Pauline Calf's Wedding Video

In the early 1990's British comedy had been going through a mass explosion of comedy talent. Eddie Izzard, Lee Evans & Frank Skinner had proved to be top rate comedians of the day but the serious likelihood of their conversion to situation comedy seemed remote. Re-Runs of vintage situation comedy were frequent, whilst the only memorable modern situation comedies of the time were Men Behaving Badly and Red Dwarf. This was hugely disappointing after the surge of Alternative Comedy throughout the 1980's. A lot of highly memorable situation comedies had surfaced but by the early 90's new sitcoms of the same vain seemed tired and dated. It seemed that there was a serious lack of comedy actors on television. But Steve Coogan and a host of other up and coming comedians put a permanent freeze on that thought. Since his first appearance on television Coogan has becoming a legendary comedy performer who has been likened to Peter Sellers

Coogan began his career by voicing the puppets in Spitting Image and began developing his characters while at Drama School in Manchester. But it was winning the 1992 Perrier Award at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival that he gained his first major bit of exposure to the public. Brief appearances on Saturday Zoo debuted the first televised appearance of angry drunk Paul Calf and his easy sister Pauline Calf. A nationwide tour followed and in 1994 Steve Coogan: Live'N'Lewd was released. By this time Coogan had began to debut what was to be his most favorite creation Alan Partridge on the show The Day Today. It was time to experiment with Paul and Pauline calf in the of Television.

The story behind Pauline Calf's Wedding Video is very simple. Her brother Paul cannot afford a wedding present for his sister who is marrying a dodgy Greek man called Spiros. So he decides to document the days leading up to the occasion with the aid of his every faithful friend Fat Bob. We meet the Groom, The Best Man, Pauline, The Brides mother, Paul's friends and the local police force.

At the time of it's release in 1994 the amateurish styles that would be consistent of an Amateur wedding camera man probably seemed very innovative and fresh that it won a BAFTA for Best Comedy Programme for it's effort. However I feel it limits the range of scenarios that any wedding can conjure up particularly a Calf wedding. At times the writing seems very amateurish mainly the wedding scene which ties up the loose endings. It is all too convenient and what's more it is not very funny and quite frankly very disappointing and not what I expect from Steve Coogan and company at all. I also think such a flaw would not have been so overlooked if they were making this today. Above all the biggest flaw is the one that nobody can do anything about. It suffers from all the great sitcoms also suffer from and that it has become now by 2006 very dated. It can also be viewed by serious comedy critics as very much a product of it's time. But these three flaws should not put you of viewing this program.

The Best Bits of the show are of course the characters. John Thomson is very believable as Fat Bob, Paul's ever present and ever suffering friend. One can only speculate that he puts up with Paul because he is madly in love with his sister Pauline. Thomson is a strong supporting character whose performance covers over the cracks in the rest of the supporting cast. Above all it's his very sensitive portrayal of a man wanting to be noticed by the woman he loves, but she only wants the things that he isn't. It might be worth pointing out that this kind of characterization in comedy was almost unheard back then and it only has become fully accepted through the release of the office, Extras and Spaced.

Of course John Thomson is one reason to watch this, but the star and main highlight is of course Steve Coogan. Coogans Paul and Pauline Calf will not be remembered with the same affection as Alan Partridge but they are essential staples in the works of Steve Coogan. It was with them that he sharpened his comic skills. We the audience watch them grow in mentality and physicality with every televised and live performance and this is the key to liking and understanding them. It is through this that we accept their severest of flaws such as Paul's drunken violence and Paulines casual attitude towards sex. Of course with Coogan everything is taken to extremes and some of the humor will not bode well with some viewers but this program will delight all Coogan fans

This is one of the finest pieces of comedy from the nineties.

Anyone with an affinity with the North of England will get this immediately. I remember Coogan writing that "the comedy devil is in the details". He must have believed what he wrote, as this thirty minute film stands up to repeated viewing. I found it impossible to catch all of the jokes the first time around.

The dialogue is superb and very realistic. The best thing about the Calf videos is that these people nearly exist. The whole thing fits together because you have met people like Paul and Mark. They're not too outrageous - they're just characters ploughing through a mundane existence in Manchester.

Patrick Marber puts in a particularly fine performance as Spiros Zorba Panathageorgianous ( I wonder how much that's worth in Scrabble ) and some of his language quirks are remarkably well observed.

Overall, an exemplary work which captures the spirit of the North perfectly ( although the late Gary Olsen's northern accent is pretty dodgy ). Watch it, and watch it again. Get the narrative first time round, and try and catch everything else afterwards.

Yes folks, I had the pivotal role of background artist in this brilliant BBC comedy. You can see me just behind Pauline Calf during the hen night. I'm wearing a read t-shirt and glasses. And other clothes of course. It was very difficult not to laugh whilst this scene was being filmed. The sight of Steve Coogan in a dress was one I'll never forget in a hurry.

Paul and Pauline Calf are two of Coogan's greatest, if incredibly vulgar, creations. However, my all time favourite will always be Alan Partridge. Ah ha! One of Coogan's great skills is convincing us that Alan really does exist. When you see photos of Steve without the make-up it is a suprise to see how young he really is. Alan Partridge is one of the greatest and most memorable comedy characters to be created in the last twenty years, and his painfully embarrassing behaviour is up there with Basil Fawlty.

He has of course now hit the big time, appearing with Jackie Chan in Around the World in Eighty Days, but for us Brits he will be remembered for his humble beginnings on late night British television.