Andy Capp

It's interesting how a fictional character can be successful in one medium yet utterly unsuccessful in another. Andy Capp was a huge success in the comic strips, spawning various merchandising deals (I fondly recall my first bottle of Andy Capp's Spring Tonic) and even a spin-off character: 'Buster, Son of Andy Capp', who had his own long-running strip yet was never once mentioned in the original. Despite this success, Andy never caught on in any other medium. The West End stage musical based on Andy Capp was a flop. This short-lived TV series (running briefly in February-March 1988) was no better.

This synopsis reflects only the TV series, not the comic strip. Andy and Flo Capp live at 37 Durham Street, Hartlepool. Andy is a layabout, a drunkard, a bully, a liar and a gambler. The only reason he's not a skiver into the bargain is because he hasn't got a job to skive off in the first place. His put-upon wife Flo is kept working overtime to pay the bills. To make matters worse, Andy is a serial philanderer.

This Thames TV sitcom suffered from the total unlikeability of the main character. (In the comic strip, Andy was more of a likable rogue.) The first episode dealt with Andy's promise to turn over a new leaf. (He doesn't, of course.) The sixth and final episode dealt with Andy's reluctance to celebrate the Capps' wedding anniversary.

Most of the recurring characters in the comic strip get a look-in here, including the Capps' neighbours next-door over, Chalkie White and his wife Ruby. Also on offer are barman Jackie, rent-collector Percy Ritson (geddit? "writ's on"), and the 'milkie' (milkman) making his dawn rounds as Andy comes staggering home from a night on the tiles.

The Andy Capp strip was brilliant in small bites, but the character didn't seem to work very well over an extended narrative. Certain features of the comic strip just didn't make a smooth transition to live-action. Andy Capp famously wore his flat cap completely over his eyes (like Beetle Bailey and Cheech Wizard) but, in this live-action series, actor James Bolam had to wear his slightly over-sized cap a bit farther back so that he could see where he was going. I laughed at Andy and Flo's frequent fisticuffs in the comic strip, which were always drawn as a huge dust cloud with feet and fists emerging from its depths. In live action, this wouldn't work nearly so well ... in fact, in live action, a brawl between a man and a woman simply isn't funny at all.

Even Andy Capp was not immune to the onslaught of political correctness. For three decades of comic-strip dailies, he sported a 'tab' (cigarette) in his mouth, but this was quietly deleted in 1988. Later, such newfangled annoyances as mobile 'phones found their way into the strip (with Andy opposed to them, refreshingly). As great as the strip was, 'Andy Capp' the TV series was nothing much. This short-lived series is not worth a second look.

I don't know why the negative reviews.

I found this series enjoyable.

Certainly there are things that could be improved, but it's good, rollicking fun, all the same.

It's quite true to the original cartoons. The characters are good and the whole thing is very cartoon-like.

The pub/house and back garden scenes are superb.

Flo, with her curlers and rolling pin is excellent.

I'm an ex- pat living in Japan, and this really made a lovely change from all the American sit com crap!

This series is well worth a watch.

Andy Capp the famous Daily Mirror cartoon strip was adapted for television.

James Bolam played the flat capped layabout from Hartlepool who certainly loves a drink in the pub but here like everyone seems to to come from West Yorkshire.

The series was written by Keith Waterhouse but something went seriously wrong in the adaptation. It did not feel like a cartoon strip come to life. In fact Bolam never felt like Andy Capp to me at all.

Despite the hype at the time the series misfired badly. It was not funny, it was not good at all and the viewing figures quickly dwindled.

I've just managed to pick up a copy of this series, and was not very hopeful as everyone who I have spoken to who remembers it told me how bad it was.

Well it's not sitcom gold, I give you that. There are a lot of 'piece to camera' moments, which I hate in any show, however this reflects the style of the cartoon strip. A lot of the jokes were lifted from previous cartoon strips, and did bring a smile to my face. In fact the series brought a lot of smiles, however no real laughs.

As a smiling show, it works, and to me it's quite watchable and enjoyable if you are looking for some low brow humor. A classic it ain't but if you get the chance, give it a try all the same. 7/10