Played by Charlie Higson and developed from The Fast Show character who claimed ""Buying a car is like making love to a beautiful woman"" Swiss Toni will no doubt entertain enthral evoke laughter and most of all make you feel evolved. With his blonde quiff standing to attention and his grey shot-silk suit sparkling under the showroom lights Swiss Toni is the emperor of his car emporium. However Toni is being taught to drive by his long-suffering wife Ruth and is con
Ever since the comedy greats stepped beyond the fringe for The Secret Policemen's Ball the annual Amnesty International concert has been one of the highlights of the comedy circuit. 2001's offering was called We Know Where You Live and let's face it, where else are you going to see the UK's top comedians and pop acts on one stage? Compeered by the "surreal stylings" of Eddie Izzard, this compilation of the night's highlights includes a new version of the classic "Four Yorkshiremen" sketch with Eddie, Harry Enfield, Vic Reeves and Alan Rickman. Rickman stubbornly sticks to the script while all around him improvise. There is also a great performance from Harry Enfield and Paul Whitehouse as the Self-Righteous Brothers and the Goodness Gracious Me team going out for "an English". As well as the comedy there are live performances from Tom Jones, Badly Drawn Boy and the Stereophonics, which seem rather abrupt and heavily edited. Some of the material is quite old, though--any fans of Izzard will already have seen him do the Star Trek phaser sketch where he talks about the other settings, other than stun and kill! On the DVD: What really makes this worth the price (apart from supporting a very worthwhile charity) is the extra footage. As well as some more performance stuff, including Phil impersonating Eddie Izzard which is frighteningly spot on, there is back stage material and a news report following the Amnesty bus round London. Buy it, because other wise you might get Eddie round your house! --Kristen Bowditch
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
Featuring The Fast Show: Farewell Tour and The Fast Show: Live! The Fast Show - Farewell Tour: 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. The Fast Show - Live: The sell out stage show based on the hit TV series filmed at the Apollo theatre in 1998. ""Aaaah the theatre! Gielgud Richardson Rodney Bewes - the thrill of the spotlight the gasp of the audience. But who would have expected to see these chaps - Arthur Atkinson Brilliant Suit You Jazz Club Rowley Birkin Swiss Toni Jesse Ted and Ralph (in a musical!) and all the other Fast Show fellows in a ripping stage show? And who would hve expected to find me the 13th Duke of Wybourne in the Royal box with a magnum of fizzy a box of Havanas and a clutch of the finest fillies from the chorus line..."" Bingo!
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
Scott Walker: 30 Century Man explores Scott Walker's music and career from his early days as a jobbing bass player on the Sunset Strip to mega-stardom in Britain's swinging 60's pop scene and finally to his transformation into a composer of true genius; an uncompromising and serious musician working at the peak of his powers. Featuring interviews with friends collaborators and fans including among others: David Bowie Radiohead Jarvis Cocker Brian Eno Damon Albarn Ne
This hilarious spin-off from BBC's award-winning sketch-based comedy The Fast Show concludes Ted and Ralph's painfully repressed relationship as wealthy landowner Ralph continues his uncomfortable attempts at forging an intimate union with working class Irish estate manager Ted. However Ralph has to save his estate as he slips into bankruptcy and believes that a wife would help him out of the mire... Enter Wendy a lady who might not be all she appears. As Ralph's f
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.
Established TV host J.J. Curtis and up and coming TV star Dave Turner are embroiled in a race to discredit each other to win ratings...
Swiss Toni - Season 1 & 2: Played by Charlie Higson and developed from The Fast Show character who claimed ""Buying a car is like making love to a beautiful woman"" Swiss Toni will no doubt entertain enthral evoke laughter and most of all make you feel evolved. With his blonde quiff standing to attention and his grey shot-silk suit sparkling under the showroom lights Swiss Toni is the emperor of his car emporium. However Toni is being taught to drive by his long-suffering wife Ruth and is consistently out-performed by his alcoholic employee Geoff. Swiss Toni is cheesy out-of-date and chauvinistic - which is why everyone loves him. Episodes Comprise: 1. Cars Don't Make You Fat 2. Taxed and Tested 3. Power Assisted Steering 4. Part Exchange 5. Left Hand Drive 6. One Previous Owner 7. Troubleshooter 8. Speed Date 9. Depression 10. Gellward 11. Cable 12. Pangolin 13. Mumble Jackets 14. Fothergill 2000 15. Listening 16. On Top of Old Smokey 17. Swiss Toni's Beautiful Adventure Grass: Grass marks a welcome return for The Fast Show's overzealous know-it-all Billy Bleach. Written by (along with Andrew Collins) and starring Simon Day he actually created the character of Billy almost ten years ago for use in his stand up routines. After witnessing a gangland murder self-made loser Billy Bleach is forced to grass on villain Harry Taylor and is given a new identity. How will he cope in the village of Little Mockwell in deepest rural Norfolk and will he get on with the locals? Featuring all the episodes from the first series. Ted & Ralph: This hilarious spin-off from BBC's award-winning sketch-based comedy The Fast Show concludes Ted and Ralph's painfully repressed relationship as wealthy landowner Ralph continues his uncomfortable attempts at forging an intimate union with working class Irish estate manager Ted. However Ralph has to save his estate as he slips into bankruptcy and believes that a wife would help him out of the mire... Enter Wendy a lady who might not be all she appears. As Ralph's fondness for his new female companion grows his relationship to Ted suffers. Will Ralph go through with the marriage and save the estate?
The Fast Show: Farewell Tour
The genious of the Fast Show put onto stage!
An overwhelming evening of stirring gospel featuring a multitude of gospel superstars from every tradition all on a single stage all overseen by the pioneering singer-songwriter- & ardent gospel fan - Paul Simon. From the ecstatic over-the-top beauty of Jennifer Holliday's wild belting to the tight harmonies of the Oak Ridge Boys and Mighty Clouds of Joy from the soulful crooning of Luther Vandross to the contemporary gospel of Andrae Crouch this show gathers an extraordinary wealth of music devotion intensity fun & excitement into a single evening.
Grass marks a welcome return for The Fast Show's overzealous know-it-all Billy Bleach. Written by (along with Andrew Collins) and starring Simon Day he actually created the character of Billy almost ten years ago for use in his stand up routines. After witnessing a gangland murder self-made loser Billy Bleach is forced to grass on villain Harry Taylor and is given a new identity. How will he cope in the village of Little Mockwell in deepest rural Norfo
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