15 Storeys High

After his sad and untimely passing, the BBC decided to return Sean Lock's cult sitcom to the iPlayer, to allow it to find a new audience. I watched "15 Storeys High" at the time, and my recollection was that I liked it, but I thought I'd take the opportunity to watch it again. After a couple of shaky episodes, the show really finds its feet and has some great comedic ideas.

Two men, the brusque Vince (Sean Lock) and naïve Errol (Benedict Wong) share a flat in a South London complex. Their interactions, with each other and their neighbours, form the basis of the sitcom, but each episode shows us the lives of other people living around the complex and the increasing idiosyncratic way that these people live their lives.

The first couple are, admittedly, a bit shaky. The first episode has a scene recreating "Jim'll Fix It" which has unintentionally become a lot more shocking since the revelations about Saville came out and I'm perhaps a bit surprised that the BBC didn't decide to edit this out of the re-release. Once you reach the third episode though, it settles down into the right rhythm and tone and the last four episode of this run are really good.

There's a lot of actors across this season who would go on to become regular faces in comedy across the next twenty years, Cavan Clerkin, Michael Smiley, Martin Trenaman, Toby Jones, Peter Serafinowicz, and Paul Putner are just some of the names who would appear.

It's a very funny show and makes it even sadder than during Sean's time he didn't write more narrative based comedy.

I had never heard of 15 Storeys High until a friend recommended it. I didn't have great expectations but ended up watching all 6 episodes in one go! This is a weird, wonderful, surreal comedy with brilliant characterisation. Locke & Wong are just terrific as the undynamic duo -a morose swimming pool attendant and a hapless fish-factory worker living together in a rather run-down apartment block. Their dull, aimless lives are interspersed with moments of absurdity; the story lines border on the ludicrous, made all the funnier by the deadpan delivery of the actors. 15 Storeys High can rightfully take its place among the very best of BBC Comedies - a real hidden gem that hopefully one day will receive the recognition it deserves. If you haven't seen it and you like slightly off-the-wall comedies like The Office,you shouldn't be disappointed!

15 Storeys High is the tale of Vince and his slightly ditzy flatmate Errol as they bugger through life.

It's slightly rough for the first few episodes but it defintiely gets better, and I did like some of the more surreal and out-there moments (like Vince's nude loving father). A stand out to me was the Airport episode, if mainly due to how ridiculous it got. It's sad that the main player is dead now, although it hopeully means that more love can be given to this show.

I really like this programme. What I like about it, apart from the situations Vince gets himself into, and the more outrageous ones Errol gets into {"I told him we had the Volvo part - I don't like lying"), is the transient appearances of all sorts of oddball characters. Vince's dad, for instance, never wears clothes so Vince puts a carrier bag wherever he sits down. We see people who live in different flats to Vince going about their different business, they are all hilarious (oh Jesus Christ!). There are the table tennis brothers, the wheezy bloke, the bloke who swears all the time, the guitar tutor and his much put-upon pupil. You've got to see it, words alone cannot do it justice. Cheers, Nick.

Well, had been on my 'to watch' list for a while now and this viewing has been hastened by Sean Lock's untimely death.

In my opinion this sitcom captures a spirit (for at least some of us) of a period in our lives where we are broadly speaking free of responsibilities and obligations to others (e.g. For me, my mid to late twenties). The aimless abandon of Sean Lock's character who is long on time, but short on money leads to the viewer journeying into his innermost thoughts and idle wanderings. These are most readily manifest in 'imaginings' of what's happening in adjacent flats - brief and bizarre scenes ensue.

Benedict Wong, ably plays the naive flatmate to the Sean Lock's character who places frequent demands on him.