If Edgar Allan Poe married Les Dawson this is what their offspring would be like! (League of Gentlemen, The)

Member Name: paulie1975

Product:	League of Gentlemen, The
Date:	20/06/09 (38 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Funny, dark, brilliant character driven show

Disadvantages: Too dark for some

League of Gentleman

Directed by Jeremy Dyson and starring Mark Gattiss, Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton, this television series was adapted from the popular Radio 4 series of the same name.

Set in the northern village, Royston Vasey (Roy Chubby Brown's real name for all you culture vultures out there), this follows the weird, deranged residents of this strange little village.

Essentially the first two series were sketch shows flipping between the separate inhabitants of the town and watching their strange lifes unfold, but there was a narrative running through them all, the third series had much more narrative and linked the stories in a Pulp Fiction-esque way. Overall the LoG created over 100 characters for their programme and these are shared between the three stars.

The series starts following Benjamin Denton as he visits his uncle Harvey and auntie Val, unfortunately they are strange folk interested in licking frogs and order, they are obsessed with germs and will not let him leave them.....ever. His story simply revolves around his revolting family and trying to escape from them.

The most popular characters in the story and those with the most famous catchphrase are Edward and Tubbs the strange owners of a local shop, it is often inferred that they are married, but both have strange pulled back noses that also offer a strange inference that they may perhaps be an inbred brother and sister, their public displays of affection simply confuse this further, but hey this is the macabre world of the League of Gentlemen, their story follows their opposition to anyone who isn't 'local' visiting their 'local shop' it culminates in a brutal murder of some road workers who come to inform them that a road will be built through their shop.

Other characters include Pauline, the pen obsessed local Job Training officer who hates the 'Dole Scum' she works with, Hillary Briss, a butcher who sell's 'Special Stuff' to locals out the back of his store. Barbara Dixon is the local taxi driver, a transsexual who spends every drive telling her passenger the gory details of her operation or issues she's having with her new or old appendages.

Geoff Tipps is a local businessman and lover of comedy, but his attempts at stand up fall flat and on occasions he is known to pull a gun in a state of rage on anyone who fails to laugh or get his poorly performed jokes.

Herr Lipp is a disasterously odd German Exchange student, prone to very uncomfortable sexual puns, while Papa Lazarou is a Circus Ringmaster with a strange voice, blacked up face and has a penchant for calling everyone 'Dave', stealing wives and putting them in cages.

As you can tell this is a bizarre and random set of characters, each is really panned out over the three series and we see partial explanation of their characters and actions, but never enough to excuse how they are. The characters are macabre and there is always a real air of menace about the place, Herr lipp is a sexual predator, Papa Lazarou is essentially an evil kidnapper, Edward and Tubbs may be incestuous murderers and Hilary Briss often implies that the special stuff he serves is human meat, so this in a way almost feeds the idea that this village is full of odd sorts who are powered by this.

The music is dark and foreboding, Roy Chubby Brown plays the mayor, the characters are a mix of pantomime and Edgar Allan Poe, the village is beautiful but really does seem weird and overall it's a fantastic comedy, full of deep character development and study but of the very darkest kind.

This is not something I would recommend to people of a timid nature, it has brutal scenes and is dark and menacing throughout but for people with an open mind and sense of humour it really is different to anything else I'm aware of and has opened the doors for other shows to be a bit more adventurous.

Shearsmith, Pemberton and Gattiss are all excellent in their myriad of roles and develop catchphrases, really love their characters and build them to a supreme level, Dyson directs the show with a subtle touch and fits so many extra bits in you have to laugh just watching something silly happen in the background as something gruesome is about to transpire.

Overall its an innovative and interesting show and really is worth watching for all lovers of comedy and character based programming.

Summary: Brilliant comedy