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posted 22-01-2010 13:26
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Did anyone catch this spin-off from Down The Line last night? (Thurs. BBC2 10.00) I can't say it was uproariously funny - it being a pisstake of those shows where a celeb travels up and down the country in a silly vehicle talking to the people who make up the common clay of the land - but it did have moments of amusement and had a frickin' good cast of performers, the best of them being Felix Dexter (a superbly loud-mouthed, powerfully philistine street bloke) and Simon Day's shouty ex-con who takes the hapless host to the bank of the Thames very much like that one where Viggo Mortenson and Vincent Kassel dump the bodies in Eastern Promises.
Some lovely performances in there to commend it, and - probably extremely deliberately - the original radio show on which it was based started its repeat run immediately after it on BBC7 at 10.30.
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posted 22-01-2010 13:31
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Bollocks, missed it. Any repeat you know of?
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posted 22-01-2010 13:54
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I'm a massive fan of Down the Line but found this a little underwelming, a few laugh out loud moments but I thought they didn't stick with each character for long enough, there was too much jumping around.
Some fantastically nuanced characterisations though, loved everything of Simon Day's especially the subtly underplayed husband of the "Bellamy's Babes" woman.
I think it'll get better and better as it hits it's stride.
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Last Edit: 22-01-2010 14:07 By Ignatz..
Reason: Adding nothing of substance to the overall debate. Nothing to see here.
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Mumpo
This boy's a mess, he's a menace, he's a pest
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posted 22-01-2010 19:51
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Hm, never heard of Down the Line. The first thing that sprang to mind watching the introduction to this was This Is David Lander/Harper - and Little Britain, of course. Agreed that Simon Day was best value overall, but the most warmly drawn single character was Charlie Higson's old man. Biggest laugh came when he doddered into a room full of books only to exclaim "Ah... I've brought you into the wrong room" (sometimes it's the little moments, eh), and his little monologue at the end about changing with the times was exceptionally touching. Oh, and for some reason I was in stitches when the caption 'Martin Hole' flashed up under Paul Whitehouse's otherwise dire 70's chauvanist; I think that's the first time I've ever laughed at a comedy name.
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Mumpo
This boy's a mess, he's a menace, he's a pest
Posts: 5308
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posted 22-01-2010 19:52
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Hang on... Down the Line is the name of Bellamy's show, isn't it.
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Mumpo
This boy's a mess, he's a menace, he's a pest
Posts: 5308
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posted 22-01-2010 19:54
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It does sound like I'm talking about Charlie Higson's penis there.
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Last Edit: 22-01-2010 20:06 By Mumpo.
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posted 22-01-2010 20:03
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Simon Day's always been the best of that team, I think.
This was kind of less than the sum of its parts, for some reason. For example, the idea of a skit on the Mitford gels, with the commie one and the Nazi one, and the private language--it's a brilliant idea. And it was quite funny. But, hmmm, I dunno.
Could be a slow burner, I'm willing to think.
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posted 22-01-2010 22:25
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You'd love Down The Line, Mumpo. One edition devoted almost a full 30 minutes of primetime radio 4 to a discussion of the finer details of Logopolis.
Really.
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posted 24-01-2010 12:36
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Bollocks, missed it. Any repeat you know of?
I take it you don't have the Beeb's IPlayer on your telly? I can't give you the answer to that, Harry, suffice to say that the Beeb have a tendency to shove a repeat of a show somewhere late at night a few days after it's newly shown - it happened with Miranda and it's the law with HIGNFY, so your best bet is to scour the schedules constantly.
In my humble opinion, I think Bellamy's People - whilst watchable - falls down in its semi-improvised preparation. The Thick Of It also did this, but there's an overwhelming sense that, finally, the foundations of the written word and the strength of plot and character structure were completely essential to that show, whereas Bellamy's People seems to be a case of 'let's think of some characters, make them a bit detailed and funny enough to have a chuckle at', which works only up to a point before the laughs run out and all you're left with is admiration of a group of more-than-able performers trying their best with not too much.
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posted 24-01-2010 14:40
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It's a bit like 'People Like Us' in a way, except not as amusing. Some reasonably funny things but nothing made me laugh out loud.
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posted 24-01-2010 15:55
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I think it's going to be a "grower". The main laugh-out loud bits were the ones where they got as close to the knuckle as maybe they could dare to on a first show, like the guy showing Bellamy the "beach" on the south bank of the Thames where he used to 'holiday' as a boy (and upon the comment "it's not exactly Brighton, is it?" answering "No bloody queers, either"), or the two senile old dowager sisters, one a staunch communist and the other an outright Nazi ("I think Britain needs a dictator").
I don't think they dared put too much more of that in show 1, but I expect there's more on the way.
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Mumpo
This boy's a mess, he's a menace, he's a pest
Posts: 5308
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posted 11-03-2010 21:39
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<bump>
Last one on tonight. Anyone been keeping up? It might have had a shaky first couple of episodes but it's just got better and better since then, with some absolutely sublime moments. Paul Whitehouse and Charlie Higson have been as reliably impressive as ever, but Simon Day has been absolutely immense.
The whole series is still on the BBC iPlayer.
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posted 11-03-2010 21:54
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It's been up and down for me. And especially disappointingly for me, it's been Whitehouse's characters that haven't worked. I am such a fan of Rowley Birkin QC that this has really upset me.
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posted 11-03-2010 22:52
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I saw this for the first time tonight. It was, as others say, a bit hit and miss, although I thought the acting was really good.
Not too many laughs, and a few of the characters were just bemusing rather than amusing.
Dunno if I will bother with the previous episodes.
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posted 12-03-2010 08:45
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I must admit, my interest fell to the point I just didn't bother watching anymore. There's something irritatingly loose and uncontrolled about the whole thing that negates interest in what's been some terrific comic playing, like a conveyor belt of excellent turns used to confusing and indifferent effect. It would possibly have been better if they'd cut down on the huge number of charcters and concentrated on a choice few to take up a half-hour's running time. Simon Day's gangster creation would really have benefitted from a whole show - I listened to that particular character take up a complete edition of Down The Line and Day was brilliant, managing to be funny and utterly fucking scary at the same time. A tour-de-force.
A pity about Bellamy's People. A curate's egg, as they say.
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posted 12-03-2010 09:36
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Just watched the last episode (episode 8 rather weirdly, did they make the usual 6 part series and then have enough left over for another couple of shows?) and really enjoyed it, I think the series improved immensely as it went on.
Simon Day, Felix Dexter and Charlie Higson were the highlights for me along with Robert Popper's "Baal" who really should've featured more.
Also watched the "Red Button" extras and there's some brilliantly funny interaction between Bellamy and his film crew, who all hate him and constantly moan that "Clunes would've nailed it".
Overall I really enjoyed it and would like to see a second series, with certain characters given more airtime.
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