La vie secrète d'Edgar Briggs

I remember watching this when I was 11 in the 70's and thought it was funny, which some of it still is but some parts not so much. David Jason plays hapless (and to be honest irritating at times) spy Edgar Briggs who seems to get on despite being useless. Some fine supporting roles and you can see why Jason got the Del Boy role and also the roots of Johnny English, although both were much better. I can see why Jason blocked the repeats as it's not his best work but it's worth a look.

With the obvious exception of Fools & Horses, this was in my opinion David Jason's finest series.

Coming straight after his TV debut on 'Do Not Adjust Your Set!', these 13 episodes revealed a mastery of comic timing not seen since the old silent movie days. By comparison, Porridge, Open All Hours and that awful series 'Lucky Man' did not come close.

I believe Jason banned the series being repeated because it showed him at his rawest. Shame on him. A new generation deserves to enjoy this. The series actually flopped in the ratings but that is most likely because it was shown against 'The Brothers' which aired on BBC at the same time, before VCRs were commonplace.

BTW, I have only just noticed that his long suffering assistant, Spencer, was played by Mark Eden ; Alan Bradley off Coronation Street. I am amazed he didn't try to murder Edgar Briggs!!!!

I was ten years old when this show first aired and it made a lasting impression on me. In particular the lead star David Jason. He dominated the show with a mixture of slapstick comedy and sharp one liners I would cry with laughter, and often wondered why it didn't get more series. It turned out it was up against the Brothers on BBC and lost out in the ratings. A real shame as it was way better than some of it's contemporaries from that era. Also Jason refused for the show to be repeated in later years which could have introduced the show to a new audience. Its from a time when comedies would entertain the whole family and they are a rare breed these days. Catch it if you can!

this comedy is the very best tv-series i´ve ever watched. a smal and stupid secret service agent solves difficult problems wihout logic. he himself even doesen´t understand anything about the problems. the dialogues are fantastic and david jason (alias edgar briggs) is brilliant. the other actors fit in very well and so the whole series is full with slapstick, noise and surprise. 13 top- episodes are edited. i hope it will be available on video or dvd soon.

I do like David Jason. He's done some very entertaining work. This is not some of this best, or even good work. The comedy is not clever; it is stupid. Clearly others disagree with me here, looking at other reviews and the overall score. This would be barely funny to a 6-year old. Part of the failing is that Jason is the only one with anything resembling anything that could be called funny. He is acting against 5-straight characters. I would say this is at the exact opposite end of the comedy spectrum to Black Adder. I have watched the first 8-episodes, and I would say it is more frustrating to watch than anything. There are so many truly brilliant British comedies to watch before this one. I would suggest not bothering with Edgar Briggs.