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Not many BBC dramas have caught my imagination in recent times. The baton has been handed over to HBO (The WIre, Sopranos etc) as far as quality is concerned and some rated stuff has been…well…overrated
But this is a wonderfully engrossing and often moving short set with remarkable performances
Steptoe coolly displayed the pure hatred between the Wilfred and Harry (Phil davies was extraordinary as Bramle) and Hancock was wrenchingly heartbreaking. trevor Eve was remarkable as Greene…
Superb stuff
I suspect it won’t be long before BBC4 repeats it, as is its wont. It’s already disappeared from the on-demand listings, but the Hughie Greene one is still available for a little while longer.
gc
Jeremy Grayson. Son of immigrant. Adoptive father of two. Metadata librarian. Freelance point-to-point / horse racing writer, analyst and commentator wonk. Loves music, buses, cats, the BBC Micro, ale. Advocate of CBT, PACE and therapeutic parenting. Aspergers.
Quite agree Clivex, an excellent series of one-off dramas the beleagured beeb can be wholly proud of.
The equally good and beautifully acted biography of Kenneth Williams last year received near universal praise and was very much a ‘prequel’ to this current study of the tragi-comic
The old girl has still got it in her
Going to watch the Hughie Green one Sunday night; wasn’t too keen on the Steptoe programme but watched the end of the Hancock one; then started to watch the beginning of it to piece it all together and found it fascinating; more about people in abusive relationships with alchoholics than comedy perhaps. The period detail was very good. The acting was superb, as was the acting in the Steptoe programme. Understand that the Hughie Green one doesn’t include Monica Rose; terrible omission that.
Agree .. this is a good series, a lot better than the usual rubbish you get from the BBC.
do not see what puporse it serves to dissect the lives of great entertainers such as these – better to remember them for their comic geniuses than to have other people’s opinions foist upon us – after all they cannot defend themselves.
Well, Richard 111 couldnt defend himself when Shakespear wrote his play. Or Julius Ceaser..
What a strange point…
Personally i find teh backgrounds to their lives fascinating. It is what made them what they are
The Frankie Howard one was perhaps the weakest so far. Only the moments surrounding his mother were genuinely gripping. But it was a fine prodcution
I have watched them all thus far.
Fascinating.
All the actors who played the main roles were really good. David Walliams did well, I thought as Frankie Howerd, though Trevor Eve’s Hughie Greene was astonishingly accurate. That said, Phil Davis (Albert Steptoe), can do no worng in my eyes – a wonderful actor.
Gambling Only Pays When You're Winning
Dont agree at all
Although actors are very often extremely boring and rock musicians not much better, comedians of quality, often have a real dark side
I wouldnt want to know more about the staggeringly unfunny Vic Reeves for instance but the driving forces behind these performers of real talent (even Green) is fascinating
I wouldnt want to know more about the staggeringly unfunny Vic Reeves
Crikey, I would, and I will if I ever get round to reading the signed copy of Me:Moir I was gifted at Christmas.
After Python and The Young Ones, Vic Reeves’ Big Night Out has had the most profound influence on me of any comedy. There was little, if anything, around like it beforehand, but plenty afterwards, which is telling in itself.
Granted, most of his output so far this decade has been comparatively poor, but he and Bob Mortimer had done comfortably more than enough of note prior to that for me to forgive them more or less anything (barring Vic’s mercifully brief dalliance with UKIP, natch).
Jeremy
(graysonscolumn)Jeremy Grayson. Son of immigrant. Adoptive father of two. Metadata librarian. Freelance point-to-point / horse racing writer, analyst and commentator wonk. Loves music, buses, cats, the BBC Micro, ale. Advocate of CBT, PACE and therapeutic parenting. Aspergers.
Vic reeves big night out was an art school berk playing at being a comedian. No observation skills, no verbal wit and little real timing. The "humour" revolved around shouting and pulling faces. Great if you want to watch a chimpanzee
As for influence…couldnt agree less
Ok i dont watch useless "wacky" comedians that are banished away on C4 but Christopher Gent and latterly Ricky Gervais with a big input from Carloine AHern with the Royle family was definately the biggest sea change in comedy since the pythons
The Royle family and the office were…watched
The last time i saw Vic Reeves, he was running around a set bashing someone with a frying pan.
Vic reeves big night out was an art school berk playing at being a comedian.
Incorrect. It was a dazzling attempt at recasting 1910s Dadaist aesthetic in light entertainment form, executed with easy brilliance and a lightness of touch.
No observation skills,
Hardly a prerequisite for comedy, surely. Large chunks of The Goons, Python or Q didn’t say anything about anything.
As for influence…couldnt agree less
Really? It has been a seismic influence, and continues to be, even in places you might not think of it at first. It really isn’t hard to trace the lineage, for example, of some of I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!‘s challenges back to …Big Night Out – Leo Sayer being sent down a rat-infested pipe with waffles stuck to his limbs immediately springs to mind as much as anything more obvious touchstones such as Harry Hill have produced.
latterly Ricky Gervais with a big input from Carloine AHern with the Royle family was definately the biggest sea change in comedy since the pythons
I disagree. Good as it was, The Office wasn’t desperately far removed from People Like Us in terms of both its format and its superficially deadpan but hilariously cringe-inducing moments.
Similarly, The Royle Family merely transposed the rejoicing in the minutiae of ultra-mundane Northern life, explored on radio in The Bradshaws of Barnoldswick many years previously (on a Northern independent radio station to which Caroline Aherne had copious access back in the day, incidentally) from 1950s working-class Lancashire to 1990s working-class Manchester. Again, by no means a bad trick, but by no means mouldbreaking.
The Royle family and the office were…watched
In a world where X-Factor gets watched, and James Blunt sells records by the cesspit-load, equating size of audience with quality of product is probably not best advised.
Scoring draw so far, Clive?
Jeremy
(graysonscolumn)Jeremy Grayson. Son of immigrant. Adoptive father of two. Metadata librarian. Freelance point-to-point / horse racing writer, analyst and commentator wonk. Loves music, buses, cats, the BBC Micro, ale. Advocate of CBT, PACE and therapeutic parenting. Aspergers.
I will admit to being a self confessed comedy nerd even at the ripe old age of 29 and love watching shows across the spectrum from The Good Life,Dads Army,Terry and June,George and Mildred and Likely Lads to Ever Decreasing Circles,Only Fools,Bottom,Young Ones,Royle Family,Black Books,The IT Crowd,League of Gentlemen,Office and Extras.
Vic Reeves for me was a revoloution and created a new way of comedy and it started in a pub which lasted for 3 hours and the telly show was condended into 30mins and even though only 2 series was ever done it is still funny.
Have seen Ricky Gervais live twice in London and Manchester and is one of the funniest people of all time.
Billy Connoly in 2001 did 2hrs 30 mins non stop at the Man Apollo and is still for me the worlds best ever stand up.
Peter Kay for me is very funny but needs new material instead of recycling the old stuff,Phoenix Nights was fab but Max and Paddy was the biggest load of **** i have ever seen.
Little Britain live was like an extended version of the tv show and breathtaking to watch with amazing timing and very funny scenes.
Steve Coogan in 1998 was the best ever for me and at the time the two support artists were Simon Pegg and Julia Davis who lets face it have gone on to do great work.
For me the modern comedy at the moment is in a strong position and BBC2 and C4 for me have the edge with wonderful work coming through with The Office which is the benchmark for me,C4 with Black Books,The IT Crowd and Father Ted amongst its best.
Without doubt the most controversial thing ever was when C4 did Brass Eye with the enigma of Chris Morris who is the best satirist ever and when he did the episode of Paedophillia he got the reaction which he wanted, which was not making fun of the subject but the interpritation of it by the Tv and Newspapers added with the fact that celebs will not even think twice about something so they can be seen on television.
I love comedy and can happily watch Bill Baileys Kraftwerk tribute on Youtube for ages.
Long live UK comedy
I used to say to my Dad:
“Dad, what’s funny about Tony Hancock?”
“Oh, Hancock. Hilarious. Funniest man alive”
“But Dad. WHAT is it exactly that’s funny about him?”
“He’s just funny, that’s all. Has me in hysterics.”
I thought about my experience.
“I don’t think he’s very funny, Dad. And neither do any of my mates.”
“Shut up and eat your chips” he replied.Steptoe and Son? A typical BBC bourgeouis exercise in class-driven paternalist supercilliousness. Once you realise that, you can’t laugh. Frankie Howerd was modestly entertaining. I don’t remember Hughie Green.
On the other hand, Shooting Stars made me ******* roll. Bring down the Dove From Above.
Cooooooooo CooooooooooooooOn the other hand, Shooting Stars made me ******* roll. Bring down the Dove From Above.
Cooooooooo CooooooooooooooYou and me both!
Someone will have to help me out here as to the where and when of it, but there was definitely an occasion in the past when the racehorse Dove From Above, representing Richard Price, was running in a race being commentated on by Iain Mackenzie. At one point, Mackenzie’s delivery went something along the lines of;
"…and Dove From Above has made a mistake at that one…. Uvavu!!"
gc
Jeremy Grayson. Son of immigrant. Adoptive father of two. Metadata librarian. Freelance point-to-point / horse racing writer, analyst and commentator wonk. Loves music, buses, cats, the BBC Micro, ale. Advocate of CBT, PACE and therapeutic parenting. Aspergers.
I will admit to being a self confessed comedy nerd even at the ripe old age of 29 and love watching shows across the spectrum from The Good Life,Dads Army,Terry and June,George and Mildred and Likely Lads to Ever Decreasing Circles,Only Fools,Bottom,Young Ones,Royle Family,Black Books,The IT Crowd,League of Gentlemen,Office and Extras.
Crikes – that’s a hell of a lot of comedy you’ve crammed into four fewer years on the planet than me! Do you pause to eat or sleep at all?
Vic Reeves for me was a revoloution and created a new way of comedy and it started in a pub which lasted for 3 hours and the telly show was condensed into 30mins and even though only 2 series was ever done it is still funny.
Aye. Shame the 1990-1 Christmas Special still isn’t available anywhere commerically / legally, even in the complete Big Night Out box-set – I presume there must be some legal clearance issue concerning either Kim Wilde or Michael Stark, that show’s two special guest stars.
Peter Kay for me is very funny but needs new material instead of recycling the old stuff, Phoenix Nights was fab but Max and Paddy was the biggest load of [expletive] i have ever seen.
Agree on both counts. Peter Kay’s “Hey! Ain’t spacehoppers great!” nostaglia trips need refreshing, whilst Max and Paddy serves as a salutory warning that an idea barely worthy of one half-hour special should not be stretched into a six-part series.
Without doubt the most controversial thing ever was when C4 did Brass Eye with the enigma of Chris Morris who is the best satirist ever and when he did the episode of Paedophillia he got the reaction which he wanted, which was not making fun of the subject but the interpritation of it by the Tv and Newspapers added with the fact that celebs will not even think twice about something so they can be seen on television.
One of the very bravest pieces of television I think I’ll ever live to see. Neil Fox’s hysterical crab / paedophile genetic comparison will be the moment most people will recall the longest, I suppose, but the whole point Morris was making throughout was, as you say, delivered with savage, visionary brilliance.
I love comedy and can happily watch Bill Baileys Kraftwerk tribute on Youtube for ages.
“…Das ist die ganze Sache. Ja! Das Hokey Cokey!”
Absolute quality, and proof positive – along with Eddie Izzard’s “Monkey in a Tree” routine that there is a place for foreign language jokes in UK comedy without resorting to the pointy-helmeted, goose-stepping, cardboard cut-out racist filth filth FILTH peddled by the likes of the sub-humans Freddie Starr and Jim Davidson.
Jeremy
(graysonscolumn)Jeremy Grayson. Son of immigrant. Adoptive father of two. Metadata librarian. Freelance point-to-point / horse racing writer, analyst and commentator wonk. Loves music, buses, cats, the BBC Micro, ale. Advocate of CBT, PACE and therapeutic parenting. Aspergers.
Incorrect. It was a dazzling attempt at recasting 1910s Dadaist aesthetic in light entertainment form, executed with easy brilliance and a lightness of touch.
So thats why i didnt laugh…
Frankjly i just think it was show off clowning. By a country mile, the least likely thing to make me laugh. Like the stupid kid in class whos screaming "look at me!" all the time.
Agree with the comments about Peter Kay. Huge fan of Phoenix nights but hes got a bit lazy lately???
People like us was a good example of a forerunner to the Office but Ricky Gervais in style but its the areas of the human psyche that The Office touched on that took it forward. Also the quite brilliant manner in which the characters were handled and the sometimes suprising twists and turns (Neil exposed as being a bit of an insecure bully by series end).
Even realtively minor roles (such as Lee) were brilliantly played with superb attention to detail. Barely a false not was hit across all three series
An attention seeking berk hitting himself over the head with a frying pan, doesnt compare somehow…
Cooooooooo Coooooooooooooo
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