The League of Gentlemen - C/D? (now with added Psychoville)

Anyway, classic.

Am I right in thinking there's a film on the way? If it doesn't feature Papa Lazarou and Hilary Briss in some kind of evil alliance I will be very disappointed.

Not enough Pop in the third series, mind.

The Indie Girl
The Magician Guy

Although I also liked the hapless ginger crime-fighting Knight Rider guy.

Overall certainly a Classic, though I haven't seen the third series at all. The second is certainly weaker than the first, but still on the whole good, and the christmas special was really rather scary!

The premise of the film sounds a bit rub, I think, but I have faith.

The Pauline episode, however, is classic.

I am awaiting the film in anticipation and hope it'll be even better than the Christmas special (probably the best thing they've ever done). Hope it doesn't go down the "dumbed-down" path of recent Hollywood Britcoms like the passable Hitchhiker's Guide and the straight up terrible Churchill: The Hollywood Years. Nothing like a movie contract to fuck up a perfectly decent British sitcom.

http://www.rulocal.co.uk/

No one really acts in character either. This is part of the point, and Herr Lipp is fleshed out well, but considering how well developed the characters were by series three and how cinematic and emotive that was, to see Geoff revert to stock buffoon is kind of sad.

Watched the first two episodes of Psychoville (the new Shearsmith/Pemberton series) and thought it was excellent. Picks up where the third series of the LoG left off in terms of tone (dark, cinematic, interconnected stories, puerile sex puns) but with entirely new characters and spread across the country.

Thought Dawn French's character was brilliant if a bit uncomfortable. Some bits are familiar in a good way (murderous mother and son, and Mr Jelly is basically Geoff in a clown suit) but I'm intrigued as to where it's all going. Probably better than a fourth LoG series would have been.

I thought it was excellent too. Couldn't find fault with it in fact. Didn't know the second episode had been broadcast (BBC4?), I'll have to track it down.

Second episode was on red button, so it'll be on next week.

I only heard about this today - must see it! Is it on iPlayer?

The best thing the League ever did was the Christmas Special - vampires, the woman in black, eyes wide shut, and a whole host of crazy references all rolled into one. I loved it!

'tis on iplayer.
Dawn French was excellent.

They've gone for a quite extensive "webexperience"
http://www.midgetgemsvideo.co.uk/
(obviously caution required if at work)

I watched this on iPlayer yesterday, and also thought it was great. The murder mystery scene was fantastic. Would say that Dawn French's character was more than a bit uncomfortable!

Just seen episode 1 and it's very good. I laughed so hard at the Beany babies bit!

can't believe I haven't seen Season 3 of 'The League' yet. It sounds like it carries through on everything I loved about Season 2.

Pens... Friends!

I'm hoping Mark Gatiss puts in at least a cameo performance.

Mark Gatiss is my least favourite performer out of the League actually. Pemberton is the best.

Gatiss' Les McQueen, formerly of Creme Brulee, is possibly my favourite League character.

Geoff Tipps is pretty hard to beat imo

The whole ebay thing in the 2nd episode was hilarious

Wow, it really is good. Could well shape up to be better than LoG.

Second episode left me a bit underwhelmed. It was developing things a bit though...

didn't think either episode was that great but the beany babies thing excellent and the guy who plays the accomplice/reader to the blind guy is fantastic. he seems so out of place, in a good way.

Posh Kenneth! And quite funny in FM too (which was quite hard).

Just watched ep 2 now: I think this is the best thing on British TV in years. So beautifully, horribly well-observed.

David looks exactly like a similarly sinister and terrifying chap who went to my school. Brr.

Pemberton is on fire in this show imo. his characters are easily the funniest & most fucked up.

soo is anyone still watching this? final episode next week.

I thought the episode of the mum and son which took place entirely in the apartment (only 1 or 2 different shots iirc?) was really well done.

I think it was a single shot, reference to Rope maybe (there were some other Rope and Psycho references in there too)

oh i see.

Old blind guy/tea leaf relationship has brought the most lols during the series imo

Yeh, the Rope one was done in two shots, I understand -- with a really, really obvious join :)

Apparently the thinking behind it was to make a really cheap episode so they could afford a run of seven shows rather than six. I'm not entirely sure I buy that theory, mind.

Anyway, I think this is one of the best things I've seen on TV this year ... not that I watch a great deal of TV, mind you. But original, funny, dark and disturbing drama like this is a treat, and I should probably be reminded of that next time I go off on one about the fucking BBC.

Yeah I'm really enjoying this - I think the last episode brought the most belly-laughs, but the whole conceit is great and darkly amusing throughout.

Thought the point of the rope one was mostly to act as a vehicle for reuniting the three of them for one episode, with a bit of an onstage feel. But yes, probably very budget-light as well which probably helped.

besides the blind guy/tea leaf thing i'm not liking this, it just seems so recycled, but that's not really the problem. the problem is that it doesn't make me laugh.

Stuff is revealed to the audience so rapid-fire in this, I liked how it kind of "broke up" the series a bit.

xpost

i thought the rope episode was the best one.

Still loving this. A tampack!

"Mum, I've done another bad murder"

Only seen one episode of this so far, but i intend to see the others asap. seriously looks like it could be the best show i've ever seen on telly. Even Dawn French manages to be excellent in it!

Still watching, still loving. I've actually been annoyingly evangelical about it.

Even Dawn French manages to be excellent in it!

Ha, yes! That was my one slight stumbling point to begin with, but she -- and the writing -- are so good that you forget it's her.

I've actually been annoyingly evangelical about it

I've not been evangelical enough; I wish I'd gone on more about it at work. It does seem to have been a little low-key, doesn't it?

Dawn French is a very good comedy performer who is largely given piss-poor material to work with.

Clever that her sidekick from Vicar of Dibley is her rival in this.

I think the latest episode was the least funny so far, due to having to squeeze quite a bit of plot in. Still some beautifully macabre bits though, like the Freddie Fruitcake blood transfusion.

Yeh, that was compellingly horrific. I kind of got the impression it was an idea they'd had some time ago - the whole setup, right down to the tears of blood -- and had been looking for a story within which to make it work.

Dawn French is a very good comedy performer who is largely given piss-poor material to work with

This might be true, but it doesn't stop her making my teeth itch with annoyance most times I see her on TV.

Just seen the final one. Wtf?

"Weakest link goodbye" had me in stitches!

it was all about the clown in the cubicle for me.

best telly of 2009 so far.

I would recommend Catterick if you liked psychoville. it was really underrated as well.

Guess they're making a second series then.

David in the citizen's advice bureau was top notch.

David in the citizen's advice bureau was top notch.

yuh easily the funniest bit of the episode.

Also lold when tea leaf bailed on the old guy when he revealed his schemes.

'could you move the body?... He's saying no'

"Who's this clown?": biggest laugh of the year.

That was magnificent -- both the final episode and the series in general. The fact it wasn't perfect -- I got the impression they were trying to squeeze way more ideas into it than they really had space for, particularly towards the end -- only makes me love it more.

I think if I'd have been watching it for the plot rather than for the lolz I'd have been really fucked off with the ending as virtually everything turned out to be a gigantic red herring with some ridiculous deus ex machina at the end of it. Pretty sure they were well aware of this and taking the piss though.

Yeah, a second series... in 2011. With a one-off special next winter.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/psychoville/appointment/

halloween special on sunday (which i guess is the one-off special mentioned in last post):
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00vw45s

They're also doing a thing on radio where they go to a haunted pub for a real life paranormal adventure.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00vhfjn

I am irrationally excited about this. Psychoville's the best thing I've seen on British telly in years.

Really excited for series 2 now.

This was okay, very well done on the creepiness front, could have done with a few more laughs.

I haven't watch it yet - waiting till I actually have a proper moment.

I hear a lot of people complain that League Of Gents/Psychoville could do with more laughs - this is often directed at things like LOG S3. But I preferred S3 for its intricate plotlines and studied acting more than S1 for its shock-gags. LOG are definitely unique in that the humour comes as much from horror as it does traditional comedy.

Did anyone listen to the radio thing though? I was really disappointed. I wasn't expecting the gents to actually meet any ghosts, but it seemed way too short to cover what they wanted, and very thin on content at that.

No I'm a big fan but there were several moments in this that they got so engrossed in the horror that they forgot to actually try and be funny in the first place. Some good one liners but the situations weren't quite there. It was similar to the majestic LoG Christmas special but not as good.

LOG Christmas is, I think, my favourite thing they've done (Psychoville episode 4 close runner up)

Finally watched this last night... Matt, you're right, there were very few gags but I still thought it was excellent. It's more like watching one of those camped-up '70s Tales From The Crypt-style portmanteau movies than a comedy, but I'm now well and truly psyched for series two!

I've started rewatching series 1, forgotten quite how good it is. "The killer has written 'fuck pig' on the wall in his or her own excrement!"

The perfect Xmas gift:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Reece-Shearsmith-League-Gentleman-Stars-Canvas-/180592257142?pt=UK_Art_CanvasGiclee_RL&hash=item2a0c232876#ht_508wt_936

the tivo is listing a new episode on 5/5

NOT NOW, SILENT SINGER

Silent Singer is by far the best and most intriguing (and possibly funniest in it's own twisted way) thing about the new series. According to Reece Shearsmith's Twitter there are supposed to be number clues dotted throughout all the episodes. Enjoying these, but the episodes feel VERY short. Could do with being 45 minutes long.

Tina Turner wasn't quite as funny as a lot of people are making out, although apparently it was next-to unfilmable as the crew and actors couldn't stop laughing.

Watched the first episode and yes very creepy but, clown funeral aside, it just wasn't very funny.

i'm willing to forgive Psychoville for not being very funny. In fact it falls flat when they start relying on groansome jokes etc. LoG's best bits is when they introduce jokes over a wider narrative.

Does it have to be loaded with jokes? Can comedy just be dark or satirical? Does it even need to be called "comedy"?

The first series was funny though, the Halloween special and the first ep weren't particularly. Might just be a blip admittedly.

I see it as a new direction. They like it being less about jokes and have gone straight to the core of their idea imo.

OTM - I think they're slowly easing us into the idea that TV comedy can be deeper than quickfire gags.

It's not just there. Chris Lilley's new show has just started going out here and the single biggest criticism is that it lacks gags.

what's that called? I love Summer Heights High.

Angry Boys.

It doesn't have to be about gags but for it to be comedy is still actually has to be funny.

"you're right, it is funny - but it doesn't make us laugh" /bizarronathanbarley

Hmmm... this series isn't quite as brilliant as the first, but I did laugh at the Mr Jelly/Tealeaf phone conversation:

"Eh Teabags, 'ows it dangling?"
"Yer what?"
"Y'know - the.. shizzle?"
"Can you speak normally please"
"Oh, thanks"

It lost half its audience in three weeks.

I still think it's pretty awesome. Creepy librarian and creepy Carrie rip-off are entertaining me. Why do you think people are switching off?

Not sure, but I lost interest after the first episode this year. It wasn't any worse or any less interesting, it just... I don't know.

It's certainly a slow burner, and the plot is all over the place, but this last week it seemed that the various strands are being tied together in a rewarding way.

Also, cosign on what was said upthread about comedy without any jokes. I always end up watching this back to back with that Stewart Lee show in iplayer, so I guess I'm primed for comedy without jokes.

The problem is less that it's "comedy without jokes" and more that it's comedy that isn't funny.

I think this might be the factor that isn't endearing me to this series as much as the last one. I know I was trying to defend it earlier, but there was a considerable lack of funny in the last episode.

I love how, even since LOG S1, their sketches and characters all seem like the premises to potential horror/shocker movies - a man who is kept as a scarecrow for cheating with the farmer's wife, a young fella who is kept against his will in a house by a cleanliness-obsessed couple.

I also liked in the last episode how they had a gay character unwillingly kissing a straight woman, but it was actually a drag scene. Same as LOG were the first to do a naked cross-dressing scene, and also the time they go to a gender-bending party, so you had men dressed as women dressed as men in a sex scene.

Yeh, it wasn't as funny, but as I say, I'm still enjoying it, and I'm still finding it interesting, but I don't think I find it especially funny, even when they drop in a terrible pun to remind you that its a comedy - "nazi-bay".

I guess it's what you're talking about, that weird intersection between normality and irrationality, which I suppose is why there's all these Lynchian nods everywhere, most explicitly in the silent singer. The drag adds to this sense of things not being quite right, of characters hiding a whole fucked-up identity behind their everyday existance. See also Lomax=Tony Hancock, Librarian being a bit gone-wrong, that woman marrying someone but not marrying them etc.

Also it feels like they're just trying too hard now.

I hope that's not the end of Silent Singer. Would love it if they had some sort of Silence of the Lambs type thing going on with the librarian.

I'm still enjoying it. Although one of the things I liked most about the first series (of Psychoville) was the "live" episode and the musical number because they didn't really need to be in there, but they did it anyway and it was great. Agree about the silly puns letting it down a bit- and would add Debbie's dumbness to that, last season her dumb jokes were awesome, like "winter beach" - they need more of that rather than just 'Is that a K or an H?'.

Season finale this week - shame it doesn't have a seventh episode. This series feels like it's only just getting going though. Think some of the story-telling could have been a little more succinct. The Silent Singer guy, great as he is, did basically the same thing for the first three episodes.

Much prefer this to the first series - less sketch-based, more plot-driven, more sinister, still makes me laugh out loud (mostly Mr Jelly and the old woman), though missing a set-piece as good as the Rope episode.

I don't think it's as good as the first, it's a bit all over the place and there are a lot of cheesy jokes. It's still kind of brilliant, however. So lovingly made, and so unlike anything else. The amiable Scottish assassin is a great piece of casting and deserves a mention.

Oh, and was very sad to see Tealeaf go.

New Shearsmith/Pemberton thing starting soon:

http://www.comedy.co.uk/guide/tv/inside_no_9/

horror europa with mark gatiss toninght bbc4

Watching it now. This Daughters of Darkness looks good.

I have never seen this show but I am currently staying in Hadfield where it was filmed

Avoid the local shops. They're for locals.

Don't use the butchers.

clicked to see if this was about Fripp's new wave band

Inside no 9 was very good, I thought.

Kind of wishing the LoG would get back together, maybe for a Halloween special or something.

Inside no 9 was very good, I thought.

Couple of dud eps, but the good ones were very good.

just realised i never saw the last episode.

Not great iirc.

The town is very striking, it definitely has a strong atmosphere, I can see why people might choose this location, I could also imagine it being used for an old Doctor Who episode

been catching up with s2 of Inside No 9 and it's up there with their best work. 12 Days of Christine is one of the best bits of UK TV I've seen in years.

that one was very Black Mirror, i thought.

yes. very much so. i kept forgetting i was watching I#9 in fact, but all the same I thought it was brilliant and much more convincing and affecting than any of BM.

Oh great, had no idea there was a second series. Thanks.

thursday's will be 2.04 (which means they are all still on iplayer if you're quick)

Episode one showing good form.

not seen that one yet.

Thought the first one on the train was mainly annoying but not a fan of the guest actors they had and some of the broad humour didn't work. The witchcraft one was ok but The 12 Days of Christine left me devastated, Sheridan Smith was amazing as usual.

Jesus that last one (ep 4)

I didn't think much of the Christine one but I think that was because I was trying not to blub and got annoyed with it for making me feel like that

The 12 Days of Christine left me devastated, Sheridan Smith was amazing as usual.

― ewar woowar (or something), Thursday, April 16, 2015 10:40 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Not even joking, I was mortally upset for the whole of the next day after watching it. I may have to re-watch it as it was one of the best bits of TV I've seen in years. And yes, Sheridan Smith is incredible.

oh i said that upthread.

Bears repeating.

some of the broad humour didn't work.

I like the fact that many of the jokes are broad and almost corny, it grounds their writing.

what is everyone's favourite LoG series? I think the Halloween special was the best thing they did but talking to someone the other day, we both agreed S3 is the best of the three series.

Nah, it's my least favourite, very clever but there's something too knowing about it and it's just less funny than the other two. Though I haven't watched it in years. S2 is the best I think.

Agreed that the special is superb.

S2 is great. It has Lazarou in it for a start and it's less reliant on sketch-show gross out humour than the first one. I like S3 as a hauntological celebration of 60s/70s British TV and film. In retrospect it was a very deliberate move away from make-em-laugh comedy stylings and more towards a 'weird tales' thing with big doses of black humour inserted. Each episode is memorable and iconic in its own way - the massage parlour, the joke shop owner with the phantom arm, the charity shop ladies, Daddy, the Lesbian and the Monkey, Geoff Tipps in London etc... And I think they perfected that Lynch vs British Lion vibe they'd been hinting at properly on that one.

S1 and S2 are inseparable, watched S3 recently and it was better than I'd remembered but still not as good (the episode with the arm transplant was probably their nadir). Can't remember the Halloween special!

Halloween Special-S3-S2-S1 - love the brutal despatching of their signature characters at the start of S3.

The laugh track and occasional wobbly set in the first two somehow add to the grubbily nightmarish atmosphere, like you've accidentally tuned into a really dark lost episode of Are You Being Served.

Yeah the wholesale ditching of laugh-tracks in alt comedy shows circa the late nineties was likely an important factor in the shift in tone on S3. I remember hearing the guys speak about S2, they were forced to insert a lol every couple of lines and also to act in a way that left space for the laugh track while filming.

S1 vs S2 depends where you come down on Edward & Tubbs vs Papa Laz I think. I could definitely come round to thinking S3 is the best tbh, I love Dean Tavalouris and Turn Again, Geoff Tipps might be the single best episode of any of them. Special mentions also to Glenn Tillbrook and Barry Baggs, the debt collectors, and Terry Lollard the door-to-door Christian. Comparison to British exploitation cinema otm.

But then I also think the film is secretly pretty good.

it's def worth a watch IIRC but it's been a while since I saw it.

One of my favourite LoG moments is squirreled away as a bonus on their first live DVD. It's an audio sketch in three parts called 'Big Woman' consisting of a man with a foreign accent leaving increasingly frustrated messages on his lover's answerphone. I'll see if I can find it online somewhere.

Fuck, I always forget they did a film.

Which actually has 83% on RT. I should watch it.

It was a Christmas special

no the christmas special was something else. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0435687/ LOG Apocalypse was a post-modern swansong for the series.

Please point me towards this Halloween special because if it exists I've never seen it

There's a Halloween special of Psychoville if that's what you mean?
God I haven't watched LOG in ages, must do something about that

The witchcraft one was ok

I loved this one! Really fun dialogue, and Shearsmith in particular was excellent.

I'm sure they've done that 'starting from... now' joke before but I enjoy it every time

Must say, I'm getting a bit weary of seeing Shearsmith depicting "unlikely" psychopaths. He was excellent in the murder-drama, The Widower, but he incresingly seems to be typecasting himself into this role.

S1 and S2 are inseparable, watched S3 recently and it was better than I'd remembered but still not as good (the episode with the arm transplant was probably their nadir). Can't remember the Halloween special!'

Spent the last three weekends watching all 3 LoG series in order and, tbh, S1 > S2 >>>>> S3. S3 is still funny but the one armed man episode is shite and the last episode isn't much better. Some prime dog latin codswallop (bless 'im) on this thread.

I also rewatched them all not long ago and s3 was completely awful.

yup, reading this thread also inspired a rewatch of S3 (I've seen the first two many times)

it's dire

i haven't seen it in ages. It felt quite adventurous at the time - the idea of 6 storylines converging, a skew towards dark drama as opposed to LOL comedy, a development of characters who had originally started out as slapstick one-jokers. It's clear they wanted to go further in that direction with Psychoville and even more-so Inside No.9. That said, I'm trying to think of some really good memorable moments and they're not really coming to me. Maybe this kind of thing has become more prevalent, more clever in recent years, and this has aged badly by comparison.
Is there any artform that ages worse than TV comedy though? I tried watching the Fast Show again recently and it failed to raise so much as a chuckle. Red Dwarf on the other hand still has something about it that works extremely well.

Was very disappointed by 3 at the time, haven't bothered/dared to rewatch since, though I have the complete LoG box set sitting on my shelf.

I thought the Geoff episode in S3 was good, and liked Dean Tavalouris, but that was about it.

I can't believe S3 was as long ago as 2002. The only series not to include a laugh track. Dean Tavalouris was pretty good. The scene in the cafe. In retrospect the bookending episodes were good; the other episodes had their moments. Even the One-Armed Man episode had Steve Pemberton's all-too brief appearance as a car mechanic. I liked the old ladies in the charity shop; Geoff Tibbs on the tube; Stella and Charlie bickering over the Gypsy Kings; the Ross, Pauline and Mickey episode in general. It was a pretty brave break-away from the existing sketch format, but it's been topped since then many a time, and dark comedy-dramas have become a staple fixture on TV since then.

It was a pretty brave break-away from the existing sketch format

Brave is not a word I would use about some TV comedy tbh, S1 and S2 had already broken with existing sketch formats fairly radically in any case. S3 didn't even have the courage of its convictions so shoehorned some 'sketches' in in case you were getting bored with the central story - and these were often the best things in the episode, e.g. Barry Baggs and good old Legz Akimbo.

I really liked season 3, it used to be my favourite but I haven't seen them in years.

xp forgot about Barry Baggs

Enjoyed the latest Inside No. 9 except maybe for the last few minutes
Not sure I'll be watching In the Night Garden in the same way from now on (Derek Jacobi narrates)

Enjoyed the latest Inside No. 9 except maybe for the last few minutes

It was certainly one of their more unpleasant endings. Fairly effective though, I'm still thinking about it twelve hours after watching it. Everything up to the last thirty or so seconds was essentially an elaborate piece of misdirection - would probably benefit from a rewatch. Good, I thought.

I don't think they made it clear enough in the final scenes that it was supposed to be a police interview and not a directors' commentary

That was the punchline though!

yeah, it went over my head. i think it's because the other person in the room was sort of laughing and agreeing with Jacobi in earlier scenes, so it didn't come across quite right.

still, there was a lot to enjoy about the episode. felt like the 'punchline' (no matter how it was executed) was unnecessary really.

the '12 Days of Christine' is one of the best LOG-related things. Might be one of my favourite 30 mins of TV ever, in fact.

I found the 'punchline' abundantly clear (watched it on my own though), and it made the whole thing a lot more interesting/scary than the mere well-executed, weirdly specific spoof it had been before.

everyone should be watching Inside No.9. Riddle of the Sphinx was especially smart

Didn't know it had started again tbh.

confusingly they've included the christmas episode as part of season 3 so the episode numbering is a bit odd. i think last week's (empty orchestra) was the 3rd, but labelled as episode 4.

https://twitter.com/Markgatiss/status/855730647041798144

scroll to the bottom:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/latestnews/2017/bbc-two-edinburgh

(three new shows have been commissioned for 20th anniversary)

aforementioned 3 new shows are 18th, 19th, 20th on bbc2 (ie tomorrow)

Hereford has a new link road opening tomorrow, the day of the first episode. It is called New Road.

Today ykwim

Ok so they doubled down on the Barbara stuff in a really unfortunate way

oh no

(not that I'm that surprised unfortunately but that really sucks)

Yeah that was a bit awkward.

Other than that fine - not embarrassing, not brilliant. Tubbs and Edward still the funniest.

Jeff and the whiteboard was the prime moment for me. Otherwise a bit up and down to be honest. Nothing dreadful but sight gags still maybe the best part.

It was more or less 100% greatest hits fan service, but about as enjoyable as it could be for being that.

Bingo caller tonight was superb.

Felt very much like it might have worked better as the first third of a feature length special - there was a lot of setup to not much payoff. Enjoyable enough though.

Really wasn't sure about where they're going with Pauline (the one transcendent character they've created) but they've got exceptionally good at twists with Inside No. 9 so I'm prepared to give them the benefit of the doubt here.

Much better tonight than last night for sure.

Yeah I really enjoyed that one - bit sad it's only three episodes now. Ollie Plimsoles is an exceptionally well observed character.

Bingo caller tonight was superb.

The conceit - a mundane, very British activity stirring up weird repressed emotions - felt familiar for the team, but the execution was perfect. Maybe the best performance I can remember Gatiss giving.

Hated the "take back control" bit though, too on the nose and out of character at the same time.

Third was easily the weakest I thought - not helped by being the gfirst I watched with my girlfriend, who'd never seen it before and was pretty confused and vaguely repulsed by the whole thing.

Just watched and enjoyed the three episodes. "If you have to ask you can fuck off" made me laugh.

i thought the Papa L pun was terrible.

Kind of brilliantly terrible? Maybe?

My favourite cheap laugh was probably the mayor's "Don't teach your grandmother to suck cocks".

I watched all of this and realised I don't have the stomach for their kind of grotesquerie anymore. Some things were really repulsive.

yeah enjoyed approx 50% of it in a sort of mildly amused way (visual gags, Legz Akimbo, Pam Douvre on radio) but everything else either meh or just gross without being funny. thought the vet in ep1 might be going to subvert expectations but no...
Geoff plot obvious but still a bit lol

the media circus was cute

Come on this was terrible

Chap's post up thread kind of nails my feelings, if I'd have been watching with someone new to the show I'd have felt a bit embarrassed to have suggested it.

They're obv capable of the odd bit of magic still but only really the bingo scene hit home, most of this was broad, gross and unfunny fan service like the worst Inside no 9s

The dark, disturbing side of this show has always been the least interesting part of it, but they themselves seem to think it's the most interesting.

i’ve been running off this analogy too often recently, but this series felt like pretty good ‘league of gentlemen’ fanfic

and i appreciate that they did interesting things with characters like pauline, they didn’t merely do job seekers 2017

To be fair to them, the 'fans' seem to like the disturbing stuff too, and it's probably more fun to write and perform.

The tension between the disturbing and the prosaic is where their best humour lies. It's funnier when the horrors are suggested rather than made explicit. OTOH, I wouldn't want them to start making straightforward character comedy or whatever, where would be the fun in that.

Almost all of their best characters are fairly straightforward: Pauline & Micky, Les McQueen; Geoff; Ollie & Legz Akimbo, Charlie & Stella etc.

I think the show has quite a special combination that seems kind of refreshing. When I first seen clips of it in highschool I was completely horrified by it but I got used to it fairly quickly.

It's not that the new stuff was disturbing, just kind of off-putting and underwritten

What kind of offputting?

Would have liked to see the butcher. Cant think of many other absences but I'm sure there was.

I hope they return to this in some fashion, I'd be sad if there was no more Papa Lazarou.

Agree that this was fanficcy and very much all setup and no payback. Felt like some plotlines were just too slight or something - an extra episode would have allowed them to breathe. The whole Benjamin plot was just an excuse to reference a bunch of old horror movies but was tonally off and just didn't go anywhere

Didn't think the Hallowe'en Inside No 9 was the work of genius some quarters are making it out to be, mainly because I remember Ghostwatch. The one touch of genius was Reece directing everyone to his Twitter and the live content there.

Maybe it was more effective if you'd been following all the set-up but I don't habitually read The Sun, watch The One Show etc. To be fair, Reece was telling us all to.

If I hadn’t been trying to tweet a pic of the screen I’d have turned off because I r idiot

i wonder if OPS were warned about it in advance?

i hadn't seen that bobby davro clip before.

I still can't work out which bits were legit 'live' or if somehow ALL of it was. It was an insane feat of trickery and planning.

I'd like to say all of it, but I think the night vision stuff probably wasn't - too much potential for things to go wrong running about in the pitch black, particularly with respect to timings.

That was pretty bold, assuming people wouldn't switch off in frustration/go and make a cup of tea like I did at the start of the repeat.

The bits in the dressing room were certainly live as they flickd through what was actually on the other BBC channels at the time.

I liked that they portrated themselves as massively unsympathetic.

I watched recently this on iPlayer. The creepiest moment was when my laptop died during the final "Sorry we're having problems with the broadcast" message.

I've never seen this show before - any standout other episodes?

Best advice I can give us that all episodes have a twist which in I think 90% of instances is obvious to anyone who's watched anything much that would get referenced on the Creepy British TV etc thread. A couple are telegraphed really early on and you just have to go with it.

My picks (in no order):

Tom and Gerri
A Quiet Night In
The Understudy
Nana's Party
Seance Time
The Devil of Christmas
Riddle of the Sphinx
Diddle Diddle Dumpling
Zanzibar
Bernie Clifton's Dressing Room

12 Days of Christine is the award winner and the canon pick but I don't actually think it's much cop.

the one they started showing as a replacement was quite effective. "A Quiet Night In" (S01E02)

the others that jump out at me from the episode lists are:

"The 12 Days of Christine" (S02E02)

"The Riddle of the Sphinx" (S03E03)

but it's generally quite watchable.

> but I don't actually think it's much cop.

xpost!

My issue with it is that the twist is so transparent from the start that I can't take it seriously. It's well acted and shot, I'll give you that, but to my mind Tom & Gerri and Bernie Clifton mine similar territory more effectively.

Oh yeah, I did watch that Christine episode but blanked it out. You're right, the ending was quite obvious. Also a bit of "we are comedians but this our SERIOUS ARTISTIC one" worthiness.

Nah there are loads of good ones, but the WE ARE BEING CREEPY NOW ones are typically the worst.

My ten would be:

Sardines
A Quiet Night In
Last Gasp
12 Days of Christine
Nana's Party
The Bill
The Riddle of the Sphinx
Zanzibar (probably my #1 overall)
Bernie Clifton's Dressing Room
Once Removed

The most recent one isn't even in the top 20 best episodes.

The Harrowing, Private View and To Have And To Hold are all worse.

I have a soft spot for the Elizabeth Gadge one because it's the only one played as an overt comedy.

That's the worst of the lot I think, there's a real feeling of rejected LoG sketch about it.

Yeah, I'm aware I'm swimming against the tide there.

I enjoyed that one.

I commented on the UK Comedy thread, but I watched this Sunday night and found it a bit 'will this do?' It was almost worth it for the Bobby Davro clip.

I've only dabbled, but my favourites have been

A Quiet Night In
Bernie Clifton's Dressing Room
Once Removed
The Riddle of the Sphinx

The rhyming one in the hotel was so far onto the whimsy scale I don't quite know how I made it through.

(wasn't that hotel one based on some shakespeare?)

It was all in iambic pentameter. It was clever and inventive but it was so damned pleased with itself! Farce? FARSE, morelike.

I realise I'm not being entirely rational.

If anyone was thinking out of nostalgia, or even boredom, watching the last live show on iPlayer (the Beeb screened it last night) then for the love of Christ don't. Absolutely execrable. Shockingly bad.

A day later I'm still annoyed at just how bad/lazy this was. To save you the effort:

The conclusion of the reunion specials (Tubbs in the photo booth, 'wife mine now') plays on the big screen then Edward and Tubbs sing a version of 'Papa Can You Hear Me' from Yentl.
Gatiss does the bingo caller monologue from the reunion shows. (Familiarity makes this less successful than the first time it was on,but it's still excellent.)
Bernice appears on the big screen 'backstage' reading a question from the audience to which her answer is basically "suck it up, snowflake". (More on this later.)
Herr Lipp gets two people from the audience to read out German phrases that sound a bit rude as homophones in English. (Which completely undoes the excellent work in the movie.)
Dr Chinnery slices the face off a panda with a laser. (No, it really is just that. No real setup or routine to go with it to speak of.)
Bernice appears on the big screen 'backstage' reading a question from the audience to which her answer is basically "suck it up, snowflake". (More on this later, again.)
Aunty Val is getting married again, Papa Laz is doing the ceremony. (It's about 5 interminable response of call & response blackface ooga-booga and monkey dancing. Really.)
Benjamin recalls a morning when Uncle Harvey pissed on him, Aunty Val shit on him, he spewed on Harvey who then got a massive hard-on. (Medical terms make everything funny, right?)
Les McQueen sings a song about his failed life in music. (Jeremy Dyson appears on the big screen during it, in probably the least embarrassing part of the whole endeavour.)
Bernice appears on the big screen 'backstage' reading a question from the audience to which her answer is basically "suck it up, snowflake". A guy in the audience claims it's fake shock so she comes out from round the back and shoots him with a crossbow. (Then leaves without a punchline.)
Pauline reveals her dementia and death were faked for the insurance. She kills Ross and then her and Mickey have sex. (The big joke in this part is her spitting spunk after a blow job into a glass.)
Tubbs has a nightmare after a Scottish Theresa May steals away Edward because of something to do with her fanny that I can't remember. She snaps back to the present, her and Edward reprise the Yentl song and he blows up the mine. (With no jokes.)

Piss poor.

God when was this, performed?

Last year, post-reunion tour.

I enjoyed it when it was actually live, although the first half which was mostly classic sketches was definitely better and perhaps we were carried along in the momentum. They were never very good at gross-out humour and I remember thinking it didn't translate well to being at the back of a theatre.

Sounds like they only screened the second half of the show?

Apparently the first half was a greatest hits thing in black tie? So yes, just the second half.

Inside #9 starts again on monday

I like the characters but that just felt like fan service to me.

Yeah but pretty lovable fan service. My partner has never seen Psychoville and still enjoyed it.

I've got to admit I did a little cheer when he showed up at the door.

thought the referee one was great but that psychoville one was dire. see also the league of gentlemen specials, they're much better off putting plenty of distance between themselves and that cartoon grotesquery (which I did like back in the day)

Ah no, I love a bit of cartoon grotesquery every now and then!

Agree the LoG specials were rubbish.

been reading reviews of last night and there clearly seems to be a clamour for new psychoville material so I should probably just say that it's not for me

Referee one was tremendous.

payoff was tremendous

Yes! Haven't really paid attention to these guys for ages and very much enjoyed that referee story, even if you can see the writing process a bit too clearly at times. The punchline was excellent.

Never seen Psychoville so didn't recognise that last night but it was less good because same old obsessions they've already worn out. Didn't hate it tho.

The best five or so Inside No. 9s are up there with the best British telly of the last ten years but the self-consciously creepy ones are usually the worst.

it's the one everyone mentions but i'd put 12 days of christine up against any half hour of british telly ever. i cried

I loved Psychoville but it didn't really translate to a one-off here.
Loved the ref one.

there's a podcast for each episode of the new series, inside inside no. 9

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0824y01

Rewatched League with its new 'jokes of the time' warning (which seems strange attached to the reunion specials) and the first two series really feel like radio forced into the telly.

It's funnier than I was worried I might find it, but an awful lot of the humour is in the 'laugh at the grotesques' category, like some modern freaks how. Gatiss' monologues are a treat though.

I've also realised the opening titles are formatted directly like Chopping Mall, which I'm not sure I've heard the connection before. Will bring it up with them when the twitter strike is over.

That new Inside #9 was something.

Did you like? I'm a sucker for this kind of clever-clever meta stuff but could easily imagine it seeming insufferable to others.

I enjoyed it a lot, but then I'm (as are Pemberton and Shearsmith) a fan of pantomime and music hall which are very closely related. I'm also a sucker for 'your expectations were confounded and thence the humour arose' so the Genoa/Chicago/Alaska joke was my highlight.

I wouldn't be surprised if many found it exceptionally annoying though, especially the ultra-meta stuff from Gemma Whelan.

i'd've put the meta episode later in the series. seemed odd to start there.

it was a "clever" excuse to have tons of dad-jokes (and I liked it)

I thought it was funny and annoying.

watched last night and enjoyed.

The meta stuff was an excuse to get the 'creatively bankrupt with this series' comment in before anyone else did.

I enjoyed the Reggie Perrin throwback with the leather chair.

I'm completely ignorant of whatever genre of theatre they were riffing on so a lot went over my head, but I applaud the audacity and ambition and it still made me laugh a good few times. I'd like to think there are a handful of nerds around the country who got all the references and were totally wigging out over this episode.

i'd've put the meta episode later in the series. seemed odd to start there.

Didn't last season open with a fairly but not quite as oblique Shakespeare parody?

oh, that was first of series 4, but yes.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commedia_dell%27arte - they mentioned this early on. (but, yes, peculiar italian thing that i only know by references in other things, Punch and Judy being the most obvious)

i just thought it was particularly perverse having the first episode after a long delay not show the faces of the main cast.

I'd like to think there are a handful of nerds around the country who got all the references and were totally wigging out over this episode.

indeed, the Cook'd and Bomb'd forum, which was namechecked towards the start of the episode.

(but, yes, peculiar italian thing that i only know by references in other things, Punch and Judy being the most obvious)

My knowledge of commedia dell'arte comes mostly from commentary tracks on Italian western blu rays, but its influence looms so large over modern comedy that I felt I "got" most of the references even w/o being particularly familiar with the artform itself.

i just thought it was particularly perverse having the first episode after a long delay not show the faces of the main cast.

red rag to a bull with that lot.

Most recent mainstream drop of commedia dell'arte probably comes from Upstart Crow where, for reasons that are never properly explained, Spencer Jones plays Will Kempe as an allegory of Ricky Gervais and insists that he's huge in Italy where they're much more educated about comedy* (specifically commedia dell'arte) and you just don't get why he's a comedy genius because you're thick). He talks a fair bit about the tropes and characters and how they interact.

* Without giving Ben Elton too much credit, this may be a reference to Kempe's Jigs being very much like commedia dell'arte - although probably a more likely forerunner of pantomime just because it's British - although it's entirely probable this was just concurrent development of an idea since there isn't a huge link placing Kempe in Italy until after he retired from the stage.

the inside inside number 9 (listening now) covers pretty much everything we've mentioned here.

apparently they had all of series 6 written, couldn't film it because of covid. so started writing series 7 during lockdown, then got asked to make them covid friendly, and this was one from series 7 filmed a lot earlier than planned.

first two of the new series have been quite good imo. must get into the podcast habit again

Underwhelmed by the first one, the second was alright. I'm getting a bit tired of both of them as performers.

Ha, was thinking they had really gone downhill. I still appreciate that they're making them but they're treading the same sort of ground.

Second one was very, very obvious. Suspicions were aroused when they said beforehand "inspired by a film but we're not going to name it so it doesn't spoil anything", but it was dropping references from the first couple of minutes.

Didn't like the one on the lake much either tbh.

I feel like Reece Shearsmith plays the same character in everything I see him outside of I9 these days

He even does inside Inside really.

I tend to watch the first and last five minutes and skip the rest now. At some point after eight-six series you'd think they would've figured out how to create actual people as opposed to the same old saucy postcard caricatures.

Watched the David Morrissey football one again recently, that's still the series highpoint for me.

The David Morrissey one was good and advanced all the way through, but the plot was far too convoluted.

Exactly how far had he gone? Did he fake the whole betting syndicate? Was the affair with the player just to unsettle him?

Very weak episode tonight.

I really enjoyed The Wicker Man one. There are a couple of duds in each series but for me the overall quality hasn't really dropped very much.

I tend to watch the first and last five minutes and skip the rest now. At some point after eight-six series you'd think they would've figured out how to create actual people as opposed to the same old saucy postcard caricatures.

― Chuck_Tatum, Wednesday, 4 May 2022 10:25 (one week ago) bookmarkflaglink

And this is one of the most baffling things I've ever read on this website.

inside number 9, the quiz show, was quite different from usual. just a pity it was lee mack as host.

i think they've skipped one though

No, the numbers are wrong because they've decided to count the Christmas one as part of the series.

The biggest problem with the 'surprise' episode (and this whole series really) is that it hasn't been funny at any point.

I'm basing that on the movie poster 'next week' thing at the end of one episode not matching the next episode and the continuity announcer saying the next one wasn't as advertised. but then i missed the first two due to recorder fail (the recorder being me, not knowing it had started)

yeah, listings mag had 'hold on tight' with robin asquith. poster was a pastiche of 'on the buses' and was 5/6. this week's is 5/5 and next week's is a repeat of mr king.

oh, you're right that ep 1 was the Christmas episode, so i only missed one

enjoyed the quiz show episode. not expecting any of them to be funny tbh, don't see it as a comedy series.

quiz show totally threw me. i started watching wondering if it was what it was, but Lee Mack and the contestants played it so straight (except for the older woman) and there was nothing funny, I initially switched it off.

i think the whole 'buses' posters/promo pics was part of the quiz show wind up i.e. so the announcer sounded genuine re it not being shown, so here's a new quiz show instead.

oh, that's a good idea, one that went right over my head.

(and it's borne out by the internal bbc database which doesn't list it, just 6 episodes and one clip

although oddly this image is called "Hold On Tight"

https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/976x549_b/p0fp60w7.jpg

but shows lee mack)

series 3 of LoG is on That's TV (Freeview ch65) at the moment. i guess I saw it at the time but not since. bloke and his kid in an improvised Knight Rider car fighting crime? Spit and Polish. it has that confusing but at the end where all 6 episodes culminate in the same scene, but you've no idea what's going on for the first couple.

it's daily, and continues into season 4, which i'm not sure i even knew existed.

and Reece is in both in In The Earth and A Field In England on film4 tonight

Think S4 was the one they did years later, about 5 years or so ago xp

the episode guides talk about the town being bulldozed for a new road, and that rings a bell.

series 3 feels a bit o_O in 2024

I remember really liking S3 at the time. I liked the dark / experimental way it was morphing into more of a 'Tales of the Unexpected' type affair, rather than going for the more obvious laughs - something they'd continue with Inside No 9. I don't know how I'd feel about it now, it's been ages since I saw it and the comedic landscape's changed considerably since then. The Christmas Special will always be my fave

Not very funny is my memory of it.

I find the whole show borderline unwatchable now, despite loving it at the time. Always lukewarm on stuff past S2 though.

series 4 started last night and it's obviously going to be 6 episodes of throwbacks to previous characters before they literally bulldoze over it all.

Geoff Tibbs going to London to become a stand-up comedian is a great episode.