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The League of Gentlemen - Live at Drury Lane (DVD)
by magenta23
In 2001, Reece Shearsmith, Steve Pemberton and Mark Gatiss took the League of Gentlemen out of Royston Vasey and on tour around Britain. The DVD 'The League of Gentlemen live' was filmed at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane.
If you haven't seen any The League of Gentlemen before, this isn't a good first watch. There's a lot of in ... jokes and it's really only for fans of the TV show.
The show opens to the guys singing 'Voodoo Lady,' the one and only hit of their character Les McQueen, of fictional band Crème Brulee. Then follows a series of sketches, based on Hamlet, a bizarre card game with rules that seem to keep changing, Go Johnny Go Go Go and regular character, Pam, a terrible auditionee.
Although I enjoyed these sketches, all were done with the boys in tuxedos, rather than the usual costumes. Whilst I understand for a theatre show, changing a costume every five minutes would be almost impossible, keeping the momentum of the show, part of the enjoyment of The League of Gentlemen for me, is the outrageous and sometimes, grotesque costumes of the characters, and I was worrying I was not going to see them in this show. Having said that I guess it show how strong the characters are from the show, the the audience know who they are from the tone of the voice or mannerisms without even needing the visual.
The first act for me, features a lot of the characters I'm not so interested in and a few new sketches. Tish the gay lover and Charlie and Stella, the bickering couple were skippers for me on the TV series so I was wondering where the likes of Papa Lazarou and Tubbs and Edward had got to.
Act One finishes with Legz Akimbo, the terrible amateur theatre company and receives a brilliant reaction from the audience. This sketch is the highlight to Act One, a shame it took so long!
Act Two is like a different show, opening with Tubbs and Edward and featuring all The League's best characters. Mr. Chinnery, the world's worst vet takes up magic.. and well you can guess what becomes of the rabbit. Iris and Judee, Restart coach Pauline (with lipstick) and Reverend Bernice all make appearances but for me the stand out ones are these -
Mau Mau - Anyone who knows The League will know this sketch. It features the somewhat crazy Geoff Tipps trying to tell a joke but forgetting it... will hilarious consequences. The business men didn't really make an impression on me to start with, however the more I see of Geoff, particularly after watching the film, The League of Gentlemen's Apocalypse, the more I see what a great character he is. This sketch receives a huge applause from the audience, and it made me think how strange it all is. Surely you go to a comedy show to hear the punchlines, and to laugh. However with a lot of the sketches in this show the audience know exactly what's coming and it's still funny. This is because The League of Gentlemen are about the characters more than the jokes themselves, I felt sitting at home watching this, like these characters were people I knew, I can only imagine the atmosphere in the theatre.
Herr Lipp - This had to be the highlight of the show. The master of innuendo Herr Lipp, invites a poor member of the audience on to the stage and unsurprisingly, the guy is terrified. A lot of it improvised, it's fantastic viewing and really had me laughing, and cringing a little too! I won't spoil it, but expect smutty comments a plenty.
Papa Lazarou - Always a winner, probably The League's most famous character had to make an appearance. As soon as you see Pemberton dressed a lady sitting at 'home' and there's a knock of the door all fans know what's a bout to happen. "Hello, is Dave there?" Thankfully by this time, the tuxs had been ditched and the sketches were being performed in the costumes we all know. Quite a feat, but just as well. I don't think I could buy Papa Lazarou with a white face and tuxedo!
The show finishes with a dance from Les McQueen and as it should with Tubbs and Edward in their Local Shop.
Overall, by the end I had really enjoyed the show and it came across brilliantly on DVD, it must have been amazing to have actually been there. A pity, I felt that it got off to a slow start, but that's down to opinion as they were not the characters I was so fond of in the first act.
I apologise if parts of my review have not made sense to people not as familiar with The League of Gentlemen, but this live show really is one for fans and not a good starting point for getting into the League.
Well worth a watch if you enjoyed the TV show.
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Love Thy Neighbour - Complete Series 5 (DVD)
by sunmeilan
Eddie and Joan Booth live in seventies London, where cultural integration is taking place at a pace that Eddie can't cope with. When he finds out his neighbours, Bill and Barbie Reynolds are from the West Indies, he is horrified, but, over the years, begins to come to terms with the fact, although he can never fully accept it. Joan and ... Barbie get on very well, particularly once they both have boys of the same age. Eddie and Bill have a much more volatile relationship. They work together and socialize together, but neither can give up the opportunity to make the other look stupid in public. In this series, the two families go abroad together, celebrate birthdays together and care for each others' children - but the antagonism between Eddie and Bill still hasn't completely disappeared.
Having seen the first series of this seventies sitcom, as well as several random episodes over the years, I was determined not to watch any more. Despite trying hard to put the humour and social background of the time into perspective, I still found it very racist and painful to watch at times. However, some time away from the series weakened my defences and I gave the fifth series a go. Bearning in mind that there were eight series in all, this series, televised in 1974, seems to be a watershed in that it starts to become much less offensive and a little (just a little) more fun. There are still some racist comments, but they are much less frequent and are much less crushing - Eddie referring to Bill as a 'long stick of licorice' and Bill referring to Eddie as 'snowflake' are about as serious as it gets. It's still a bit unpleasant, but compared to earlier series, it is positively friendly.
Eddie is the character that I have always disliked the most and it's still easy to see why in this series. Played by Jack Smethurst, he's still an arrogant, racist, homophoic, sexist pig - albeit one that everyone teases to death. Thankfully, his wife and friends don't let him get away with his horrific behaviour for very long and he nearly always ends up looking a complete fool - and arrested on a couple of occasions. I think it's probably testament to Smethurst's skills as an actor that I dislike him so much, because I can't really believe he was that idiotic. In some ways, I feel sorry for him, because his television career has never really been the same since. He's had lots of bit roles, including one in Dinnerladies, but the role otherwise seems to have finished him off.
Thankfully, the same can't be said for Kate Williams (Joan) and the wonderful Rudolph Walker (Bill), who now both appear in Eastenders as each other's love interest - quite ironic considering their bout of working together in Love Thy Neighbour. I like Kate Williams. She's down-to-earth and manages Eddie just right, often acting as peace-keeper between him and Bill. It's not a stunning piece of acting by any means (but then with the script she's given, it's not surprising) and she manages to give a very passable performance of an everywoman. This isn't Rudolph Walker's best role either, but again, he does what he can with the script and the situation, and he manages to come through as being completely likable, which is exactly the aim of the show.
Like Jack Smethurst, Nina Baden-Semper hasn't done much television work since Love Thy Neighbour, which is quite surprising because she is good in the role - and most importantly, she is the one character who is remembered, primarily for her rather stunning figure in a bikini. She is probably the most likable of all the characters, simply because she's a gentle lady who copes admirably with Eddie's jibes at her husband. The way that she and Joan get on, despite their differences and husbands, is a real pleasure to watch. There are a couple of minor characters, Bill and Eddie's drinking partners, played by Keith Marsh and Tommy Godfrey. They are both caricatures of working class characters, but they're reasonably funny and often take the pressure off Bill and Eddie's relationship.
The seventies was a period when the British were coming to terms with more than just multiculturalism - there was also much made of the changing position of women in society and homophobia and the rights of the working classes were also common discussion points. These are also issues in the sitcom and, with the racism on top, do make it seem really dated. Joan and Barbie are housewives and, although becoming more militant in their views, are still expected to stay at home and do all the housework. A gay hairdresser is portrayed as being so limp-wristed that it is painful to watch. It's only the working class element which is perhaps not so dated - certainly not after the recent British air and rail strikes. On top of that, the furnishings and fashion scream seventies - some would say it is part of the charm, others, that it makes it too old-fashioned. It's certainly not viewing that everyone will enjoy.
Television writer Vince Powell, who died in 2009, wrote the scripts for Love Thy Neighbour, including this series. Also responsible for Bless This House, Nearest and Dearest and Mind Your Language, Love Thy Neighbour is probably the series that he will most be remembered for. Unfortunately this is not in a positive way. Overall, the script isn't great - there aren't many occasions when I actually laughed out loud, more often, it was just a wry smile. Nevertheless, it is the racist overtones that Powell has been criticised for. To an extent, this is deserved. However, I think he has been misunderstood - the shock factor that he employed was supposed to be a way of shocking the British public into realising how stupid their attitudes were. Instead, the show is remembered for being outrageously racist. Anyone who watches the show really needs to remember the time in which it is set, rather than judging by today's standards.
There are six 25 minute episodes in this series, but the story takes place over the six episodes rather than separate stories in each individual episode. The only episode that stands out more than the others is the first one, which takes place largely in Spain, where the two couples, plus friends, are on holiday. It is not that the setting is much different from when they are back home (the sets are very basis and obviously filmed in a studio even when they are supposed to be outside), but we get to see the team in their swimming costumes. And except for Joan, Barbie and Bill, it is not a pretty sight - especially when Eddie's backside is shown in all its naked glory. Bill, on the other hand, has a marvellous body - one that most definitely takes the sting out of Eddie's 'long stick of licorice' comment!
There are no extras with the DVDs, just the six episodes.
This is far from being the best seventies sitcom and that's not just because of the interesting attitudes; it's simply not a very good script. Nevertheless, this series has made me soften towards the show as a whole, because it's a lot less offensive than previous series. Still, it is not going to be a series that many people are going to choose to watch unless it's because of fond memories - partly because of its reputation and partly because it just isn't as funny as it could be. Three stars out of five.
The DVD is available from play.com for £4.99.
Classification: 12
Running time: 150 minutes
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