The success of The Fast Show has always relied on the number of sketches devoted to your favourite characters. While this, the last ever series, suffers a little for the loss of Caroline Aherne (presumably busy with The Royle Family?), and from the fact that those sketches based on a single catch-phrase or joke--Jessie's Diets, "Which was nice", and even the cough-prone Bob Fleming--seem to be running out of steam, the show's more rounded creations are all back and still going strong. Swiss Tony has emerged from therapy a new man, Colin Hunt gets the sack from his beloved office job and Ralph struggles on with his unrequited love for handyman Ted. There are new characters: a ragged, Charlton Heston-like astronaut who runs into different situations screaming, "What year is this? Who is the President?!", and a cynical, middle-aged woman who meets every note of human kindness she encounters with a sarcastic "Hah!", are particular standouts. However, as always, the series works best when the regular characters collide with contemporary phenomena, so here we have Indecisive Dave being phoned by a friend who's appearing on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?; the "Suits You!" tailors harassing an incognito Johnny Depp; the cheeky criminal stealing a child's Pokémon cards; John Actor playing hard-nosed interior designer Laurence Lewellyn Monkfish in Changing Monkfish; the send-up of recent gangster Brit flicks A Right Royal Barrel of Cockney Monkeys (populated entirely by pseudo-cockney public schoolboys); and a sketch in which Channel 9's gardening presenter is assisted by a topless woman. Nice Dimmocks! --Paul Philpott
When white slavers kidnap a young woman's sister only Grandpa knows what to do. He puts in a call to a fictional hero Jake Speed. She is amazed to find that he actually exists and that in flesh and blood he is much less formidable than his reputation.
World Heavyweight Championship Elimination Chamber Match: Undertaker vs. CM Punk vs. John Morrison vs. Rey Mysterio vs. R-Truth vs. Chris Jericho Intercontinental Championship: Drew McIntyre vs. Kane WWE Championship Elimination Chamber Match: Sheamus vs. John Cena vs. Triple H vs. Randy Orton vs. Ted DiBiase vs. Kofi Kingston Divas Championship Match: Gail Kim vs. Maryse
This collection of four incredible programmes brings an entirely new dimension to history documentaries, taking the viewer from the farthest reaches of deep space to the very bottom of the ocean, all in crystal clear high-definition 3D. See history come alive before your eyes in ways that until now have been impossible, using the latest groundbreaking and impressive 3D technology. Titles Comprise: Universe 3D: Seven Wonders of the Solar System Titanic: 100 Years in 3D WWII in 3D The History of the World in Two Hours
51 chronicles what happens after political pressure from the American public forces the Air Force to provide a few well-known reporters with limited access to the most secretive base on the planet: Area 51. When one of the base's hidden 'long term visitors' exploits this unprecedented visit as a chance to liberate himself and his fellow alien captives Area 51 turns from a secure government base to a horrifying destination of terror.
Recorded live at London's Hammersmith Apollo in 1998, The Fast Show Live features all of the original cast of the highly successful sketch series (Caroline Aherne excepted) including Paul Whitehouse, Simon Day, Charlie Higson and Arabella Weir and practically all of their myriad characters and catchphrases. This live show effectively marks a last hurrah for The Fast Show team, with routines like the Coughing Bob Fleming singalong reworked from the series. However, as a feat of inventive stage management and quick costume changing, they do manage to maintain the Fastness of the TV series live. It was the catchphrases which earned the series its immense popularity and they raise large, predictable cheers of recognition when wheeled out at the Apollo, from Unlucky Alf's opening "Oh, bugger!" to the "Suits you, sir!" of the intrusively camp boys in the menswear department. The show's reliance on these might have been annoying if it weren't for the fact that they were built on such esoteric, peripheral and complex sketch and character material. Who but the Fast Show team would have thought of taking the mickey out of bad European TV, even inventing their own mock-Esperanto to do so? Or similarly, lampooned all those old 1930s music hall comedians whose risque jokes are incomprehensible to modern audiences? These, mixed in with modern archetypes like Ron Manager or the endlessly poignant Ted and Ralph made The Fast Show at once comfortingly familiar yet endlessly surprising viewing. They were influential also: Colin Hunt is surely a crude prototype for The Office's David Brent. On the DVD The Fast Show Live has no special features on this edition, disappointingly. --David Stubbs
Roger Dollison his wife Kendra and their two children Teddy and Sandy are living the American dream. But their idyllic existence is irreparably changed when a classmate of Teddys is the apparent victim of sexual abuse at the respected neighbourhood daycare centre. But their devastation is complete when Teddy tells his own story - one he promised his abusers that he never would tell.
Further action-fuelled adventures with those cool crimefighters Lord Brett Sinclair (Moore) and Danny Wilde (Curtis). Epsisodes include: The Man In The Middle: A double agent is discovered working in British Intelligence... Element of Risk: A known criminal arrives in London and gets mixed up with Danny... A Home of One's Own: Danny buys himself a cottage and gets involved with the illegal activities of the local squire... Nuisance Value: A fake kidnapping threatens to test the sleuthing skills of Brett and Danny...
France 1796: in the new Republic poverty is rife and crimes harshly punished. Jean Valjean is sentenced to five years at the gallery for stealing a loaf of bread. There the Inspector of Guards Javert takes an intense loathing to him - and every rebellion on Jean's part is met with strict punishment and a longer sentence. Jean eventually escapes. Five years later he is living a respectable life as a Mayor when fate intervenes and brings him face to face with his old enemy Javert. Victor Hugo's enduring classic is lavishly recreated and performed by an outstanding cast.
Electronics expert Wiley (Ryan O'Neal) flees responsibility and New York city for Mexican adventure in this spectacular action romance. On the way he meets the beautiful Holbrook (Anne Archer) and joins up with her south of the border. But a meeting with the sinister Argenti (Omar Sharif) and the discovery of a sparkling collection of Green Ice in his hotel room lead to Wiley and Holbrook becoming embroiled in the deadly world of emerald smuggling...
51 chronicles what happens after political pressure from the American public forces the Air Force to provide a few well-known reporters with limited access to the most secretive base on the planet: Area 51. When one of the base's hidden 'long term visitors' exploits this unprecedented visit as a chance to liberate himself and his fellow alien captives Area 51 turns from a secure government base to a horrifying destination of terror.
Based on the series of novels written by Dorothy L Sayers in the 1920s and 30s, Lord Peter Wimsey was dramatised for TV by the BBC between 1972-5. Ian Carmichael, veteran of British film comedy, played the genial, aristocratic sleuth; Glyn Houston was his manservant Bunter. The pair are similar to PG Wodehouse's Jeeves and Bertie Wooster (whom Carmichael played in an earlier TV adaptation) though here the duo are equal in intelligence, breezing about the country together in Wimsey's Bentley and stumbling with morbid regularity upon baffling murder mysteries to test their wits. Those for whom this series forms hazy memories of childhood might be surprised at its somewhat stagy, lingering interior shots, the spartan paucity of music, the miserly attitude towards locations, especially foreign ones, and the rather genteel, leisurely pace of these programmes, besides which Inspector Morse seems like Quentin Tarantino in comparison. It seems that initially the BBC was reluctant to commission the series and ventured on production with a wary eye on the budget. The Britain depicted by Sayers is, by and large, populated by either the upper classes or heavily accented, rum-do-and-no-mistake lower orders, which some might find consoling. However, the acting is generally excellent and the murder mysteries are sophisticated parlour games, the televisual equivalent of a good, absorbing jigsaw puzzle. There were five feature-length adaptations in all. "Five Red Herrings" is the last and perhaps the least of the series, involving a trout fishing holiday interrupted by the death of a local artist. --David Stubbs
In October and November 2002 The Fast Show favourites took to the stage.... to rapturous applause. This sell-out tour represented the final outing for a host of favourite characters from the 'suit you' tailors to a musical incarnation of Ted and Ralph to the office joker Colin Hunt.
Forgotten Sins' is a startling and disturbing drama based on a true story. County sheriff Matt Bradshaw a devout churchgoer and respected pillar of the community stands accused of terrible crimes: sexually abusing his own daughters and organising multiple rapes and Satanic rituals. Matt's reaction to these accusations is almost as shocking - he makes a full and frank confession. Amid an atmosphere of religious frenzy and further accusations of murder and torture the witch hunt begins. Only one man believes in Matt's innocence: eminent psychologist Dr Richard Ofshe (William Devane). He is convinced that Matt is the innocent victim of religious brainwashing and police pressure for a confession. But what chance does Ofshe have of seeing justice done when Matt himself is so utterly convinced of his own guilt?
All Sandra Clayton (Kate Jackson) wanted was a quiet life for herself and her kids. But then she discovers her new boss is a criminal whose empire was built on drugs corruption blackmail and prostitution...
Brother pitted against brother, this gripping saga portrays the rise and fall of the Third Reich, through the lives of two ordinary brothers who find themselves on opposite wings of the Nazi party during the Second World War. Helmut (Bill Nighy) the brilliant but opportunistic student, and Karl (John Shea) an idealistic athlete, both come of age at the dawn of Hitler's power in 1930s Berlin. Although they go their opposite ways under the evil Nazi banner they are still bound by the strong bond of love between brothers and their shared passion for the same woman (Carroll Baker)
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