It had looked as though 2008 would be a dismal year for the prime minister.
Somehow I doubt it; it would be a dismal view of humanity.
If they weren't also so funny, the room would be a dismal wasteland in the mad, stupid rain.
The number of Conservative MPs will fall from 165 to 158, and the number of Liberal Democrats from 47 to 30.That would be a dismal result for both opposition parties.
For however good it is that the sans-culottes are everywhere in today's versions of Alexandra Palace and Printing House Square, it would be a dismal thing indeed if they were the only occupants.
The series, which last season reached 3.7 million viewers with each new episode (9.3 million if you add up its four plays during a week) would be a dismal failure by network standards.
A China "contained" by America and its allies would be a dismal admission that the 21st century was not going to be, as many now cheerfully predict, the "Pacific century".America has made it plain that, while it acknowledges that there is only one China, Taiwan is no internal issue.
If we ran Rescue Me on broadcast, it would be a dismal failure".
Even had I been reading Bacon or Shakespeare, the experience would have been dismal.
