Little Smasher (Marion and Geoff)

Member Name: thespurs

Product:	Marion and Geoff
Date:	01/04/05 (197 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Amazingly funny from start to finish, Has a very well written story that runs throughout, Rob Brydon takes his role superbly well

Disadvantages: None...I'm afraid

~Introduction~

This is a review of the DVD of the second series of the popular television programme ‘Marion and Geoff’ that was screened on BBC2. It follows Keith Barrett (Rob Brydon) in his new role as a chauffer. Each morning and afternoon, he is charged with taking Fisher to and from school. Fisher is the son of a high profile American film director and they are know as the Tarpaulin family. The self produced documentary style series looks at Keith at work and whilst he is out and about and he talks about his everyday life in a rather care-free and hilarious fashion.


~Rob Brydon~

Rob Brydon was born in Swansea on 3rd May 1965. He grew up in Baglan, a town near Port Talbot. He grew up with a love for acting and it was at school that he first took up his love for drama. He then moved on to begin a three year course at the Welsh College of Music and Drama in Cardiff. He chose to leave half way through the course and assume a presenting position for BBC radio Wales.

Rob continued presenting, for a further six years, on local television and radio. At various stages, he would perform little comedy spin offs on various shows at was the start of the character Keith Barrett. He then headed for London, working primarily as a voice artist on animations and commercials until his role as the traffic warden in 'Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels' prompted him to make a short video of comic characters he had created. He then found his himself in a position to develop the character of Keith Barrett further, in two thrilling series.

You may have seen Rob Brydon appearing in The Keith Barrett Show, his new spoof chat show. Numerous celebrity couples are invited onto the show and Rob takes the role of a chat show host and asks numerous compromising questions and generally takes the mickey out of the celebrities. He has appeared in numerous other television programmes including: Directors Commentary and I’m Alan Partridge. He also continues to do voice-overs for numerous television and radio adverts.


~The Concept~

The whole series is filmed on a single camera positioned on the dashboard of Keith’s posh car. The only person that you ever see is Keith, effectively starring in his own homemade documentary about his life and chauffeuring work. It is very clever in that sense, that it leaves the viewer to make up his or her own visions of what the characters may look like and what their persona may be like. It also reflects Keith’s professionalism in a sense, that he won’t portray others in his documentary as it just wouldn’t seem right.


~The Story~

In the series, we follow Keith in his role as chauffer and at various other times when he is in his car. We get to see the majority of his day to life and what he gets up to at different times. It is very personal, he isn’t afraid to hide any aspect of his life and he goes into plenty of detail. Even the custody of his children and how often he sees them, isn’t too private to be openly discussed.

The general theme does tend to be of Keith’s two children, whom he very rarely sees after an incident took place that led to Marion taking the kids. He refers to them as his ‘little smashers’. The tides seem to be turning and Keith starts to have success in getting to see the children, working with the social services to come to an agreement. It is what gets Keith through every day, the promise that he will see his two children in the future.

There is trouble around the corner that will ultimately rock Keith’s world one way or another. There are signs that things may turn out to be just fine and other indications of a sad and more shocking ending to come. The story is definitely one that you can follow and things do tend not go as you would have thought.


~Keith Barrett~

It is very clear that he has been through a lot in his life and that he is really not quite in the situation that he would like to be. He is however very optimistic about everything and does constantly try to the good in all situations and all of the people that he comes across. This is generally to his cost and he seems somewhat naive to the positions that he finds himself in. He is the sort of person that everybody would love to know, in the sense that he would be fun to be around, regardless of the situation. It would also be nice to be able to help him open his eyes to the world a little more and see what is going on around him.

There doesn’t seem to be a single person in the world that Keith has a bad word to say about. He really appreciates people for the good that they do and never looks to bring them down. He has the utmost respect for his wife Marion, even though she has left him for Geoff. The respect also stretches to Geoff, whom he seems to like and generally gets on very well with from what he says.

The sheer obliviousness that Keith possesses is what really makes this series what it is. There are times when he really doesn’t understand the magnitude of what he is saying. He certainly means well but he does say some rather ‘dodgy’ things at times. It is very clever in the way that it is written because it could be said that things just come out wrong, the ordering of words just gets mixed up. There is an example of Keith’s care-free opinions at the very start. When describing Fisher, the boy whom he chauffeurs to and from school, he says: ‘It must be difficult for him…American’. That wasn’t meant in a negative way, but you could be forgiven for thinking that he is having a dig at the United States what with he being Welsh through and through.

There are a number of different relationships that Keith has with other people that are explored in great depth. He finds in his children, two adorable people that he would do anything for if the situation demanded it. His ex-wife Marion has a place in his heart even though they are no longer together. Fisher is a boy that he really enjoys being around and he has respect for his sharpness and witt. His mother, Mrs Taupaulin, is a person that Keith is really drawn to and he likes to spend time with her when he gets the chance. These show how caring he is and perhaps how blind he is to certain situations.


~Conclusion~

This series is definitely something that will appeal to many people of different ages and comedy tastes. There is essentially something for everyone in the programmes, with a good degree of variation. The storyline is fairly good and easy to follow and the way that it is produced leaves you to imagine a lot and work things out for yourself.

I would say, in a slight contradiction of what I have said before, that it is either a series of programmes that you will either love or hate. I don’t think there is an in between or middle ground that people will find themselves on. There are certain members of my family that have watched little bits of it and have said that they really can’t stand it and others that have instantly taken to it. I think that that would be pretty true for most people, it isn’t the sort of thing that is likely to grow on anybody who doesn’t like it instantly.

The storyline and the way in which the entire series is scripted has to be greatly admired. It really keeps you interested from start to finish, because you want to see how things eventually turn out between Keith and the children, as well as some of the other characters. The way in which Keith is made to say some of the things he does is just fantastic, a highlight being the ocassion that he and his sons were caught in a thunderstorm. He describes how they ran for cover under the tallest trees in the area and only complained about the rain being a problem. I thoroughly enjoyed the series from beginning to end and I really haven't any criticism of any part of it.


~A Small Summer Party~

The DVD comes with a bonus programme by the name of A Small Summer Party. This is a spin off from the second series and it is immensely difficult to watch. It is filmed on two or three different video cameras and it follows the different family members as they arrive at the house for Keith’s summer party. It is very difficult to catch a lot of the action, because of how poor the camera work is. It is a very bizarre little extra that I found slightly bizarre and times very frustrating to watch. It features Steve Coogan and Tracy-Ann Oberman, along with Rob Brydon, and they do add a little extra to the mini programme.


~Additional Information~

The series is rated a PG, but it is more than suitable for the majority of younger children. The total running of the DVD is around 168 minutes, spread over the six episodes. The second series is available on amazon.co.uk for £9.97 and in Woolworths for £11.99.

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