"You know what you are? You're a beard with an idiot hanging off it." (Black Books (2000))

Member Name: kirsty_tinx

Product:	Black Books (2000)
Date:	04/05/09 (134 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Funny, surreal, random, good cast.

Disadvantages: Fairly unknown!

'Black Books' was introduced to me by my ex-boyfriend last year, as he was truly obsessed. He owned all three series on DVD and made me sit and watch it endlessly for a day until we got through all three series. By the end of the day, I was completely in love with this show.

This show was co-written by Dylan Moran himself and Graham Linehan, and showed on Channel 4 between 2000 and 2004, for merely three series, 18 episodes, before it finished. Although I love the show and I wish they had created more episodes, I am a believer in ending something while it's still on top. The longer shows go on, the less interesting they seem to get, and with the strange sense of humour in this show, it could have quickly gone downhill had it continued for too long.

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The Plot:
Bernard Black (Dylan Moran) is a drunken, cynical and fairly abusive who runs a book shop called 'Black Books.' He hates people, especially the customers in this shop as he is very easily frustrated by them. Soon, Manny (Bill Bailey) comes to work for him. He is gentle, kind and relaxed compared to Bernard's manic drunk personality. Bernard's friend Fran (Tamsin Greig) also makes an appearance, spending much of her time with Bernard and Manny in their shop.

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The Characters:
Bernard Black (Dylan Moran) is an incredibly sadistic character. His hatred of people is what brings the most amusement from his character, as his maltreatment of the customers in his shop is hilarious. He's Irish, alcoholic and extremely foul-mouthed and spends most of the time complaining about things. Despite owning 'Black Books' his only real interest's seem to be drinking, smoking and reading, and this is all his character really seems to do, leaving the book selling to the lovely Manny.
'Black Books' was the first time I really saw Dylan Moran doing anything, and I thought he was absolutely brilliant. He really captured the essence of Bernard's horrific character. However, after watching this show, I saw a stand up show done by Dylan Moran - and he seemed exactly like his character, Bernard, on 'Black Books'! He was still interesting to watch, and I think he's a brilliant comedienne, both in Black Books and generally as a funny man.

Manny (Bill Bailey) appears quite sensitive throughout the show, threatening to run away from Bernard due to his maltreatment. Manny comes across as strange as Bernard though, although I'm sure this could be argued to be due to Bernard's abusiveness, such as being referred to as "a beard with an idiot hanging off it!" However, Manny is well liked by the customers, and proves to be good at selling books, especially compared to Bernard. Manny prefers to shop and house to be clean, compared to how Bernard usually lives, which leads to him usually being treated as no more than a servant by Bernard, as he bosses him around, forcing him to do things for him and tidy up. His apparently innocent nature makes the audience pity him for the way he is treated by Bernard.
Bill Bailey is an excellent comedienne and has featured in shows including Never Mind The Buzzcocks and QI as well as being a very well-known stand-up comedienne whose tour's feature on TV frequently. I think he's brilliant and always manages to make me laugh.

Fran (Tamsin Greig) is Bernard's oldest friend. During the first series she runs a shop close to 'Black Books' but spends much of her time in Bernard's shop. She, like Bernard, loves drinking and smoking, and the only real time her character appears without any sign of alcohol or a cigarette is when she tries yoga in an attempt to 'better her life.' She treats Manny better than Bernard does, although still overly appreciating his eager to please character. Fran appears to be the most normal out of the three friends, however there are some obvious 'mad' tendencies which show throughout the programme. Fran spends much of the three series seeking a man to fall in love with, somewhat unsuccessfully for most of it.
Tamsin Greig is fairly well known for her part of Dr. Caroline Todd in 'Green Wing.' This is where I initially saw her, and so when I found out she was in 'Black Books' I thought it would be a good show, featuring three very funny people. She also featured in 'Love Soup' in 2005, which although humorous, wasn't as good as some of her previous television roles.

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General Comments:
There isn't a continuous storyline throughout the series, so the show can be watched in any order, without having seen any of the rest of the series. Despite this, it is fun to watch the whole three series in order, to see the different characters change, although it's not particularly necessary.

The storyline's which feature throughout the show are very bizarre. It's very fun to watch, and most of the episodes have a very surreal feel about them, but combined with the three main characters which feature throughout, they become more believable. Various guest stars include Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Julian Rhind-Tutt (of Green Wing fame, which was strange to watch considering Tamsin Greig starts alongside him in Green Wing also!) and David Walliams, all of which add to the humour of the show with their equally strange characters and involvement in the storylines.

One of my favourite episodes is 'The Entertainer' where Fran decides she wants to take up playing the piano, and receives help from an old, blind piano tutor who is very harsh about her lack of talents. When Manny attempts to play her piano, he plays perfectly, despite never having lessons before, which is more of a downfall than a talent in this episode! Of course, nothing is ever simple, and as usual, Bernard and Fran manage to bully Manny into helping them with what they want, when all Manny wants is a weekend off.

Although this series is no longer shown regularly on television, every now and then it can be found, usually on Comedy Central. I think this series was very much overlooked when it was first aired on TV, but anybody who hasn't seen it and enjoys fairly bizarre comedy should give it a try - especially if you're a fan of Dylan Moran or Bill Bailey. However, the randomness of the show isn't for everyone, and I know my Mum for one thinks it's a waste of a TV show, because the humour just isn't for her. It's quite dark, but hilarious, I think.

There are three series of 'Black Books' each having six episodes and each episode being around 25 minutes long. On Amazon at the moment, the box set of all three series costs just £9.98, which I think is pretty good value for money, considering how much amusement can be got out of this show.

Summary: Something which may not appeal to everyone, but I love it.