Currently watching the hugely underrated End Of Part One - Renwick and Marshall at their best, in my opinion. Wonderfully observed pastiches of then-current shows and a very talented cast, including Sue Holderness, Fred Harris and Denise Coffey. It's a crime that more people don't know about this show, due in part to its daft scheduling of Sunday teatime on LWT - what were they thinking? It's nothing short of a miracle that all the episodes still exist in some form, considering the lack of attention the show seemed to get and what little seems to be known about it today. I don't believe the show was ever repeated, and is now unlikely to be, considering the now outdated cultural references - although the show was made and aired a few years before I was born, I'm a bit of a telly nerd and know of frankly too much stuff that was on before my time, but I don't know how many teens out there will have heard of Nationwide or Weekend World. (That's not to say there are none, of course!) That said, there's a superb spoof of Tom Baker-era Doctor Who (when the monsters will still made with glue and bits of string - hurrah!) and, in the first series, the loose narrative involved parody of Coronation Street, Crossroads et al in main characters Norman and Vera Straightman. The show plays with the conventions of television in order to move along: backdrops are moved to view the set behind, characters are thrown into ludicrous situations with little explanation, and in-vision continuity of its time is spoofed to link sketches together.
I've yet to get hold of its radio predecessor The Burkiss Way, but that's definitely a future project. Radio programmes don't always make the transition to television entirely successfully, but considering the quality of the TV version, I'm sure there's nothing to worry about on that score!
It would seem a kind soul has shared the entire series on YouTube - check out Filmnet's uploads for seven hours'-worth of great comedy.
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