I wanted to see it when it was released but I was doing a VERA myself at the time in 2004.

I adore Mike Leigh (and Spike Lee across the pond).
Both have something in common - their movies are about the human condition, not about the obvious subject matter.

Imelda was superb of course but how about the guy who played Sid, her son? A bit of a Rodney Bewes lookalike (Daniel Mays?) - he was marvellous but so was the whole film.

One of the best ever.

One thing I did notice (did anyone else?) - the sound was so low that I had to have it up to maximum, with the result that the commercial breaks blew me out of bed.

I literally had to MUTE it the second the breaks arrived or I would have woken the entire neighbourhood.

The volume problems on TV are getting worse, I think this is probably due to the mixing of the source signals from the various satellite providers.
The Sci-Fi channel has often nearly blown my hi-fi speakers during an advert break.

I agree, a wonderful film. I didn't see it on TV the other night, but cherish owning the DVD!

If you missed it, buy or rent the DVD, it really is a very wothwhile experience to watch it.