Whoops Apocalypse

They don't make them like this anymore, that's for sure! One of the funniest ever TV series to come out of this country. This was from a time when you could switch the telly on and LAUGH, unlike today. Both the six part show and the film are on sale now together in a box set, and I'm SO glad I bought it! 👍

No doubt much of this has aged badly since the Cold War seems well over, but Cleese's performance alone makes it worth finding. Also worth catching is the relationship between the Shah of Iran and his manservant Ahdab - a more endearing piece of subservience would be hard to imagine. Finally my favourite line is recited by one of the Soviet premiers; "Neutral countries have two options - medium or well done"! Important advice for someone living in Sweden.

A hilarious comedy series which is also an shrewd political commentary of the 80s, complete with a brainless US president, a robotic Soviet premier and a British PM who thinks he's a well known comic book hero. You get here John Cleese at his exasperating best, and the inclusion of comic book characters add to the ever increasing pace toward the apocalyptic climax. And watch out, it's not 1982 anymore, but the world's still just as crazy, it could still happen!

The show was made into a cinema movie (1986), but with a different cast and without the same comic flair.

FOX Broadcasting had their own version of this show, simply named "Whoops!" which aired sometime in the late 80's or early 90's. In FOX's show, a group of ethnically-diverse people escaped the destruction of WW3 in a bomb shelter. After emerging, they found refuge in an old barn accompanied by a windmill in a lush green valley. To their dismay, they couldn't leave the barn due to the fact that a 3-story tall mutant ant wandered around the area. This show was a 30 minute sitcom, and was a comedy. It lasted for only one season. Although most people don't remember this show, I think of it as a cool TV memory from my childhood.

This is an undeservedly forgotten gem! I wonder why you can't get this one on video or DVD; it really deserves it. At least it deserves to be aired again. As with all great comedy it is dead serious at bottom, and its message is as urgent as it was in 1982. About the only serious line in the whole film is the very last one, and the effect is really powerful.