Help

When I first moved to Thailand, I checked out BBC America a few times on satellite UBC and frankly was always disappointed by how stodgy all the show were, except for such classics as Red Dwarf, The Office, and Coupling. But this year I've discovered a lot of cool shows by just flipping through. Anyway, I don't have a lot to say about this show except that its brilliant. The acting is spectacular and the writing clever. I'm not really sure why I have to comment with ten lines of text when I've already said everything I wanted to say about this show, because I just started watching it. Anyway, ten lines seems a bit arbitrary, hold on, I need to count my lines before I continue typing...yep got it.

In the arid landscape that we call "British Sitcoms", Help comes as a drink of cool, refreshing water. I must declare a professional interest at this point, I am a practising counsellor... but I also enjoyed it on the grounds that it was well-written, original, funny and well-acted (unlike the vast majority of British comedy).

Basically, the series takes place in a therapist's (Chris Langham) office. Over the six episodes, we see him counsel a wide variety of clients (ALL played by Paul Whitehouse) - a "mind invader", a man who has beaten his wife, a feuding chav couple, a TV chef driven mad by members of the public using his catchphrase to him ("Don't go mad, just a sprinkle!"), a Mick'n'Keef pair of band members...

... best of all Monty. An elderly Jewish cabbie, caring for his wife suffering from Altzhiemers. As we find out more about Monty, your perception of him changes.

Characters appear, re-appear in different episodes. This is not a linear process, much like the counselling process itself. Best of all the counsellor himself is seen as an imperfect human being, as we see his own supervision.

Do yourself a favour... get some "Help."

TV this well written, acted and simply made doesn't come along too often. Picked up the BBC DVD from http://www.ezydvd.com.au/item.zml/795464 EzDVD (Australia). Seems that the release was sanctioned there but not in the UK. The Phrases 'new comedy' and 'mind-bendingly funny' don't usually go together, but here's one of those all-too infrequent exceptions. Chris Langham's therapist indulges various clients, all played by a near-unrecognisable Paul Whitehouse hidden behind an array of voices and prosthetics.Aviva insurance (or rather their ad agency) have had the good sense to allow Paul Whitehouse to create more instant classic characters in their recent TV ads - 'Green Ormy', 'Baagin' and 'A-line Bob' (you'll know what I mean if you see them). These creations are probably capable of supporting a TV series on their own.

Does anyone know when this show is being released on DVD? It was aired early in 2005 on BBC but hasn't received a DVD release yet. I really want to get my hands on it as it is one of the funniest shows on TV. Also are there any signs of a second season? The show definitely deserves one, I believe it won a BAFTA for comedy.

Langham and Whitehouse are both excellent actors with great comedy timing. The make up is excellent as Whitehouse takes on many guises of different ages, nationalities and backgrounds, countered by the dry wit of Langham. The comedy they have created is much more mature and heart felt than some of the other catchphrase based comedy on our screens at the moment.

It is extremely unlikely that the BBC will be brave enough to sanction a DVD release of this series. Since Chris Langham was convicted of an offence and subsequently imprisoned a few years back he has been virtually written out of entertainment history. This is sad on so many counts as this was a well written, finely performed and beautifully observed series. Paul Whitehouse's performances were a bit of a revelation given that previously his forte was in sketch shows presenting cartoon characters delivering catch-phrases and little else. Here he acts convincingly in a variety of roles, often with depth and humanity. It is likely that this worked so well because he was pitted against Langham's deadpan, lugubrious and quizzical re-acting.