The High Life

I count myself extremely fortunate to have first seen Alan Cumming on stage in 1987 or there abouts. He was playing the shepherd in "As You Like It". Hardly a major role but he completely stole the show and had my friends and I frantically flicking through our programmes to find out who the wonderful young actor playing the shepherd was. Since then I've always looked out for him and have yet to be disappointed in any role he's played.

"The High Life" is a cute, original and extremely funny comedy with wonderful performances from the three central actors and it's a huge shame that it was allowed to sink without trace due to very poor promotion by the BBC. It was broadcast on a weekday evening in what used to be the notoriously difficult 9pm slot on BBC2. I can recall nothing more than a couple of brief trailers and a little piece in the Radio Times and it was as if the powers that be just didn't care wether is succeeded or failed. These days we have the likes of the appallingly bad "My Hero" being shown early on a Friday evening on BBC1 and then repeated on a Sunday afternoon, while something as well written and acted, clever and original as "The High Life" was allowed to sink without trace.

I don't suppose Auntie Beeb would ever go to the trouble of producing a video, or better still, a DVD, but they could at least repeat this glorious one-off. That way, the few of us who loved it first time 'round could tape it and watch it over and over, and those who never got a chance to see it will finally know what the rest of us are harping on about.

I watched this when it first came out in the 90s. I found it hilarious then. Rewatching it now I still found it far funnier than anything that currently passes for comedy. It was interesting to see the young Alan Cumming. How he come on as an actor. Mark you watching this makes me realise the Scots have a different sense of humour. I really couldn't stop laughing. A real treat.

I loved this series, and have been waiting patiently for it to be repeated. Imagine my surpise when searching the internet I found that it has eventually been released on DVD (including the pilot episode).

An excellent programme with characters who were already well-developed when they first appeared.

Admittedly, the captain of the plane was very reminscent of Commander Bell, played by Ronnie Barker (qv) in the early series of the BBC Radio programme "The Navy Lark" but that made a new programme nostalgic!

Some of the best situations arose from people who really didn't like each other having to work together in a place where a) they couldn't get up and walk out, and b) they had to be all happy and smiling to the customers and pretend they were all part of one big happy family.

I am sure that, had the programme's run not been cut short after only a few episodes, the writing team would have been able to develop a lot more, and different, situations as they had the ability to include things which didn't only belong in an airline but benefited from the setting. It would have taken quite a while for the show to become one-dimensional. Great stuff!

STARRING Alan Cumming, Forbes Masson, Siobhan Redmond, Patrick Ryecart

Camp classic The High Life ranks right up there with Absolutely Fabulous as one of the funniest sitcoms of the 1990s. Written by its two comic leads, Cumming and Masson, The High Life delights viewers with its mix of Scottish sensibility and camp outrageousness.

The High Life revolves around the lives and loves of flight attendants who work for fictitious Scottish airline Air Scotia. Cumming (Sebastian Flight) and Masson (Steve McCracken) demonstrate perfect comic timing, while Redmond (Shona Spurtle) proves adept as the antagonist who always wants to show Sebastian up as a narcissistic egocentric. Ryecart (Captain Hilary Duff) is hilarious as the absentminded captain, who, despite never being 'all there', has control of the plane!

The Scottish accent is, at times, a bit hard to follow, but is funny nonetheless. Versatile Scot Cumming, who has done a few accents in his career: a Russian accent in GoldenEye; an American accent in Romy and Michele's High School Reunion; has a ball spouting all the lines in his native tongue! And speaking of accents, I think this must be the only sitcom to ever include the F-word. In one episode, Steve asks Sebastian: "You for coffee?", but with a Scottish accent it sounds very similar to: "You F*** off, eh?"

It's a shame this comedy gem ran for only six episodes. Who knows what other story lines Cumming and Masson may have come up with.....

A MUST SEE!