If You See God, Tell Him

This is what ought to have been a classic satire. The story isn't very important: Gordon Spry, an elderly man (Richard Briers) gets a brain injury which causes him to believe everything he's told.

The point is that nobody cares about him -- not really -- and so, he's only told anything at all by TV commercials. And, as he believes everything that TV commercials tell him, numerous (and wickedly, even harshly, funny) scenes ensue.

The satire is bleak and merciless, even for the BBC, if extremely well-made. It probably came too close for comfort for the general audience, and was quickly forgotten.

I remember being very impressed by this. It confounded expectations in a number of ways. At first glance it appeared to be a standard Richard Briers cosy comedy but it soon became apparent that it was something far darker and stranger, and featured an unusually understated performance from Ade Edmondson. The main gist of the plot, as I remember it, was that Godfrey Spry (Richard Briers) suffers some kind of head injury which causes him to believe, completely, everything he sees and hears in advertisements. Many dark, comic moments ensue. I've wanted to see this again but TV repeats and DVD/video releases evade me. I'm sure a repeated screening would reveal this to be a forgotten cult classic.

What I remember of a program shown a decade ago is that it was a hilarious yet (in its finale) moving modern retelling of Don Quixote. It was slated at the time, and has gone unrecognised ever since. This is well overdue for a reshowing or a DVD release.

This was a classic piece of comedy, take a look round at the current state of British sitcom. Richard Briers was brilliant as the hapless Godfrey Spry. Four episodes only, this could have been legendary given half a chance. Definetly needs a re-run or DVD.

Excellent series satirising early-90s marketing and consumer culture. At times I felt I was watching a mirror of One Foot in the Grave: whereas Victor Meldrew rails against modernity, Richard Brier's character - through a whack to the head - comes to embrace it wholeheartedly. This results in him acting upon the advice and slogans of every piece of advertising he sees. This darkly absurdist approach is perfect for shining a comedic light on the superficiality of much of modern life.

Briers' character could easily become grating over the course of an episode, but is handled perfectly by the veteran actor and is instead a benign, sympathetic figure playing wonderfully against Adrian Edmonson's more caustic and jaded character.

There's a real ferocity behind the writing - a genuine anger and disgust at the depersonalizing effects of consumerism - that really spills out overtly in Edmonson's courtroom diatribe in the final episode. But the rest of the time it's there, a passive-aggressive sardonicism simmering away in nearly every line of dialogue.

Of course, it's all still relevant today - probably moreso - and this totally forgotten gem deserves far greater acknowledgement. Seek it out!