Le club des gentlemen

British TV Comedy has a great tradition. We have the gentle sit-coms like Are You Being Served, The Good Life, Butterflies which seem to have gained a cult following in the US. Then we have the slightly more adventurous sit-coms like Porridge, Only Fools And Horses and One Foot In The Grave with their observations on real living that we can all associate with. We also have the sketch-type comedy such as Harry Enfield and The Fast Show which take characters we meet everyday and make them ten-times worse and funnier.

But every so often we British do what we do best and come up with something that simply removes all of the boundaries and is unique. The Goons, Monty Pythons Flying Circus, The Goodies, Not The Nine O'Clock News, The Young Ones....the list goes on. These programs often start off as small projects shoved onto BBC2 or Channel 4, but eventually they become part of our comedy heritage. However, its been a long time since we have seen something as unique and ground-breaking as this one - its simply the best and most original comedy series for over a decade.

If you are not British and your vision of British comedy is Are You Being Served and Benny Hill, prepare yourself for a shock because gentle slap-stick this is not. The League of Gentlemen is very, very dark - there's very little feel-good about this comedy - and it is extremely surreal, but it is also immensely funny. The series follows the exploits of the inhabitants of a small Northern village called Royston Vasey (the real name of Roy Chubby Brown, a particularly x-rated British comedian). The show gives Royston Vasey an almost mystical air, as if seperated from the rest of the real world, a place where anything can happen and the unexpected always does. The characters are cleverly worked so that despite their grotesqueness, you can still associate with them and in some cases sympathise with them. All of the main characters (even the women, in true Monty Python style) are played by three of the four writers (Gatiss, Pemberton and Shearsmith), and every character is an absolute gem. To tell you about the characters would spoil the fun of finding out for yourself. What I will say is don't expect any happy endings or moralistic enlightenment in this show, because there aren't any...but do expect shocks, things that will make you whince and some genuinely funny moments. Also concentrate through the opening credits as the camera takes you around the town, because there are some excellent visual gags in there.

This is a truly wonderful and original slice of British humour. It won't be to everyone's taste, but to those that appreciate this style of humour, you cannot get any better than this. I can see this being viewed as a classic in years to come - lets hope it awakens some new and innovative comedy writing in the near future... we've waited long enough.

What a great great series. You know, there has never been anything like this and I don't think there ever will.

If I were to have been told about the project, I don't think I would have known what to expect. Imagine what the original script must have been like. With the finished product like this, imagine the creative process!!

But seriously, this is a unique product. I am not sure what these guys are on but it sure works.

The base of this series is that we all have our version of Royston Valley. The fact that it is a horrible place and the perfect setting for a horror story. To make it a comedy is a work of genius. It is one of the few programs that I can watch again and again.

If you haven't encountered the League of gentlemen before *whats wrong with you*?? In short, its like what would happen if Kids in the Hall performed Twin Peaks playing all the characters (Mark as Log Lady or Bruce as Nadine the eye patch lady). And all this set in the moorland backwaters of Northern England much beloved by previous writers like James Herriot or The Brontes. The show has also been described as Twin Peaks-Mervyn Peake-Peak Practise which is also apt. You don't have to come from Northern England (like me) to 'get it' - most jokes are universal to those with similar senses of humour.

Anyway - the story is as follows. the League are Mark Gatiss, Steve Pemberton, Reece Shearsmith and Jeremy Dyson (writer who does not perform). The show started out at Edinburgh fringe (where it won the Perrier award), then BBC Radio 4 and then on to BBC TV. The 3 series so far follow the lives of various residents of Royston Vasey, the town you will never leave. All characters (male and female) are performed by Gatiss/Shearsmith/Pemberton.

this is an amazing feat and shows the versatility and talent of each performer.

Characters include a homicidal snub-nosed couple who run a local shop, a bigoted vicar, a lesbian ex-con once proud restart officer and an inept vet with strong shades of that Herriot creation Tristan Farnham amongst others. Papa Lazarou is one of the most enduring creations - he is like a bizarre hybrid of a black & white minstrel, Jerry Sadowitz, Pennywise from IT and a white-slave-trader. The show is also a must for any fan of horror and cult movies as the references to classics like "The Wicker Man", "Don't Look Now", "the Jungle Book", "The Railway Children" and more humble fare like 80s kids show "Pipkins" will keep film fans eager and happy for a long time. Above all its very funny and very clever - from visual jokes (animal face painting and draining the swede being favourites) to subtle in-depth homage (the portmanteau style of Xmas special echoes Amicus classics like "Asylum")

Series one and two followed a similar pattern whilst the Gents departed with form and took a brave step with series 3 making some dramatic changes. The Xmas special was perhaps key in this change also. Gone were some old favourite characters and new ones were introduced. Episode formula was less sketch driven and story lines were longer. And also a new theme tune was introduced with shades of "Scheulmadchen report" with it grooviness. But some 'fans' hated the changes (dullards) because they broke with the norm and indicated a bold change in direction. I personally **love** the new changes(like a lot of fans) and think that Series 3 contains some of the best work done so far. Thank god they got rid of the laughter track!!!!! Kudos to the guys for not being formulaic and always challenging expectations and actually *thinking* about what to bring along next. The work is thus fresh, complex and keeps you on your toes. Hooray to that as there is nowt as bad as stale comedy.

NOW BRING ON THE FILM!!!!!

The League of Gentlemen are Jeremy Dyson, Mark Gatiss, Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith. The latter 3 act and write while Dyson writes. In 1999 the quartet unleashed their eponymous TV series on us.

Every town has "odd" people – the suicidal army reservist, the toad fancier or the butcher who seems to take his job too seriously. And then there is that couple who keep themselves to themselves. And turn out to be brother and sister!

Roston Vasey is the real name of blue comic Roy "Chubby" Brown (who appears as the mayor in series 2). It is a mystery why the League chose his name as the fictional town in this series. But in Royston Vasey, being odd is the norm. With most of these characters played by the 3 acting Leaguers.

Series 1 is essentially a series of sketches set in "Vasey". Most of the characters do not interact other than in opening sequences although several are transported in the taxi of local transvestite Barbara. A very hairy man who is waiting for "the operation" and regales her customers with details of what is to come. This series is mostly offbeat comedy with a few blacker moments thrown in.

While there is a tenuous story holding series 2 together it carries on in a similar vein. Some sketches abandon the humour to explore a darker side. And the BBC makeup department are kept busy providing facial disfigurements for a number of characters. "Vasey" really needs a good dentist.

Series 3 is more of a "comedy drama". Each episode dealing with an individual character and a theme running through the end of each episode.

At first I was disappointed with series 3 as I wanted more of the same. The "best" characters are killed off and series 3 concentrates on minor players. On reflection though, each story stands up in its own right. A brave move which works.

Sick humour? Fantastic humour with good stories? The L of G pushed comedy in a new direction.

This series premiered on the cable TV station "Comedy Central" in the United States. It was chopped to death, and shown out of sequence. This was sad for the audience it should have attracted, it didn't and fell by the wayside. Luckily, at the same time my cable company went digital and I got the BBC. Thank goodness because I got to see "The League of Gentlemen" in order, complete and uncut.

"The League of Gentlemen" troupe is right up there with England's "Monty Python's Flying Circus" and Canada's "The Kids in the Hall". But..a warning.

"The League of Gentlemen" though are one step beyond. It's not only about dressing in drag and lampooning the cultural ills, it goes deeper and much, much, darker. I can tell many of you now -- it will offend certain groups of people, it will enrage others. But remember, its only comedy..dark, dark comedy. If that is not your thing, don't watch. If you think you KNOW dark comedy, watch this -- if you get angry and upset, then you don't quite know DARK COMEDY.

These guys got it right, and right on the button. They are brilliant, they are excellent and I enjoyed each and every character creation. There's a COMPLETE story that is told here from episode one to the end. You cannot watch this one episode at a time, willy nilly, that is one of the charms of this series. Watch it in order. See how creative and stylish and deeply disturbed these guys are. No one and nothing is out of bounds. That, my dears, is "dark humor". Bravo!