An old man sits on a park bench to tell us of a day, fifteen years ago to this very day, when Vic Reeves and Mortimer first came to the BBC for their new quiz show Shooting Stars. It was the first time anyone had thought to invite celebrities onto a television show and of course many applied, all of whom were accepted and ridiculed. Guests, producers and behind the scenes staff from make-up, security and others all discuss their memories of that unstable period of their careers and the dark inside story that the public was not allowed to hear until this time.
I had popped in to see some friends briefly during Christmas and had set the video for this so that I wouldn't miss this show because as a teenager I love Vic & Bob from the Big Night In, through to The Smell of. At their house the TV was on in the background as we were chatting and of course it seemed rude to watch telly given how infrequently we see one another but instantly the four of us were held by this documentary as we were all pretty much of the same generation that watched this and got it. The documentary is cleverly done because in essence it is the usual clip show with talking heads splitting it up and a presenter providing a frame for it. It goes without saying that the clips are hilarious and if you ever liked the show they will be enough to have you in stitches. There are some wonderfully funny moments that are only funnier for not having seen some of them for over a decade.
What makes the documentary have more value than just the clips though is the contributions. One maybe two of them are fairly straightforward (Lenny Henry for example) but many of them are funny in themselves because they are either a) scripted or b) genuinely affectionate memories from people closely involved. These are not quite as good as the bits created for the show which feature Vic and/or Bob in various guises of cameramen, make-up artists, the Hairy Bikers and others all giving their opinion. These "talking heads" are of course perfectly their sense of humour and it does aid the film to have fresh, non-clip material from them that is funny and works within the documentary.
Overall, The Inside Story is a really enjoyable clip show that fans will love. I doubt it is good enough to win over those who spent the latter part of the 90's wringing their hands about how silly the whole thing was, but then this is not for them it is for us.
