominsky Method’s stars are exquisite. Closer to home, who can deny Elaine C. Smith, Alex Norton, Johnny Watson and Arabella Weir (all past 60) aren’t turning out the best performances of their careers?

Yes, film and television may grasp at the beauty and talent of youth in the form of Bodyguard Richard Madden or Killing Eve’s Jodie Comer but who can deny the real performances emerge from the more mature actor? Who can forget Brian Cox’s Troy appearance, in which his Agamemnon revealed Brad Pitt’s achilles heal to be his inability to match Cox’s acting talent?

More recently, 62-year-old Richard E. Grant, who says he’s “never been nominated for anything” is up for an Oscars Best Supporting Actor.

Age offers experience, and with it hoped for improved performances in most aspects of life. In politics age should almost be a prerequisite. Tony Blair and David Cameron were both 43 years old when they became PM. And it showed. There is the occasional emergence of bright young genius this side of Pitt The Younger but for the most part politics screams out for the statesperson, the wide thinker, and generally those characteristics come with experience. It’s easy to make the argument that the likes of Kenneth Clarke, Vince Cable and Barbara Castle became better politicians with age.

Sport has now recognised the value of advancing years. Billie Jean King played competitive tennis until she was 47. Roger Federer may be out of the Australian Open but who would bet against the 37-year-old at Wimbledon this year. Or Serena winning another slam? The footballers who play on until they are 40 are great role models.

Writers can truly find their voice as they approach the final third of their life. Raymond Chandler didn’t publish the Big Sleep until he was 51. George Eliot didn’t write her classic Middlemarch until she was 52. And the music arena? Mick and the Stones and Macca and Elton and Bonnie and Dolly are still going strong. But does this mean individuals should adopt a Buzz Lightyear – “To infinity and beyond” – approach to every aspect of their life? Not at all. If a driver, for example, reaches 97 with a teenage-like sneering disdain for the motoring laws of the land then such a person’s rights should be forfeited. And sometimes actors reach the point they can’t remember their lines and it’s time to head for the wings.

But television has to reflect society. The number of pensioners in Scotland will hit 1.36 million by 2039. And it’s not enough just to feed them up with the semolina that is reality shows such as Strictly because 25 cent of the same age group watch Game of Thrones, (quite remarkable given it’s not on council telly.)

Young people are turning to tablets, to YouTube. TV needs the advertisers, which means it needs to screen programmes that grab the grey. Yes, it’s argued the frailties of older age are just that bit more mordant than the mishaps of youth. But don’t buy into that. The heartache and misery and crises you enjoyed before you become a fifty-something can still produce fun in later years. And programmes such as Cold Feet still work because they reflect this.

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