harry-105

Hard to describe in a way that conveys how funny this was. The two grey-suited men (Desmond "Olivier" Dingle and his put-upon sidekick Wallace) re-enact major events of the French Revolution, assuming various characters by using differing headgear and occasional shawls.

The weirdest thing I remember about this is how surprisingly moving was their portrayal of the farewell scene between Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI. Even though it's clearly two English blokes in boring suits, the emotion came across, especially from Wallace/Marie Antoinette. No wonder Jim Broadbent went on to get an Oscar.

Strongly recommend this if you ever get the chance to see it. Even my French brother-in-law (very French, not a fan of TV, not a fan of much British humour) thought this was good.

Can't believe that Bostock's Cup isn't available on a proper video or DVD yet. I've only seen it once, on a dodgy copy taken off the TV and despite not being a footy fan (at all,) thought it was one of the funniest things I've ever seen.

The famous sloping pitch of wherever it was, the clueless coach driver ("Ponty-this, Ponty-that", "I'll take the next exit"), the pointless plot; it all added up to aching sides.

Being stuck in the US I'm desperate for some good British humour but not quite enough to spend the amount that the production company are asking for. C'mon, get it out on kosher DVD pronto.

This show was practically compulsory viewing for teenagers and students in the late 1970s and early 1980s. It introduced the British public to Griff Rys-Jones, Mel Smith, Pamela Stephenson and Rowan Atkinson. Chris Langham was in the first season but seemed to get replaced by G R-J after that.

It consisted of a series of sketches, some purely comedic, others with political overtones. The pizza parlour worker, played by Rowan Atkinson, sneezing on the pizza and declaring "Extra mozzarella" is the former, the close-up of a yobbish Griff R-J talking about him and his mates picking on some black blokes "because we 'ate 'em, right?" and the camera gradually pulling away during the monologue to show he's a uniformed policeman would be the latter.

Some great writing (Clive Anderson, Andy Hamilton, a pre-"Four Weddings and a Funeral" Richard Curtis), go-for-it acting and sketches that hit frequently enough to forgive the ones that didn't. The sketch with the trendy lefty social worker declaring the only way to deal with young men who misbehaved was to "cut their goolies off" is still a classic, as is Gerald the talking gorilla.