The Piglet Files

The premise of the series is that literally everyone is a total idiot: the protagonist, his colleagues, his bosses, his wife, the antagonists, the random people they encounter... They thought that somehow idiocy would translate into humour. It doesn't. You need jokes that work, you need characters that are compelling, and you need a plot. None of these episodes have a plot. Nothing ever happens. They just compete who can be the most incompetent and they do stupid things that the writers thought would be funny. But they are not. They are irritating. I hate every character in this series and every lame attempt at comedy. Imagine waiting three seasons to hear one proper punch line or one example of good line delivery and timing...

I recently picked up the first two series of this show on DVD. VERY funny. I really enjoyed it, although I had never heard of it and only bought it because it has Nicholas Lyndhurst (Only Fools and Horses, Butterflies) in it.

As untenable as the premise may sound, the show is usually very believable and sometimes takes a semi-serious turn like when Piglet's wife is kidnapped accidentally, but always pays off with a big laugh in the end.

Nicholas Lyndhurst is great as usual in this series, and his costar Clive Francis puts in a good performance as his boss, Drummond. But deserving special mention is Michael Percival as Dexter. They say playing stupid is hard. Well Mr. Percival does an excellent job making Dexter both amazingly stupid yet completely likable.

Highly recommended.

How do you make a series three seasons long, without a single moment that makes you laugh? This series is without a doubt the ultimate example of a disaster. And no, these 'gags' weren't funny even back in the 1990s. Both the jokes and the physical humor are abysmal, and demonstrate total lack of understanding on the part of the writer and director of how humour works. The punch lines are nonexistent and so is the timing. You know, a child could rewrite each of these episodes and make it more funny. Oh, it's so unbelievably dull and outright retarded. If only it managed to fail so badly and be funny as a failure, but alas, no such luck. Unwatchable, literally. People often throw the word 'unwatchable' around without really meaning to say that. Well, this thing is literally, and without a hint of hyperbole, unwatchable.

This was always a great show but has rarely been repeated on British TV, this always seemed strange as Nicholas Lyndhurst is basically now a British institution!

It now looks like Paramount 2 on Sky will be showing it, so lets hope it'll finally get a DVD release (amazingly there is an NTSC version but as yet no PAL!!!).

If you ever get the chance to watch it make sure you do, this shows British spies aren't all James Bond (and came 10 years before Johnny English)

Kudos must all so go out to the actor who played Lewis, who only surpassed his performance of an utter buffoon in the film Love,Honor and Obey.

I liked this series very much. While not quite up to the brilliant standards of Nicholas Lyndhurst's later "Goodbye Sweetheart," TPF offers amusing situations and quirky recurring characters - - especially Drummond (Clive Francis) and Dexter (Michael Percival). I would describe it as an ensemble comedy, and that genre can usually be counted upon for plenty of laughs. Occasionally (about once an episode), there is a laugh-out-loud moment with inspired writing. Otherwise, the chuckles are milder but still enjoyable. Personally, I would be happy to spend any half-hour staring at the cutie who plays "Flint." (Does anyone know whether Louise Catt has appeared in any other telly or cinema? Nothing else is listed for her on IMDb.) Try "The Piglet Files." I think you will be glad that you did, provided you are not expecting a profound classic.