Operation Good Guys

This is one of the best British comedies in recent years. Everything about it is fantastic. It follows a patrol of Bobbies that are being filmed by a crew from the BBC. The characters are brilliant, from D.I Beach (the most bizzare D.I on TV), to the really creepy Racist at Camp Alpha. And the Scenario's they get into, these are classic, from running over some royal peoples dogs, to the infamous 'Operation Zoro' Every episode gets better then the last.

Basically everyone should see any of the three series, although I think series 2 is the best. Give it a go, go on, you know you want to.

This TV Series failed to gain any of the acclaim it should have received when originally aired, and remains largely undiscovered and unappreciated.

In describing this epochal fly on the wall spoof, the first port of call would be to parallel its similarities with that of the far more applauded 'The Office'. Despite following on from many other spoof documentaries in the spinal tap vein, this BBC production was aired shortly before the office was conceived, and lends wholesale to its style and format.

The programme revolves around a film crew following the good guys around London on everything from armed police raids to training exercises. It is not uncommon for the crims to know more about secret operations than the good guys do, and there's no end of one-liners stereotyping the police, the public and anyone else you can think of.

Not to be taken seriously, Opreation Good Guys is good healthy fun from start to finish, as faultless in its simplicity as it is innocent and shameful. Sheer Enjoyment!

If you like the Office you'll like Operation Good Guys. It's set up, like the Office, is a documentary style, with film crews following the officers while on duty. It plays on the stereotypes of racism and sexism in the police force (the episode the Tera-Blanche), paired with some of the absurd situations, hilarious characters and fantastic acting this is one of the funniest and cleverest comedies the BBC has released in recent years. It really is a comic gem that has been overlooked with repeats being very scarce. Having only seen it again for the first time in a couple of years (disgusted at myself that I forgot how good the good guys really were), I'm hooked again, I suggest that whoever reads this gets hooked as well you'll not regret it.

My father directed this, (Dominic Anciano) so i am biased but i love this. Thanks dad. Perfect amounts of comedy, to good shots, to well written jokes -Tyler.

Operation Good Guys is easily one of the best 'fly on the wall' spoofs seen in recent years, particularly when you consider that in 1997 it was one of the first of this style genre and therefore in unchartered territory. I sincerely doubt that other programme makers would admit to this, but, it is apparent that some of the filming techniques (and even jokes) have made their way into other, more popular shows, namely The Office.

The fact that the scripts were genuinely improvised gives a far more authentic representation of any scene in question, particularly in the lighter moments (were there any other types of moments??) where clearly the joke intended for the viewer was also amusing to the cast too. This technique allows the viewer to become far more involved in the performance, rather than simply watching a stale and static scene that, whilst undoubtedly amusing, has been rehearsed to perfection.

Episodes/scenes to note:

Series 2 - Mark Kemp's and Bones' portrayal of Guardian Angels, along with the comedic head-gear and uniforms.

Series 2 - DI Beach's elephant man sketch, brought on by a severe case of sunburn.

Series 2 - Mark Kemp's comedy dance routines (taken from Elton John's 'The Passenger' video???), and particularly the bongo playing clip from the Baldy Song.

Series 3 - Mark Kemp's superb take-off of Don King, difficult to see how the cast/crew were able to keep straight faces throughout those scenes.

Series 3 - DI Beach's immortal line, in the episode named "That's Entertainment", "Get me a midget!!!"

All in all, Operation Good Guys was a brilliantly acted and improvised show that sadly never seemed to receive the credit that it truly deserved; there are probably more fans, particularly those people writing/acting in other similar style shows, than care to admit it.