British TV Show Reviews "C"

Calling the Shots (7/94)
Lynn Redgrave stars in this somewhat derivative 2-part thriller as a investigative television journalist who does whatever it takes to get her story. When the subject of one of her expose's commits suicide and then threatening phone calls begin, she begins to lose control.

Cambridge Spies (3/04)
Four-part dramatization of the most successful spy ring in British history which got its start in the 1930s when a group of four idealistic anti-fascists students at Cambridge are recruited by the Soviet Union with the hopes they will eventually infiltrate the highest levels of British society.  It's a shrewd bet, as most of the British establishment at the time did indeed come from either Oxford or Cambridge University, and so begins the careers of Anthony Blunt, Guy Burgess, Donald Maclean and Kim Philby.  They remained ever-loyal to their Soviet masters through the 1950s, although ironically the Russians were so paranoid they suspected the Brits of being double agents and never really trusted much of their intelligence.  Burgess and Maclean escaped to Moscow one step ahead of slow-to-realize MI5 (which never imagined one of their own could be so seriously compromised, much to the frustration of American CIA officers who long had smelled a rat).  Philby was able to keep his high-ranking job in the diplomatic corps until 1963 when he finally had to finally defect to Russia to escape capture.   Blunt, a respected art historian, became confident to the Royal Family and eventually was knighted (he had effectively given up the spy game by this time) but he was outed by Margaret Thatcher in 1979 and stripped of his knighthood before he passed away.

Campion (3/89)
Peter Davison's new 30s detective series is due to run on Mystery this fall. What little I've seen is quite charming, particularly Davison's portrayal.

Canterbury Tales (5/99)
The BBC, in connection with Russian television, produced this elaborately animated two-part series loaded with celebrity voices, dramatizing Geoffrey Chaucer's classic stories. A framing device done in stop-motion gives way to traditionally animated segments of different styles as each individual tale is told. Two versions were produced: one in colloquial modern-day English, the other performed in the original Middle English. A great introduction to the material, particularly for those whose patience is tried by the original text.

Canterbury Tales (5/04)
Tony Marchant (Holding On) loosely adapts the Chaucer classic into modern times in this anthology BBC series.  In "A Knight's Tale" two best friends serving time together in prison are torn apart when both fall in love with the prison's teacher.

(2/06)
More modern adaptions of Chaucer's tales with "The Miller's Tale" with James Nesbitt (Cold Feet) as a devilish interloper to a village where the local publican (Dennis Waterman) keeps a tight rein on his sexy younger wife (Billie Piper).  Temptation is the name of the game, and Nesbitt is only too happy to supply it and then pull the rug out from everyone at the end.  This was Piper's first bit dramatic role prior to becoming a regular on Doctor Who as she transitioned from pop singer to proper actress.

The Canterville Ghost (3/98)
Hot on the heels of the Patrick Stewart version, Ian Richardson gets into the act as the spectral presence whose ancestral home is infested by that worst of all plagues: Americans. Richardson chews the scenery with fine aplomb, and Rik Mayall appears as a demented priest attempting an exorcist.

Captain Butler (7/97)
Craig Charles (simultaneously starring in both this and Red Dwarf VII which went out on the same weeks) is a pirate captain with a crew of the usual misfits in this alleged comedy. The late night timeslot on Channel 4 allows Charles to swear at will, but the whole thing is fairly pedestrian and very low budget. Robert Llewellyn (Kryten) guest stars as Nelson in one episode.

Captain Star (9/97)
Children's ITV animated series that is lightyears (literally) from the dreary Wyrd Sisters. Based on a comic strip, Captain Star (voice of Richard E. Grant) is a Captain Kirk-like space explorer who has been put out to pasture with his ship and crew on a nameless planet but hasn't quite realized it yet. With an animated style reminiscent of "Yellow Submarine," Star's three person crew include a multi-headed (nine in fact) engineer (Adrian Edmondson), and a restaurateur with a fish obsession. A fairly clever satire, as aliens, machines and sinister "friends" attempt to vex Star's quiet contemplations from his wheelbarrow - waiting for orders that will never arrive.

Carrie's War (11/04)
BBC TV movie based on the Nina Bawden novel about some London children who become war evacuees, sent to a small Welsh village at the start of WWII.  They end up in the strict household of a no-nonsense shopkeeper and his sister, and must abide by his arbitrary and severe rules (like not walking on the center of the stairs carpeting).  But they also meet his other sister, a kindly woman (played by Pauline Quirk) who lives out in the country and doesn't mind children who laugh and play.  It's a coming-of-age movie set at a time when the public was asked to make certain sacrifices for the good of the country in wartime (remember that?), and it's a good character piece.

Carrott Confidential (5/89)
Topical news humor featuring sketches including "A Day in the Life of A British Sumo Wrestler" and "Men's Toiletries." With Jasper Carrott, later of The Detectives.

Carrying Dad (11/95)
A short subject about an impromptu funeral procession. When the hearse that is suppose to take a late green grocer fails to start, his children (and a few strangers) decide to carry the casket through town to the cemetery. Along the way they attract a considerable procession and finally make a stand at the spot where he sold vegetables for decades.

Casanova (10/05)
Russell T. Davies' first production for the BBC (which led to Doctor Who) was this humorous dramatization of the notorious lover told from the point of view of Peter O'Toole as his older, wiser memoir-writing self.  Future Doctor Who (catching a theme here?) David Tennant plays his randy, younger self, conquering Europe but never quite the love of his life, a Venetian noblewoman married to a bore.  Done in a fast-paced, witty visual style (with O'Toole and Tennant mustering all the comedy they can), it's an entertaining costume drama.  My favorite line is when Casanova falls for a famous castrado and discovers to his delight in a "Victor/Victoria" moment that she's really a woman in disguise when he pulls her fake penis out of her pants and deadpans, "Hmm, mine doesn't do that."

The Catherine Tate Show (3/05)
Catherine is this year's Tracy Ullman, and she appears as different recurring characters in this BBC sketch comedy series.  Some running jokes include a very nervous housewife, a paranoid profane granny, an insolent schoolgirl (a character not far off from one played by Matt Lucas on Little Britain), and an existential detective.

Celeb (1/04)
Harry Enfield stars in this BBC comedy as an Ozzie Osbourne-like former big-name rock star, now living in his country manor, but still oh so nouveau riche.  Based on a comic appearing in "Private Eye" but frankly a one-joke idea.

Censored at the Seaside: The Saucy Postcards of Donald McGill (4/07)
Documentary about McGill's "naughty" artwork that was popular mid-century with holiday-goers.  Maybe it was a more innocent time, or political correctness hadn't caught up to them, but despite his prolific output (thousands over his lifetime), he hardly ever made any money from them.

Century Falls (3/93)
A children's drama with supernatural overtones, based on a novel. Though it won't set the world on fire with its plot (although fires, oddly enough, figure greatly in the plot), but it is imaginative and certainly light-years ahead of what is considered "suitable" for children in the USA.

Chalk (7/97)
BBC sitcom based at a grammar school run by completely psychotic Vice Headmaster Eric Slatt (David Bamber) who is part Basil Fawlty, part Gordon Brittas. Everyone else at the school, except for new teacher Suzy, are just as nuts including the ditzy music teacher who has imaginary students playing in an imaginary band, a PE coach into S&M, and the befuddled old headmaster with the unfortunate name of Richard Nixon. Slatt is a great comic monster, always allowing situations to deteriorate way past the point of salvage, and then completely overreacting.

The Chamber (1/96)
Comedy pilot about the goings-on in a city council. An ambitious Tory councillor sees his chance to advance when the city's autocratic mayor passes away suddenly. Trying to oppose him are some well-meaning Labour councillors (including a working mother) but they are out-numbered and out-matched, particularly by the Tory's well-connected wife.

Chambers (3/02)
BBC comedy set in a solicitor's office with John Bird (Bremner, Bird & Fortune) as a greedy, and frankly incompetent, barrister who keeps getting himself deeper and deeper into trouble.  His partners are James Fleet (The Vicar of Dibley) and Nina Wadia (Goodness Gracious Me) both playing variations of characters they've done before.  An example, I'm afraid, of the failed office comedy genre.

Chandler and Co (1/95)
Barbara Flynn (A Very Peculiar Practice) stars as one-half of a female private investigation duo. Both women are rank amateurs at the detective game, but with some luck (and aid from an electronics expert) they manage to solve most of their cases. Needless to say, the emphasis is on drama with nary a car chase or gun in sight. Not a bad little show.

(1/96)
The do-it-yourself female detective series begins its second season without my favorite actress, Barbara Flynn. Nevertheless, the demands of drama (and television executives) say the show must go on, and a new partner is served up to help out in cases with a distinctively feminine angle.

The Chase (4/08)
Women's drama about the prodigal daughter returning to her family's rural veterinary practice (the house is called The Chase) and reinserting herself into the soap opera life she originally ran away from to London. 

The Chauffer's Tale (9/96)
The ex-chauffer for Dame Barbara Cartland tells all in this clever short film.

Chef! (3/93)
Lenny Henry stars as a super-serious cook in a three-star French restaurant. He abuses, threatens, and fires people with reckless abandon, but deep down he just wants to be recognized as the greatest chef in creation. The English are obsessed by the French, heavens knows why. Currently there is running a very high profile series, A Year In Provence, featuring John Thaw (Inspector Morse) as an Englishman who moves to Southern France and his strange encounters with the locals. All I can figure is the British take vacationing VERY seriously, and think Americans are quite uncivilized only having two weeks of vacation per year.

(5/97)
Enters its third season on a down note as his long-suffering wife Janice decides she wants a divorce. Not funny stuff. Nor is the running joke of the owner's dim daughter having her named mispronounced by her own father (Ree-nee instead of Ruh-nay). This used to be a good show, now beaten into mediocrity by the demands of the BBC.

Chelmsford 123 (3/90)
A historical comedy in the Black Adder vein, this one set during the Roman occupation of Britain. It's pretty good, with familiar characters and funny situations. There were two seasons in total with Rory McGrath, Philip Pope and Jimmy Mulville.

The Chest (9/97)
Neil Morrissey (Men Behaving Badly) stars in this comedy movie as a family man horribly in debt who gets wind of buried treasure pursued by a nutter (Jim Carter). They eventually combine forces when a map lands in Morrissey's hands, but the over-the-top music clues us in to the farce unfolding.

Chewin' The Fat (1/02)
BBC sketch comedy series featuring a Scottish double act.  All these types of shows, whether it's featuring the teams of Morecambe & Wise, Hale & Pace, or Fry & Laurie, are pretty much interchangeable, the only question is, are they funny?  Here, the hit-or-miss ratio is pretty good but absolutely no new ground is being broken.

Chiller (9/95)
A creepy anthology series on ITV presents supernatural tales involving possession, ghosts, and other things that go bump in the night. Among the stories: "Prophecy" with Nigel Havers and Sophie Ward, where a seance leads to the systematic destruction of the participants and the key is a young boy who sees their deaths. In "Toby," Martin Clunes is a husband whose wife still believes she's pregnant with their miscarried baby -- and then gives birth.

Christmas (1/97)
Bleak TV movie set during the holiday about a young gangster who is forced to kill his mentor or else lose his brother. Who will he betray?

A Christmas Carol (3/01)
Ross Kemp (EastEnders) stars in this modern version of the Dickens' classic.  This time, Scrooge is loan shark working on a grim housing estate, followed around by his toady Crachit keeping track of all the debtors in his thrall.  What's interesting about this version is in-between the ghostly visits, Kemp is forced to relive Christmas Eve over and over (a la "Groundhog Day") until he gets it right.  The sentimental finish though (complete with snowfall) is never in doubt, so be prepared for maximum saccharine.

Christmas Unwrapped (1/02)
Tony Robinson presents a series of fact-filled Channel 4 shorts that spotlights each of the traditions of Christmas and how their origins for the most part have the most tenuous of connections to the actual birth of Jesus.  Most were borrowed from pagan times and "adapted" by the Christian church, or frequently have only a very brief history (Santa's red suit in fact derives from Coke ads in the 1930s!).

City Lights (7/08)
Robson Green stars in this ITV series that is an odd blend of serious drama (he and his best friend witness a brutal gangland slaying) and slapstick humor (these two bozos often act more like Laurel and Hardy than serious characters). After the murder, they and their two families (their wives are sisters) enter Witness Protection and move from Manchester to London with new names and try to fit in. But domestic problems keep rearing their heads and the gangster's goons get closer and closer to them.

Class (9/97)
A three part documentary on ITV looking at the three very different segments of British society: the working class, the middle class and the upper class. Interviews with mostly famous people shed light on their differences and the effect on the country as a whole. Fascinating stuff for we "classless" Americans.

Class Act (1/96)
Joanna Lumley (Absolutely Fabulous) plays Kate, an ex-con former socialite now advancing on middle-age trying to maintain her lifestyle (and house) in fashionable Chelsea. She shares her house with her senile father (Richard Vernon, "Slartibardfast" from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy) who is titled but penniless, a pretty young Australian housekeeper who also has criminal tendencies, and a dodgy journalist who lives out in her shed. This very dysfunctional un-family manage to find trouble, or it finds them, each week in this hour-long ITV comedy/drama series. Lumley gets the best lines, but is also the butt of most of the jokes about her somewhat sad character who dreams of being on top again. Ethically, she's not much more evolved than Patsy on AbFab, although deep down you suspect Kate might actually harbor nice feelings about the people around her.

A Class Apart (7/08)
Tony Grounds wrote this BBC TV movie about a woman who wants her multi-racial son to get a better education than at the local public school and gets the chance when the progressive headmaster of a posh private school offers him a scholarship. But is the boy too working class to fit in and is the headmaster merely trying to prove a point to a rival that he can education anybody? The relationship between the mother and the headmaster is less interesting than the educational drama but I suppose love sells.

Clinton: His Struggle With Dirt (3/99)
Armando Iannucci (The Friday Night Armistice) presents this humorous look at the Clinton presidency as seen from the year 2028. There, all the participants are older but not necessarily wiser, as they look back at the events that shaped 1998.

Clocking Off (3/01)
BBC drama series about workers at a textile factory, each week focusing on a different character.  One week it might be the foreman who is having trouble keeping his son out of trouble while trying to keep an affair quiet to his co-worker wife, the next it might be the owner (Philip Glenister) working to save the company when the building lease expires.

Close Up: Dennis Potter, Under The Skin (1/99)
BBC documentary about the famed TV writer who passed away a few years ago and his impact on the medium. Classics like Pennies From Heaven and The Singing Detective cemented Potter's reputation on British TV, but debilitating diseases and lack of normal socializing for years, although fodder for much of his material, also affected his ability to maintain perspective when given complete control over his projects. Nevertheless his main body of work stands the test of time, and even his "failures" are interesting and unique productions, unrivaled by anybody else.

A Close Shave (1/96)
Wallace and Gromit, the clay-animated stars of A Grand Day Out and The Wrong Trousers, are back in a new adventure. While tending their window washing business, inventor Wallace and faithful dog Gromit discover a conspiracy involving sheep rustling. Is the kindly owner of a wool shop whom Wallace fancies behind the mystery, or is it her sinister dog (who resembles -- I swear -- a Sontaran)? Like The Wrong Trousers, a chase is the highlight of the film, in fact at points the movie resembles an Indiana Jones film. And Wallace's gadgets are inventive Rube Goldberg-like devices, including a sequence parodying Thunderbirds. Director Nick Parks again creates a funny, clever short that all ages can get a big kick out of.

Cluedo (11/90)
It's the famous Parker Brothers game ("Clue" in the USA) evolved (some might say "devolved") into a game show. Real actors portray Col. Mustard, etc. and two sets of contestants must figure out each week whodunnit. In one episode this season, Paul Darrow was the celebrity victim.

Codex (4/08)
Tony Robinson (Time Team) hosts this Channel 4 quiz show shot in the British Museum (after hours, judging from the lighting) that sends contestants scurrying around the exhibits looking for clues and answering questions. 

Cold Enough For Snow (3/98)
Writer Jack Rosenthal's sequel to Eskimo Day with the same cast reuniting as the two families cope with a Romeo and Juliet situation. The father (The Full Monty's Tom Wilkinson) only wants what's best for his daughter, which he knows is not uptight Maureen Lipman's son. An ironic ending caps the story which is nicely acted.

Cold Feet (5/99)
Six part series following on from a pilot movie last year on ITV about three different couples, each in a different stage of relationships (one just shacking up, the other just having a baby, the third after years of marriage). What really sets this comedy/drama series apart is the brilliant editing which is razor-sharp and keeps crosscutting forward, back, and sometimes to fantasy sequences to keep the story racing ahead. Excellent writing and performances (including the gorgeous Helen Baxendale (An Unsuitable Job For a Woman) produce many true-life moments, but also scenes of extreme hilarity. Definitely not your father's adult drama, but a great, entertaining, sharp series. NBC is doing an American adaptation of this to premiere in Fall 1999. Read more about Cold Feet here.

Cold Lazarus (11/96)
For the final work of his life, Dennis Potter pulls out all the stops and makes a full-fledged science fiction drama in this immediate sequel to Karaoke. It is now 350 years in the future and a host of interests vie for the memories contained in Daniel Feeld's head which was cryogenically frozen upon his death. His memories are disturbing but potentially commercially lucrative to the citizens of the future, who live in bland world, marred only by outbreaks of terrorism by the "RONs" who espouse, "Reality Or Nothing." Crass American commercialization is well satirized, embodied by Diane Ladd as a manipulating trillionaire crone who wants to sell Feeld's memories to the jaded public. The focus is on the scientists who experiment on Feeld's head unaware he has achieved consciousness and knows what is going on around him. Like Karaoke, many parts of Potter's life (and death) make up elements of Cold Lazarus, and give a fascinating glimpse into how he must have viewed posterity. A slick production, Channel 4 spared no expense in creating a futuristic world, with digital effects o'plenty.

Comedy Connections (3/04)
This compilation series narrated by Julia Sawalha (Jonathan Creek) graphically illustrates how various famous British comedies (including Only Fools and Horses, Men Behaving Badly and Are You Being Served?) each draw on the background of their writers and performers in prior shows and what happened afterwards.  We are treated to clips of many short-lived pre-1970s comedies that have never been rerun showcasing early appearances by actors, and the visual design of the series make for a very informative documentary look at many comedy mainstays.

Comedy Lab (5/99)
Channel 4 anthology series trying out different comedy styles each week. One is a parody of the so-called "docu-soap" trend, this one being set at a motorway service stop. Another focuses on street magicians performing their tricks, another on bizarre stunts performed in front of the unsuspecting public. A good forum for "alternative" comedy styles, which is what Channel 4 is really all about.

The Comedy Map of Britain (4/08)
Flying over a huge computer-generated map, we make stops in various towns and cities and see clips from famous productions and celebrities that originated there. Essentially a clip show, though interviews with people like Bill Bailey who discusses his show-biz origins and influences, is entertaining.

Comic Asides (11/89)
The BBC's "Pilot Playhouse" where they try out new comedies. KYTV, a parody of a certain satellite news channel, with Angus Deaton. Dowie, about a recently deceased performer. The Stone Age with Trevor Eve as a burned out rock star. And I, Lovett featuring Norman Lovett, the original "Holly" on Red Dwarf as a bizarre inventor. Only two of these shows went to series.

(4/94) This season is another mixed bag including: The High Life (see separate listing), a comedy about Scottish flight attendants starring Alan Cummings from "Bernard and the Genie." The Last Word, about a muckraking reporter for a London newspaper who is sent to the Obituary department and becomes a huge success writing scandalous things about the recently departed (who can't sue under British libel laws). Woodcock is a historical costume sitcom about a naive boy who joins an 18th century sailing ship. A bit too much like a Carry On film for my tastes. The Honeymoon's Over about a working class couple living in a council flat and their love/hate relationship. Their cement tower block building reminded me of one down my street when I lived in London.

Comic Relief (5/89)
This is the BBC version, not what HBO runs. I have nearly six hours of material. Here is a brief list of clips. Many feature Rowan Atkinson. The Last Waltz; "Mastermember" with Atkinson; Alas Smith & Jones, Ken Dodd, Ronny Corbett; Dave Allen, Loadsamoney; a scene from the stage version of 'Allo 'Allo; "Help" with French and Saunders; short film: "Night of the Comic Dead"; Atkinson as a surgeon in a sketch with John Gordon-Sinclear; Paul Daniels; Don Henderson as a P.C.; an ad for Satanism; TARDIS sketch with C.P. Grogan; Holiday '89 Alaska Tou with Nigel Planer; "Night Thoughts" with Martin Jarvis; "Nose At Ten"; Barry Awars for best comedy movie; Atkinson interviews politicians; Michael Grade doing new parody; much more...

(8/91)
In 1991, seven more hours of sketches and appearances including: a special Mr Bean segment; Birds of a Feather with French and Saunders; and a repeat of Blackadder: The Cavalier Years.

Comic Relief `97 (7/97)
Six hours of fund raising on Red Nose Day included many celebrity performers and specially made sketches. Stand-outs include: Anne Robinson sending herself up in Points of View; Ulrika Jonsson with a special edition of Gladiators; the cast of Coronation Street as contestants on University Challenge; "Ballykissdibley" wherein Father Clifford meets up with Reverend Geraldine (Dawn French); a brilliant "Forrest Gump"-like recreation of "The Graduate" featuring Dustin Hoffman and Mrs. Robinson - Anne Robinson!; Men Behaving Badly with the boys meeting Kylie Minogue but not realizing it; "Prime Cracker," an elaborate parody featuring Helen Mirren's character meeting Robbie Coltrane's along with an appearance by Pete Postlewaite and a brilliant musical number; Rowan Atkinson as an Indian waiter; and "The Sugar Lumps": Dawn French, Jennifer Saunders and Kathy Burke sending up the Spice Girls (who of course turn up in person).

Comic Relief 1999 (11/99)
The biennial all-star charity fundraiser on the BBC produced another evening of great comedy entertainment with specially-made sketches and programs. The highlight this year was a four-part elaborate 20 minute parody of Doctor Who starring Rowan Atkinson that was hailed by fans as the best Doctor Who in the past ten years (and, aside from the 1996 TV movie, the ONLY Doctor Who in the past ten years). Alongside Atkinson as the Doctor, were Julia Sawalha (Absolutely Fabulous) as his assistant, Jonathan Pryce as the Master, and cameos by Richard E. Grant, Jim Broadbent, Hugh Grant, and Joanna Lumley. It was the highest rated segment of Comic Relief and has subsequently been released on home video in the UK to raise additional money for the charity. Other highlights included a special Vicar of Dibley where Dawn French got to meet Johnny Depp (who was shooting Sleepy Hollow in the UK at the time); Lenny Henry going on Blind Date with Cilla Black and having to choose between Twiggy, Helena Bonham-Carter, and Elle McPherson; Victoria Wood and the Dinnerladies cast doing a spoof, Wetty Hainthropp Investigates; the cast of Men Behaving Badly in a "lost pilot from the 1960s" showing how their series might have looked back then; live sketches from The Fast Show cast; a combination of every BBC celebrity quiz show, Have I Got Buzzcocks All Over; Alan Partridge (Steve Coogan) hosting from Norwich Radio; and even Chris Evans over at Channel 4 got into the act with a special edition of T.F.I.Comic Relief.

Comic Relief 2001 (1/02)
The biennial fundraiser for Comic Relief on the BBC brings out the usual stars and featured among other things this year: a version of Big Brother that actually locked up a number of celebrities (including Jack Dee) in a house for seven days and let the public vote members out; an EastEnders spoof with Mel Smith as a fictional producer trying to manage the "Who Shot Phil" storyline while fending off Harry Enfield who wants to be on the show; special filmed episodes of My Hero,  Kiss Me Kate, Gimme Gimme Gimme and One Foot In the Grave (that is particularly impressive when you consider Victor Meldrew was killed off in the last series); a Popstars parody with Rowan Atkinson, Simon Pegg, and Lenny Henry; Robbie Williams meet The Fast Show characters Ralph & Ted; Billy Connolly strips; Ali G interviews Posh & Becks;  Baddiel & Skinner bomb on the BBC, but Graham Norton does a nice version of his show with a faux Elton John (Matt Lucas) but then interviews the real Fergie.

Comic Relief 2003 (3/04)
The biennial fundraiser on Red Nose Day fills an entire night on BBC-1 with the usual celebrity hijinx including: Jack Dee spending the evening atop a pole outside Television Centre, an elaborate "Harry Potter" parody starring Dawn French & Jennifer Saunders (with Jeremy Irons as Snape!), the cast of EastEnders in a decidedly more upbeat version, a celebrity edition of Fame Academy with non-singers training to survive daily audience elimination, Rowan Atkinson and Lenny Henry parody the Martin Bashir/Michael Jackson interviews, the cast of Auf Wiedersehen Pet in a short adventure set in Miami, Ricky Gervais (The Office) makes a video diary and manages to offend just about everyone, Rob Brydon doing a live version of Marion & Geoff, Ali G at the UN interviewing Boutros Boutros-Ghali, Tom Conti's daughter Nina doing an R-rated ventriloquist with a monkey, and Richard E. Grant helping out the cast of Smack The Pony.

Comic Relief 2007 (7/08)
This Red Nose Day telethon features Mr Bean at a wedding, Lauren Cooper (Catherine Tate) antagonizes her new English teacher (David Tennant), Little Britain meets Dennis Waterman, Catherine Tate as a woman who doesn't realize her boyfriend is Daniel Craig, Sting visits the Vicar of Dibley, Peter Kay and Andy from Little Britain sing "500 Miles," Lauren meets Tony Blair (a true highlight, Blair unexpectedly turns the tables on her and got a huge response afterwards), plus appearances by Kate Moss, Borat, Lenny Henry, Mitchell & Webb, Christa Berg, and Jimmy Carr among many, many others.

Comics (7/93)
Lynda LaPlante's (Prime Suspect, Widows) latest thriller is about a burned-out American comic coming to London and getting embroiled in a murder. Thankfully, the producers cast a real American (although his agent's accent is suspiciously mid-atlantic) though the show is stolen by the young black man who at first was charged with the murder, then exonerated by the comic, only to prove to have been connected with it after all. Some nice moments, although the comic's self-destructive behavior wears after awhile.

Comic Strip Presents... (7/89)
Read my feature article about the series. During the 1980s, MTV ran early seasons of this show incessantly in conjunction with The Young Ones. Later episodes never showed up in the US. These include: Strike: Alexei Sayle plays a Welsh miner who has just finished a screenplay about the 1984 miners strike, which is bought by an American producer. They of course ask, "for a few rewrites," then cast Al Pacino and Meryl Streep in the leads. Pacino likes the script but he feels that the character he plays (Arthur Scargill) "is a loser." Sayle tries to explain that's the whole point of the film, the strike failed, crushed by the Thatcher government. But Sayle gives in, slowly at first, and the finished product is a glorious example of the excesses of American "upbeat" filmmaking. Now the Pacino character rescues his daughter who is trapped in a mine cave-in, rides to Parliament on a motorcyle, and makes a heart-rendering speech which doesn't leave a dry eye in the house. It's so outrageously phony, yet we've all seen films like this: the little guy always winning in the end. Whether it's "Rocky", "The Karate Kid" or "Listen to Me," we know how artificial and manipulative these endings are, yet we support them. When's the last time you went to an American film that had a downbeat ending or was about a depressing subject? Strike was perfect satire, showing Hollywood runs roughshod over any historical accuracies in the name of "entertainment."

(5/90) More parodies this season including South Atlantic Raiders, a two-part epic about the Falkland War; Oxford, with Dawn French as an American student who will do anything to get into the college; and GLC, another film parody about the end of the Greater London Council.

(5/93)
More great 30-minute comedies from the mind of Peter Richardson and Keith Allen starring the usual suspects: Sayle, Mayall, Edmondson, French, Saunders, Ryan, Planer and Coltrane. Brilliant British parodies done with a style and even a decent budget at times. Detectives on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown saw the return of "Bonehead and Foyle" from the 80s masterpiece, The Bullshitters. Here, they are brought back to investigate a 70s-style murder that the new 90s-kind-of-cop can't handle. Spot-on parodies of The Professionals, Department S, and The Sweeney. Best bit: the Bullshitters get to Canary Wharf only to discover it is now a teeming (well, sort of) office development. "There're no puddles!" they exclaim, as they stand around in their underpants and leather jackets, "How are we supposed to chase someone if we can't run through puddles in deserted docklands?" Space Virgins From Planet Sex was more a James Bond parody than a sci-fi one. Secret Agent James Blonde is sent in to investigate when buxom women from another planet begin kidnapping men in order so they can continue their race. Yet another British hero is forced to come to terms with Political Correctness. The Red Nose of Courage ran the night of the 1992 General Election, and has young John Major run away from the circus in order to become an accountant. Eventually he finds himself Prime Minister but must moonlight as a clown and carry on the family trade when his brother dies in a freak accident. Complications ensue when Glenys Kinnock (Neil Kinnock's wife - and a subtle Hillary Clinton-like suggestion that she is the real power behind her man) falls in love with the clown not realising he is her bitter rival in the House of Commons. Oddly enough, it works, and is almost sympathetic to its leads except at the very end when it suddenly gets anti-Euro. Queen of the Wild Frontier featured Josie Lawrence and Julie T. Wallace (The Lives and Loves of a She-Devil) in parts that were clearly written originally for French and Saunders. In any event, they are contemporary lonely frontier women whose lives are changed when two escaped convicts show up at their farm. Will love conquer all? Gregory, Portrait of a Nutcase is a clever parody of both "Silence of the Lambs" and the kind of personalities which feed on movies like it. Some great piss-takes of the movie, as well as Adrian Edmondson trying woefully to recreate events from the movie in his own flat (the torture dungeon doesn't quite work when you're on the second floor). Demonella, directed and co-written by Paul Bartel, is the tale of the Devil (Jennifer Saunders) who wants the chicken soup recipe from the mother of a down-and-out music publisher (Robbie Coltrane). Totally demented but very amusing. Perhaps a little American infusion isn't such a bad thing.

(9/98)
Four Men In A Car is the first Comic Strip since 1993, and reunites Rik Mayall, Dawn French, Jennifer Saunders, and Adrian Edmundson with Peter Richardson in a tale about four salesmen trying to reach Swindon in a car trip to hell. Things in fact go surrealistically wrong for them and you begin to wonder if they've somehow slipped into The Twilight Zone. As usual, instead of spoofing a particular genre, Comic Strip provides an interesting look (or distortion, if you like) at British life and institutions.

(1/01)
"Four Men In A Plane" is a semi-sequel to "Four Men In a Car," giving regulars Peter Richardson, Rik Mayall, Adrian Edmondson and Nigel Planer another chance to completely send up middle class corporate types. The four, in various stages of their careers, are in Africa for a training conference and decide to charter a small plane to avoid a long bus ride across the desert. It all ends in disaster of course with them stranded in the middle of nowhere and no sense of survival skills. You may not be able to wait for them to all die horribly, but the inventive comic talent of Mayall, Edmondson, et al, keeps you watching.

(4/07)
"Sex, Actually." It's good to get a new installment of the Comic Strip now and again, and in this outing a middle-class couple from the city move to a small village and take over a house whose residents recently died under suspicious circumstances.  The neighbors are all uniformly weird and there are plot twists aplenty. With Rebecca Front, Rik Mayall, Doon MacKichan, Phil Cornwall, and Nigel Planer.

Coming Home (9/98)
Two-part ITV drama based on Rosamunde Pilcher's book about the lives of two girls from their meeting at boarding school in 1936, through the war years. It could also be facetiously been titled, "Gosh, It's Swell Being Rich." No working class people are witnessed during the entire production. Instead, due to a timely death by one girl's rich aunt (Penelope Keith), she is set for life, and can keep up with the upper class lifestyle by her best friend whose parents are played by Joanna Lumley and Peter O'Toole. But first she has to fend off the unwanted attention of slimy David McCallum as a dirty old man. Then the war hits and everyone's chances for happiness are up in the air, with lovers separated and missed opportunities. Nicely mounted and acted, though a bit prone to soap-ish moments.

Coming Soon (1/00)
Ben Miller (Armstrong and Miller) stars in this Channel 4 series that is a hilarious send-up of arty "fringe" acting groups, in this case a company which gets a commission to tour Scotland and develop an abstract show. But things go awry when a big name jazz singer is recruited into the company (in order to satisfy Scottish content rules) and then begins to attract huge - and unaccustomed - audiences to shows that are essentially about nothing. The petty rivalries and politics behind the scenes are gloriously displayed, and I'm certain based on real incidents.

Common As Muck (1/95)
Edward Woodward stars in this BBC working-class drama series about bin men (the British term for garbage collectors). More than a few striking similarities to ITV's Moving Story, although Muck flirts much more with being a soap opera by concentrating on the extra-curricular activities of the men (and their women). Expertly acted and written as you might expect, with genuinely involving characters and plots. A second season ran in 1997.

The Complete Guide To Parenting (4/08)
Peter Davison is a middle class father and university child psychologist who clearly has much to learn about raising his own son.  Davison gets to do that slow burn he is so good at (I think he's turning into Victor Meldrew), dealing with a world that won't go quite his way.

Coogan's Run (3/96)
Anthology series written and starring Steve Coogan, first seen in Paul Calf's Video Diary. Here, each episode has him as a different character all inhabiting the same, strange universe. One week it's an obnoxious salesman, the next a village fix-it man. Most of his characters are clueless losers, but each impersonation is unique, with funny situations.

Coup! (4/08)
Dramatization by John Fortune about a British-financed (allegedly by Mark Thatcher--Margaret's son) African coup that was thwarted before it could begin.  Based on a true story, and done in a slightly tongue-in-cheek style, the clueless Brits (driven by greed, natch) get swept up in events (and with dodgy mercenaries) quicker than they can imagine.

Coupling (3/02)
Hilarious BBC comedy by Steven Moffat (Chalk) starring Jack Davenport (Ultraviolet) as he winds his way through the perils of relationships.  The series begins with him ending a long-term relationship with his self-absorbed girlfriend and hooking up with sensible Susan who is a co-worker of his best mate.  Most of the scenes are Jack and his two buddies or Susan and her two best friends reconstructing some incident and revealing how the two genders see things differently.  Moffat has a ear for believable comic observations about how same-gender relationships work and interact.  It's also brilliantly funny and Davenport has a great flair for comedy.

Cows (7/97)
Live-action comedy written by Eddie Izzard about a family of cows. Actors are made up in elaborate cow costumes and interact with humans as if nothing is unusual. Not particularly funny, but just the novelty value alone makes it worth watching.

Crapston Villas (3/96)
This latenight Channel 4 offering is a clay-animated series that pushes the boundaries of good taste (the opening episode features a cat eating its own vomit). This "soap opera" concerns the residents of a clapped-out building, all of whom are sad, disgusting individuals. It's funny in a way that Ren and Stimpy was, but definitely not for all tastes.

The Creatives (3/99)
Scottish sitcom starring and co-written by Jack Docherty set in a third-rate Edinburgh advertising agency. Each week the team has to mount a no-hope ad while overcoming their considerable personal difficulties. There’s some good potential here, and each week the show ends with the hilarious ad they’ve managed to produce.

Crime Traveller (5/97)
From the maker of Bugs, with all the same flaws and fortunes, this BBC fantasy series stars yet another fugitive from EastEnders (Michael French), and Chloe Annett from Red Dwarf. Chloe's father, it seems, invented a time machine in a spare room in their house, except it only takes you back a few hours and has so many arbitrary rules about using it that it hardly seems worth the bother. One of them is you have to return to the room before the moment you left (huh?) or else you are caught in an "infinity loop," whatever that is, a fate which has already befallen the father before the series begins. French plays a copper who uses the technology to solve cases without really understanding what is going on. Chloe has the virtue of being 100% less annoying than she was as Kochanski on this season's Red Dwarf but neither she nor French are playing anything that would resemble real people. You know nothing about them or even what motivates them. This same problem haunted Bugs, our heroes seemingly being Good Guys because that was their job description. Even more annoying is this series, though nicely mounted, drew 15 million viewers on Saturday night on BBC-1 in a time slot (and with a budget) that could have been better spent on a new series of Doctor Who instead. It doesn't take a genius to now realize the Doctor has no future on the Beeb, who would prefer empty-headed, though glossy, adventure series over anything with any real texture or history.

Criminal (11/94)
Depressing true-based BBC TV Movie about a slow, socially challenged young man who gets into trouble and eventually hanged himself before his eighteenth birthday while in jail. I think the whole thing is an indictment of the Tory policy that put all the mental patients out in the street during the 1980s.

Critical Condition (1/99)
Channel 4 series of documentary films looking at different types of critics. Each episode focuses on a separate genre, from opera critics to the effect that opening night reviews can have on a new play. The cinema verite style, and interviews with critics as they work, help illuminate this rarely seen field.

Crocodile Shoes (5/95)
Jimmie Nail co-produced and stars in this rags-to-riches tale of a singer from Newcastle who gets involved with an unscrupulous record producer in London. Sub-plots abound in this 6-part drama series whose main point seems to be the newsflash that the entertainment industry is a dirty business.

Crocodile Shoes II (3/97)
Jimmy Nail (Evita) writes and stars in this sequel, this time having his alter ego, Jed Shepperd, run afoul of the law and fall from grace when his embezzling manager is found murdered. But Jed is a true "man of the earth" and goes from being a music superstar to working in a factory again and doesn't seem to mind much. Meanwhile the bodies continue to pile up and a sinister cabal tries to prevent him from learning the truth.

Crossing The Floor (3/97)
This TV movie sequel to A Very Open Prison keeps the focus on the conniving Cabinet Minister (Tom Wilkinson of The Full Monty) who will do anything to survive - even jump ship to the Labour party. Not quite as sharp as Prison, but as a run-up to this year's General Election, a fun poke at campaigns and politicians.

The Crouches (3/04)
A multi-generational working class black family living in a semi-detached home is the focus of this BBC comedy that has its share of laughs.  Some big names do supporting parts for the workplace scenes including Danny John-Jules (Red Dwarf) and Don Warrington (Manchild).

The Crow Road (3/97)
Based on Ian Banks' novel, this Scottish 4-part drama on BBC-2 concerns a young man who investigates the mysterious disappearance of his eccentric uncle years earlier. Along the way he opens many skeletons-in-the-closet and learns a lot about his family he probably would have preferred not to know. In a surreal touch, the missing Uncle (Peter Capaldi, he was the Angel Islington in Neverwhere) appears and talks to him from time to time, egging him on to solve the mystery. There are flashbacks within flashbacks as the tale is related, requiring close attention but rewarding viewers with an excellent tale.

Cruise of the Gods (1/04)
Rob Brydon (Marion & Geoff) and Steve Coogan (I'm Alan Partridge) co-star as the former actors of an early 1980s youth sci-fi series called "Children of Castor" who are reunited 20 years later on a celebrity cruise in this BBC TV movie.  Brydon's character, the original star, is now a hotel porter and only goes on the cruise to mingle with the rabid fans of his old series because he needs the money and attention.  He accidentally runs into Coogan who is now the rich and successful star of an American action series ("Sherlock Holmes In Miami," if you can believe it) and though he doesn't have to, eagerly drops in on the convention to relieve old memories.  Needless to say, much fun is made at the expense of sad fans (particularly Little Britain's Mark Walliams as the organizer with the nickname "Lurky") but the actors don't come off much better, feeding as they do off the dreams and desires of their admirers.  Life on a cruise ship is also expertly observed, particularly the staff's obsession with folding items in your room into odd shapes.

Cutting It (3/03)
Manchester-based BBC drama about a successful hair salon run by happily married Alison along with her sisters, whose lives are all about to be turned upsidedown when Alison's old college flame Finn turns up with a perky fourth wife (Amanda Holden) and opens a rival salon right across the street.  These upstarts are utterly ruthless with Finn determined to win back Alison, and his wife to destroy her business.  But first everyone gets to shag everyone else, while secrets and lies involving mothers and daughters are revealed in this compelling soap-like series that features clever dream sequences at the beginning of each episode that show each character's insecurities.

Cuts (7/97)
Peter Davison stars as a no-name novelist who is tapped by mad television executives at Eldorado TV (named after a famously failed BBC soap) who want him to write a historical costume epic that will get their license renewed. Unfortunately Davison's style of writing doesn't lend itself at first to the demands of television, but that quickly changes and soon he is rewriting as fast as they can make suggestions - no matter how daft. A cute behind-the-scenes parody of TV showing, sadly, the British can be just as clueless as Americans when it comes to producing quality television.