The Rebel

I recently binged on every available episode after having it recommended to me by my father, who is himself an old mod, and I'm delighted to say just how much I enjoyed it. I live in Brighton myself and have done for a few years now, so when I say that this is not too far from the truth I can say so from expedience.

Brighton is the home of the rebels and while many of the city's aged population have gone into their golden years far more gracefully than the protagonist of this fine piece, there are a few of Henrys ilk running around and still having the time of their lives. The Rebel is nothing short of a love letter to the often forgotten greatness of our elder generation and a reminder that they are perfectly capable when it comes to finding some fun and being every bit as deserving of our attention as anyone else.

Just terrible...

British (alleged) comedy featuring the antics of an old man and his family and friends that have to pick up the pieces...

The idea of a man in his 70s giving society the finger before he dies is a good one so (as an old man myself) I was looking forward to this.

I soldiered through this torture till the end and came away angry. First of all the characters are simply HORRIBLE.

A 'pet therapist' who hates animals, her effeminate Indian husband who simply says 'Babes!' all the time, a drunk old codger who laughs for no reason and the main character... a thoroughly unpleasant piece of dirt who likes to swear and rather than 'rebel' against anything, is just filling in his life with childish antics.

The casting is completely wrong. A middle aged frumpy woman is married to an effeminate Indian teenager. This must rate as the most mismatched couple on television ever. It's painful to watch.

The 'classic rock' music soundtrack seems to have been selected directly from Rock FM by a child who thinks he knows what the music scene was all about half a century ago. In the context of this TV series, the songs are drab, cliché and annoying.

Even the wonderful Simon Callow can't breathe any humanity or comedy into this stinker. The script seems to be penned by a teenage boy who has the idea that if old people swear enough then that counts as comedy.

As an old mod myself Henry is spot on ,the tag line of him losing his wife and not wanting to conform is right on and the other characters just, his extended family. He's from a different era, and liked it, nothing wrong with that. If today's society of self righteous, egotistical want to be's, in a greedy, rip off Britain is right then i'm joining Henry's gang. As for the clown who noted the backing music as 'classic rock' clearly has no idea about music. The Who, The Jam, Small Faces etc, plus many Northern Soul tracks, as stated in the show, are classic mod,soul and classic R&B. Bang on. Classic comedy over 'reality' t.v every time..can't wait for series 3 .ride on Henry, ride on...!

STAR RATING: ***** Saturday Night **** Friday Night *** Friday Morning ** Sunday Night * Monday Morning

SERIES ONE

Henry Palmer (Simon Callow) lives on Brighton Beach, where he is seeing out his final days, with the prospect of going in a home and losing his independence looming. Unable to accept where he is in life and the travesty and injustice he sees all around him, he embarks on a crazed, anarchic splurge of lawlessness and anti-social behaviour, much to the chagrin of his daughter and two closest friends.

From the plot description, The Rebel may just as easily have worked as something more serious and grim, of an elderly man with no hope being pushed over the edge, rather unlike the wild, slapstick farce it actually is. There have been real life tales documented on television and in the papers about 'lawless OAPs' that would have served as inspiration in themselves, but this is derived from a comic strip called The Oldie, that many may not have heard of, an original production for the channel UK Gold, usually awash with endless repeats from years ago.

In spite of this, The Rebel doesn't seem to have any significant social comment to make, just a fluffy, flimsy excuse for something silly and funny. The Americans have certainly been making capital on the 'old man does naughty things' formula, with films including the recent Robert De Niro vehicle Dirty Grandpa, and the similarly named Jackass film adaptation Bad Grandpa. As undemandingly funny and amusing as it is, it's the type of humour Tony Hancock was known for hating-the 'ready made' style that doesn't require any great thought, but follows a safe, easy pattern and gets cheap but effective laughs from that.

And so, that's the show covered in a nutshell. It's very derivative and lazy, but with it being so subversive and ridiculous watching an old man behaving yobbishly, it works, and Callow works well in the lead role, managing an effective presence that carries things along well. For cheap, easy fun, it's fine to settle down to. ***

2 series comedy set in Brighton. Series 1 is 3 episodes and Series 2 is 6 episodes. Simon Callow is excellent as Henry Palmer a sweary slightly more anarchic Victor Meldrew type. Excellent support from Anita Dobson and Bill Paterson. Callow's character basically does all the things that we often wish to do but of course in real life wouldn't do. It is a fun bit of escapism exploring the frustrations of a pensioner Mod and his colleagues. The soundtrack is great listening with a mix of Mod, Northern Soul, Psychedelic and Rock classics.