Chelmsford 123

This is one of the most entertaining comedy series ever produced -- agreed, maybe some of the humour would be strange to American audiences, but there are very few British-specific jokes, it's just the style that would be rather foreign. But for all that, it's brilliant. Perhaps there were episodes of Fawlty Towers or Yes, Minister that made me laugh more, but not only is this right up with them, I can keep re-watching Chelmsford 123 and it'll always make me laugh. It's no more than every few years that I can turn to an episode of Fawlty Towers and there are ones I just don't like. There isn't an episode of Chelmsford 123 that I don't like, and I turn to it every couple of months and always have a great laugh, though I probably know a lot of the scripts by heart. Yes, it's that good. Terrifically underrated, just a pity that so few episodes were made. I got my copy of both series from a friend in the UK, although I expect you might be able to find it on ebay or filesharing networks.

I can't believe there are no comments about this show. Set in Chelmsford, Britania, in the year 123 AD, it tells the story of Roman Governor Aulus Paulinus's everlasting struggle against a bunch of savage and occasionally philosophical group of Brittons led by badvoc, the man who hasn't had a haircut in 25 years. Marvelously zany humor, superb acting and writing, a true gem from Channel four and "Hat trick" (who is also responsible for the original, and still the best, "who's line is it anyway"). This show is a british comedy extraordinaire, second only to FAWLTY TOWERS, if you have a chance to watch it, or maybe find it in a video store, it's worth every minute.

Not to be missed!

The first half of the first episode is set in Rome- with the appointment of a new governor for the province of Britannia. In Latin. It is subtitled- but this very bold move had me hooked instantly. Then the scene moves to Wassers Tavern in Chelmsford- and is a delight from then on for the duration of both series. It has hard to pick a favourite episode. I can only exhort you to get a copy or watch it on-stream. It is clever, funny beyond funny- and deserves to be known. Rory McGrath in his dopey the frog battle jock strap is a site to behold! Treat yourselves.

Mungo: They call me Mungo the contradictory.

Aulus Paulinus: Do they?

Mungo: No.

Absolutely brilliant comedy, well written and superbly performed. A terrible shame no more than the two seasons were made, an even bigger shame that when trite rubbish like "Absolutely Fabulous" gets famous this gets virtually ignored. I just wish that Hat Trick would get the two series of Chelmsford 123 released on DVD. I contacted them a year ago to ask if it was in the works and was told they had no plans to do so. What a missed opportunity. Anyone remember in the first episode the cameo toilet stop for a well known British sci-fi character? Genius. The first episode set the tone for the rest of the story, with very very funny, sarcastic and dark humour interspersed between the slapstick. A real gem of a show that should have carried on for a lot longer, it really deserves to be given a chance again on DVD at least, to give those of us that loved it a chance to see it again. Come on Hat Trick, get on to it...you know you want to.

Found this on a streaming service and gave it a shot because I love shows set in historical periods of time.

From the first episode I was hooked, especially with the scenes with closed captions, it was clever how they used them as part of the jokes.

All in all I would recommend this because it mixes history and humor with innocent (sometimes raunchy, it's not a family show) good fun.

Added it to my "Comedies that are actually funny" list, check it out if you want more.