DVD Review: Mr. Bean: The Whole Bean

Mr. Bean: The Whole Bean 25^th Anniversary Collection
Available on DVD (4-Disc) 350 minutes.
Released by Fabulous Films on March 24, 2015. SRP $24.97 (DVD)
Standard Definition 4:3 Stereo

I remember the first time I ever seen Mr. Bean. It was in 1990. Back in the days I was doing tape trading (before the time when programs I wanted to buy where actually available), I received a tape in the mail from a friend with some other programs I wanted but to fill out the tape, he put the first episode of Mr. Bean on it from the UK broadcast. By this point, only the first episode of the series had aired in the UK in January and the next episode wasn’t due until November of that year. It was an odd experience for me to watch it because I was a huge (and I mean HUGE) fan of Rowan Atkinson in the Blackadder series. Seeing Rowan doing physical comedy on this level and not speaking non-stop using intelligent yet cruel quips to disarm someone else (mainly Baldrick) was a bit of a shock to me. It wasn’t until much later that I realized that Rowan made his name by the type of physical comedy that eventually became Mr. Bean.

Fabulous Films has released a 25^th anniversary collection of Mr. Bean: The Whole Bean. It’s amazing for me to think it has been 25 years since I have seen this character on television but what fun has it been! I may have mentioned it elsewhere but it’s funny how series I religiously followed and re-watched many times over the years suddenly kind of drift away. Mr. Bean would definitely be one of them. As more episodes would become available, we would watch them and enjoy them over and over.

The one thing I heard said about Mr. Bean is that it is accessible to everyone. There really isn’t a language barrier because there is not that much language spoken. Bean himself is a quiet person and when he does speak, it is in a very low pitch voice saying very few words. I think the first thing that is obvious about Bean is the well-choreographed physical comedy that comes out of every episode. Bean is actually a very complex character that exists on multiple levels. It would be easy to dismiss him as simple. He can literally be put into any situation. He can be nice to people or downright mean. He can be mischievous or silly. The thing about Mr. Bean is that he is not stupid. He may do stupid things and may try to cut corners to get things done in his own unique way but he is not stupid. We never really know what he does for a living but it is clear that he makes money. He doesn’t live in the slums, he is a middle-class citizen who enjoys doing what you and I would enjoy doing. He takes vacations, he goes on outings to the seaside, likes to enjoy a nice dinner somewhere. It’s just that his way of doing things is very different than how we might go about it which is how we come to the episodes.

This set includes all 14 episodes of the Mr. Bean TV series produced by Tiger Aspect from 1990 to 1995. Episode 14 was actually never broadcast. Going through the set is like walking down memory lane. So many memories watching this series and thinking how awesome the series was back in the day. So much of this I haven’t seen in years. So many memories stirred up by great comedy moments.

It’s always good to see some of my favorites that I watch time and time again. I think the episode I watch the most is Merry Christmas Mr. Bean. This used to be a Christmas morning viewing tradition for me for years. I only stopped watching it because I had simply seen it too many times. In my personal opinion this is one of the best Christmas episodes of anything, ever. As I write this, it is on in the background now. There are so many iconic moments like (obviously) the turkey on Bean’s head but also nice, fun moments like Mr. Bean taking over the Salvation Army band and conducting a jazz version of God Rest Ye Merry Gentleman. The faces Bean makes to accentuate the musical highlights of the song is wonderful. Every time I watch it, I can’t help but to think of my Dad’s hysterical reaction to watching that scene. He loved it which will bring me to a point a little later in this review.

There is standout moment in every episode. Such moments like Bean too afraid to jump off a diving board in The Curse of Mr. Bean or Mr. Bean trying to resuscitate a man who had a heart attack in Mr. Bean Rides Again. There’s great moments like Bean filling his own tooth fillings at the dentist’s office, creating a “paint bomb” to repaint his apartment or his Mini being crushed by a tank. Two of my absolute favorite episodes of the series is Mr. Bean in Room 426 and Mind the Baby, Mr. Bean. In Mr. Bean in Room 426, like I said, he really is basically like you and I. Who wouldn’t want to treat themselves to a nice stay at a luxurious hotel? Of course, Bean has never been in a nice hotel so we see his astonishment of discovering what a TV remote control is, he has never tipped anyone for bring his bags to his room and “tips” them with a cough drop. For some reason, he is constantly trying to outdo the guest that is staying next door to him. That eventually results in food poisoning for Mr. Bean. Plus any episode of someone trying to impersonate Danny LaRue is alright by me!

Mind the Baby Mr. Bean is kind of a touching story of Mr. Bean ending up with a lost baby at an amusement park (of course Mr. bean’s fault) and trying to take care of him. Bean’s unorthodox way of doing things usually gets him into trouble. A favorite moment of mine is watching Bean change the baby’s diaper. The wind takes the soiled diaper from a ride it was sitting on and we see it hit person after person as they are on rides, walking around, etc. It is hilarious. It is potty humor at its best! Both of these episodes benefit from being shot on film. The editing is quick and some of the shots are a lot more cinematic such as a crane shots. It’s nice to have stuff performed in front of a live studio audience but to have these look so good because they were shot on film is nice too.

I have always been surprised by the number of known actors who have appeared in the series who have been stars in their own right but seem to have just taken the part because they are “jobbing actors”. These include Richard Briers (The Good Life), Roger Lloyd Pack (Only Fools and Horses), Richard Wilson (One Foot in the Grave), Caroline Quentin (Men Behaving Badly), Christopher Ryan (The Young Ones), and the wonderful Frederick Treves who has been in all sorts of wonderful things. Look him up!

One of the things said about Mr. Bean in one of the extras and above is that he is accessible to everyone. My Dad really did not like British television for whatever reason. Yet, he loved Mr. Bean. My Dad always loved visual gags which there is so much of in the series.  Everyone can enjoy Mr. Bean.

The first major set of Mr. Bean to come out on DVD was from A&E in 2003. It consisted of the 14 episodes and some extras. This release doesn’t deviate from that too much except in a couple of ways. As more and more physical media comes out, it is kind of nice to consolidate packaging. The old set was 3 discs in 3 Amaray cases. This release is a single Amaray case that holds 4 DVDs which makes it nice and compact.  

As far as extras are concerned it adds some that wasn’t on that 2003 set. The biggest and most welcome are the extra scenes that have caused a little bit of controversy over the years. When I first got the A&E set sometime told me I shouldn’t have bothered because the episodes were edited or as he said “shredded to pieces”. The whole thing (at least in the US) was when HBO showed this episodes years ago, they were including versions of the episodes that have the extra scenes on this set in the episodes themselves. So many of us have seen them this way. When the A&E set was released, they were not on the set nor were they in the syndication package for PBS (to my knowledge). The truth was that they were never intended to be in the episodes; they were cut so what people perceived as edited episodes were watching in a sense extended episodes. Those scenes are presented here on DVD for the first time in the US and they are:

Turkey Weight (Merry Christmas Mr. Bean), Armchair Sale (Do-It-Yourself Mr. Bean), Marching (Back to School Mr. Bean) and Playing with Matches (Back to School Mr. Bean). I remember these from watching it on HBO and am happy to see these again. This is a very welcome extra and to me just about worth the set alone. Other extras include:

The Story of Mr. Bean: This is a special narrated by Helen Atkinson-Wood from 1997 when Bean: The Ultimate Disaster Movie was coming out. It is a very detailed and enjoyable look at not only Mr. Bean but focusing on the career of Rowan Atkinson. Lots of great archival clips from his time at University, his live shows, Not the Nine O’Clock News, and of course Blackadder. It’s very good stuff.

The not seen on TV sketches of The Bus Stop and The Library which are very good.

The Best Bits of Mr. Bean which was shown over here on PBS over pledge drive periods to help get people to call in to pledge. The program was a look back at the series with new linking bits of Mr. Bean in his attic on a rainy day reminiscing. This was not on the 2003 set. I think this sort of thing is just a nice extra to have and some days I rather watch this than a bunch of episodes.

There is also a trailer for the animated Mr. Bean which I have never seen. Have you? Should I give the series a try?

It says this is the complete Mr. Bean and while I while I appreciate the sentiment, it is not complete. There are 2 Comic Relief sketches that are not on this set but was on the A&E 2003 set and actually since that set was released, there have been 2 more broadcast, one of them just airing a couple of weeks ago. I am not going to fault this release for not having any of these skits. Comic Relief is its own thing. Sometimes it seems we get stuff from Comic Relief on releases and sometimes we don’t. I think it is tricky to get those rights sorted out plus I don’t know if Fabulous Films even knows about these sketches. Personally to me, it’s not a big deal. Some of the “complete” sets released of this series also included the films. To me, that is a separate thing all together so once again, I am not all that bothered by it.

The one aspect I was not happy with in this release is the quality of the 14 episodes. We are told the episodes are re-mastered. Unfortunately, I am finding a trend that re-mastered means something completely different between myself and the studios that release these series. Mr. Bean was shot on videotape with a couple exceptions mentioned above that were shot on film. This release has taken the video and filmized it so the video now looks like a faux film effect. All the lucid movement of video is gone.

I have a real issue with this. I want to watch these episodes the way they were intended to be seen and how they were broadcast. The problem is that the film effect on these do not make the series look any better. Some movements are a lot more jagged as fields of video are removed to create this effect. Also, even though it doesn’t look like video anymore, you can see it is from a video source. Stuff shot on video vs. stuff shot on film are lit and paced differently. To me it just looks like something is wrong with the conversions of the episodes.

I did a little bit of research and what I think may have happened is that these episodes is how Fabulous Films received them. I doubt they did anything to the episodes. It looks like the last time this series was released in the UK was in 2010. They were called re-mastered on that set and I have a feeling it was done for that release. I think these may be those episodes. This may not bother everyone and I understand that. If you just want to enjoy an incredibly funny and charming series, this release is at a good price and pick it up. Amazon currently has it for about $19 for 4 discs. Unfortunately for myself, apart from the inclusion of those missing scenes, when I watch the episodes, I will have to stick to my 2003 release. I am disappointed by that.

If you don’t care about the filmizing of the episodes and just love good comedy, for the value this set is highly recommended. If you are a purist (which I will be the first to admit it can be a disease) I would recommend sticking with a previous release. That being said, those lost scenes are very nice to have.

DVD Breakdown:

Disc 1: Mr. Bean, The Return of Mr. Bean, The Curse of Mr. Bean, Mr. Bean Goes to Town, Mr. Bean Rides Again

Disc 2: The Trouble with Mr. Bean, Merry Christmas Mr. Bean, Mr. Bean in Room 426, Mind the Baby Mr. Bean, Do-It-Yourself Mr. Bean

Disc 3: Back to School Mr. Bean, Tee Off, Mr. Bean, Goodnight Mr. Bean, Hair By Mr. Bean of London

Disc 4: Extras: Missing Scenes, The Story of Mr. Bean, Sketches, Animated Series Trailer, The Best Bits of Mr. Bean

Next Review: I will shortly be posting my first review for a release by the BFI (British Film Institute) and what a way to start! I will be reviewing the upcoming 1960s BBC Sherlock Holmes series starring Douglas Wilmer. This is a Region 2 (UK) release that is not available in the US because a release of these episodes did see a US release 5 years ago. This review will feature screen grabs between the two releases to see the difference in quality.

Have a great week!

Do you have feedback, article requests or want to talk about a program but do not want to leave a public comment? Feel free to drop me an e-mail at FTA13867@gmail.com

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A Thin Blue Line Christmas

This could be my favorite time of the year, not only because of Christmas but because whatever I pick to watch for my blog this time of year is Christmas related. There are a ton of series through the course of the history of British television that took the time to make a special Christmas episode of their series. This falls into a number of variations. The Christmas episode could have the same kind of narrative as the other episodes of that series but has a bit of Christmas cheer to it, it could be a special episode of a series that airs outside of its normal run of episodes. It could be a heavily themed Christmas romp or maybe no mention of Christmas at all but the episode could be on a grander scale than normally seen in the series. Whatever the situation, they are usually fun to watch. Sometimes stiff characters let down their hair a little and get into the spirit of things. It’s fun to see how these series celebrate Christmas.

To start off this season of Yuletide fun, we turn to the 1990s comedy series The Thin Blue Line. I’ve written rather extensively about why I had underestimated this series in an article I wrote here. It’s actually very interesting because as I viewed these episodes for today’s article, I feel like I have a better understanding of my own stance on this series which I will get to later. When I watch anything that I put into an article, I tend to watch either a couple of episodes or at least something that takes 45 minutes to an hour. So I watched two episodes of The Thin Blue Line. Because there is only one episode that is Christmas themed, I started with the penultimate episode of Series 1.

Kid’s Today TX: 18/12/95

To the police, the youth is becoming an ever increasing problem. If it is not minor theft or graffiti, it something else. In this episode, when the subject of graffiti comes up, Fowler decries it as garbage and Habib calls it a new form of urban art. This is 1995 and I wonder if people were seeing it like that back then. I thought it was interesting and forward thinking. To be honest, I didn’t expect that here. As the threat for what these kids are doing grows more and more, Inspector Fowler only can think of one thing to do for combatting this problem. Take these children on a camping trip. Grim of CID has a different idea. Round them up, put them in jail and throw away the key! DC Kray also has a unique idea, put maternity hospitals into the prisons so once a mother gives birth, the children could be locked upright away. Perhaps a tad bit of an overreaction?

Grim sets up Kray and DC Crockett as kids to infiltrate a rave at a house. They get to the rave and knock on the door to get in. The kid that opens up the door takes one look at them and says, “Piss off coppers!” and slams the door. Prior to the two officers getting to the rave, a young woman arrives at the house and lets the same kid know that she did what he wanted her to do; she was very distressed about this.

Meanwhile at the station, a group of rowdy young people are brought in and taken downstairs to the lock up. The biggest kid doesn’t go into the cell when he is told to by Habib. The kid responds with a racial slur to her. Remember, Habib is Indian. Constable Goody doesn’t think twice, because he is in love with Habib, and punches the kid out. The kid is about 6’3” but he was in handcuffs and although he was being a racist pig, he was not threatening immediate harm to them. He also was 15.  The next day, Fowler has to charge Goody with assault as the mother of the kid is pressing charges. It’s actually a very serious matter. So serious that they handle the situation with…….a camping trip.

Remember earlier, I mentioned that Fowler was bringing this rambunctious youth camping. Here is the thing I find very interesting and maybe things were done differently back then. It seems to me, while Goody is charged with assault and having even a loose investigation going on, why is he (first of all) still on duty but also why is he allowed to be around other kids. Even by the end of it, Goody is clear of the charges because the kid’s mom also slaps the boy around and Fowler makes that an opportunity to get her to drop the charges against Goody. I would think there would be more classes Goody would need to take to make sure he never does it again. Once again, I take a comedy series a little too seriously. Moving on….

The camping trip is with renowned Brigadier Blaster Sump (damn you!) played to perfection by Stephen Fry. Blaster Sump (damn your eyes!) is written very much in the same vein of General Melchett from Blackadder Goes Forth. He uses lots of lofty big sentences that make no sense and generally frightens people.

“Here's your gear. You'll find everything you could possibly need from lavatory paper to sand paper. Don't confuse the two! I did myself once. Not a wholly unpleasant experience, but then I went to Charterhouse.”

He is only in it for one scene. He wears a kilt and apparently no underwear based on the reaction from everyone in the room when he puts his leg up. I remember when I heard that Fry was going to be in an episode back when I first seen the series. This goes back to what I mentioned earlier and in my last article. I was having a hard time watching something that was made by and starred people who was in my favourite series Black Adder yet it was so much more generic. I couldn’t wait to see Fry and Rowan Atkinson back together for this episodes. I remember being a little disappointed that it was only for one scene.

Once again, Grim is on the move. He gets his team to raid the house where the teens were having the rave earlier in the episode. They get to the house to bust their way in (after ringing the doorbell first) only to be told by the neighbour next door that some other police officers came by earlier to take the kids on a camping trip.

Meanwhile at the camping trip, we see the boy and girl from earlier.  The girl was upset about something she had to do. That was giving up her baby. Her boyfriend is just mean to her about it around the campfire. He is mean about the child and cruel about her. Fowler loses his temper and nearly hits the boy. What is with these people! Anyway, things settle down and they all got to bed. Of course the next morning, Fowler and his team wake up to find these troubled teens stole the tents they were all sleeping in and took off. Incidentally, the baby that those kids had was fine and was put into hospital by Habib.

Yuletide Spirit TX: 26/25/95

This episode displays one of my favourite kinds of comedy, comedy of errors. It is such a simple and hilarious form of comedy if done correctly and I think it is here. The Gasforth Amateur Drama Society is putting on their yearly production of Peter Pan. Every year Fowler tries out for the role of Captain Hook but always comes home playing the part of the alligator who swallowed the clock.

As it is Christmas, it is a time for gifts and Constable Goody is in the gift giving spirit. He decides to give Fowler a tire puncture repair kit for his bike but he has taken the more saucy decision to get some sexy lingerie for Habib. Keep in mind, these two are not dating. In fact, once again I question how Goody is on the force or for that matter, why he has no brain. In the last episode he punches a kid out and here what he is doing pretty much amounts to sexual harassment to Habib at the workplace with what he is implying with the underwear. I hope they show highlights of Goody to young cadets in the police force to show them what not to do.

Grim get wind of Fowler trying out for Captain Hook and ridicules him for trying to do it. To Grim, it’s just a lot of “fannying” about! Fowler is pretty confident that this year he will get the role. We cut to Fowler going back to his and Dawkins’ apartment with a great big rubber alligator costume. Who got the part of Captain Hook? Grim of course! Of course now that he has the part, Grim is much more interested in that than what he really needs to focus on which is a group of carolers who are going house to house singing in the front while someone breaks into the back of the house and steals things.

Fowler: You'd be bored watching Olivier play Hamlet.
Grim: Well, I don't like football, especially foreign teams.

Goody gives his gifts out. You don’t need to be a comedy genius to know what happens next. Goody, as with everything else in his life, messes it up. He gives the puncture repair kit to Habib and the sexy lingerie to…….

Fowler calls Goody into his office. He is very worried and uncomfortable with what he needs to talk with Goody about. He starts out, “Constable Goody, do you find me……attractive?” Goody’s facial reactions are quite good in this scene. Over exaggerated and shocked! Fowler goes on asking when Goody started to “crave” seeing Fowler naked. It’s pretty funny and probably the funniest thing I’ve seen over the course of these two episodes. Once Goody says it’s a bicycle puncture repair kit, Fowler then thought that Goody wanted Fowler to where that lingerie when he needed to repair his tire!

After it is all sorted out, Fowler and Goody leave the room but Dawkins enter and sees the underwear. She assumes it is for her. She confronts Fowler later, telling him how much it turns her on. It’s funny because Serena Evans who plays Dawkins really gets into character when she tells him how much it turns her on. She plays it like such a desperate woman that I am unsure if I am meant to feel funny or sad for the character. Anyway, she wants that underwear not realizing that it is actually meant for Habib.

Unfortunately, by the time Fowler and Dawkins talk, Goody already made arrangements for the gift to be put into Habib’s locker. Fowler now has the awkward task of going to Habib to ask for her underwear. The reason why Fowler can’t go out and get underwear of his own is because it is already Christmas Eve. Habib doesn’t realise that Fowler wants the underwear for Dawkins but think he wants it for himself. She calls it male menopause.

Grim takes his team to round up the nasty carolers who are stealing. The carolers, all young menacing men, hear the sirens of the police approaching and take off. The police cars show up and take away a bunch of real, elderly carolers and brings them back to the station. Of course this group of people include the police commissioner and a bishop. It sounds like a beginning to a joke.

The Police Commissioner is pissed at Grim since it was his operation. The Commissioner wants to see Grim in his office on Boxing Day evening. That’s the night of Peter Pan so Grim needs to miss the play and give the part of Captain Hook to his understudy……Inspector Fowler. Habib finally sees the underwear from Goody and immediately gives it back to him and tells him off. Goody leaves it on the counter, and Fowler discreetly takes it with him to give to Dawkins later. For once a good day for Fowler.

There was also a sub-plot about two homeless people, a couple, who take up residence at the police station. The woman is pregnant and is about to give birth. Obviously this is an metaphor to the birth of Jesus. In fact, at the end Fowler points out the metaphor and similarities to the famous baby. Of course Goody asks about the famous baby, “Who’s that then?” to which Fowler turns around and says, “Jesus Christ Goody!” Goody takes objection to Fowler swearing at him since he didn’t know! I feel like this whole sub-plot existed just for this joke. The homeless guy is played by Ben Elton who created the series and wrote the episode. Yuletide Spirit is the final episode to have DC Kray and DC Crockett in the series. When Series 2 returns, Kray is replaced by DC Boyle. The end credits also feature a nice lighter Christmassy version of the theme.

The last time I wrote about this series, I note in great detail how little credit I gave to the series when I first watched it on PBS 1995. I wanted to see Rowan Atkinson play more Black Adder and was really surprised how much of a wet blanket Inspector Fowler was. The one thing I didn’t understand at the younger age was how endearing that aspect of Fowler was as a character. He is not overly dynamic or exciting but overall he is a good person who passionately believes in the “right” of what the Metropolitan Police are doing and what his role in Gasforth is to make sure the law is upheld. Fowler really has a romantic view of the Metropolitan Police. It is a wonder how a relationship such as Fowler and Dawkins’ really work since Dawkins wants a lot of excitement and passion yet Fowler would much prefer a nice cup of tea and work on his model airplane as we see in Kid’s Today. I can appreciate that!

The thing that strikes me about these episodes and the article I wrote about this series in 2012 is that even though I was hard on the series when I first saw it in 1995, Series 1 is actually not great. A lot of the criticisms I had at the time still hold up. Obviously the stuff with Grim and Fowler are always funny but this is really a case of a series that is finding its footing. Ben Elton is hugely talented but I think a lot of this was new territory for him too.

When Series 2 returns, it is slightly re-tooled and it makes a huge difference. I feel like Elton and maybe Atkinson looked at the characters and decided what needed to happen. For one, Fowler is expanded to make more use of Atkinson’s unique talents. The lectures between Fowler and his team are expanded and are actually funny. A lot of the humour in Series 1 has a lot of same type of gags such as when Fowler will come up to Habib and ask for something from her and she mistakes the request for something that Fowler needs help with because he is older such as mistaking the request for her underwear in Yuletide Spirit because he is going through a mid-life crisis. Fowler would make statements in the episodes that sound slightly sexual where Habib would start to chuckle like a little girl at which point Fowler would ask her what is so funny. Which, in fact, to this viewer isn’t funny after the 14^th time.

Series 2 has more complex and better designed humour. I don’t think Series 1 is bad, in fact, I think there are some great moments in it. It just needed to find its feet. Series 2 comes along and it is overall a stronger series. Most of the characters become more well-defined and we learn more about them. It’s too bad, as I think if there was a Series 3, it would have been pretty awesome. I don’t think this could ever have been a super long running series but I think 3 series would have been just right. Just in the way Yuletide Spirit was just right in setting the tone for my holiday viewing.

Next week: We look at an example of a series that has a Christmas “special” episode which has nothing to do with Christmas! We look at the Lovejoy episode The Lost Colony which has a great deal of the story taking place in the US. Is it a star-spangled catastrophe?

Have a great week!   

Do you have feedback, article requests or want to talk about a program but do not want to leave a public comment? Feel free to drop me an e-mail at FTA13867@gmail.com

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Great Heavenly Hemorrhoids, It's The Thin Blue Line!

It took a while but I finally warmed to The Thin Blue Line. When it first made its way over to PBS in 1995, I was expecting Rowan Atkinson to play the role of Inspector Fowler like Blackadder. I am sure I am not the only one. By this time I had seen Mr. Bean so it shouldn’t have been too strange for me to think that Atkinson could play different parts but that was more down to how I didn’t appreciate how talented Rowan Atkinson was. For some reason, I thought he was only a one-dimensional actor even though I had seen Mr. Bean and could see that he was capable of a lot of different styles. My views were ignorant at best.

When I first watched The Thin Blue Line, I was generally underwhelmed. There were some funny moments but a lot of the characters were extremely clichéd. Perhaps even stereotypical. It lacked any true style to the series. Even the theme music was some-what generic. The theme grated on me yet I continued to watch it. The entire series wasn’t what I expected. But was that a reason for me not to like it?

Court in the Act TX: 14/11/96

This week I look at two episodes from Series 2. Court in the Act starts off with Fowler introducing to his team proposed new police uniforms. For this, he employs Constable Goody to show off the new uniforms. It’s difficult and to be honest, everything is more difficult with Goody. He can’t even show off uniforms without messing it up. Meanwhile CID’s Grim is working with Boyle to raid Harry the Spikes house and finally get him behind bars. Harry is a bad man and deserves to go to jail. Boyle suggests to Grim that evidence can be placed in Harry’s house to be “found”.

CID gets the help of Fowler’s officers to raid Harry’s place. Of course, this is after they finally burst into the right house. While searching the flat, Boyle suggests that Goody checks behind the cooker. Goody finds the drugs.  The next day, Fowler tries to prepare Goody for the trial as Goody will need to give evidence. Fowler plays the barrister to prepare Goody but every time Fowler (as the barrister) asks Goody a question, he breaks down in tears. There is a portion of every episode of The Thin Blue Line where a good deal of time is spent on a scene between Fowler, Goody, Habib, and Gladstone. It’s mainly with Fowler trying to explain something to Goody with Goody just not getting it. In this instance, Goody is cracking under the pressure of Fowler’s barrister. Habib suggests that Fowler puts on a mop to look more like a barrister wearing a wig. She suggests all sorts of things to help Goody get “it”. Fowler responds, “I doubt Constable Goody would "get it", if it came in a large bag marked, "IT". A wonderful Ben Elton line! Especially watching this when I was younger and was (let’s be honest) basically wanting to see more Blackadder, this line almost made me homesick for that series. At any rate, by the time the scene is done, Fowler is dressed up as a barrister, Habib is the prosecution, and Gladstone is the judge. Poor Goody is the only one who is supposed to be himself in this and he is the only one who has no idea who he is supposed to be!

A couple of things happen. By the end of the scene, Goody tells Habib that he swore he checked behind the cooker before and there were no drugs. Fowler finds out that the barrister for the defense is the Mayoress. Fowler and Habib talk with Goody and realize that CID had to have planted those drugs at Harry the Spike’s place. Fowler tries to trick Grim into admitting to the drugs being placed by CID by tape recording their conversation but screws it up. Eventually Fowler is able to get the case dismissed as he tips off the Mayoress that Goody was not wearing an official Police uniform but rather a proposed one that has no official markings on it at all. Grim is furious but at the end breaks down to Fowler. He didn’t want to catch Harry the Spike illegally and was glad that matter was closed.

The underlying message to this episode is that the Police and CID can be corrupt. There has to be people internally to do whatever they can to keep these organizations within the law. For a comedy series, the episode does have a serious tone about this. We are seeing characters of the series we like doing something completely illegal. Fowler steps up and even tips of the Mayoress about something his own man did but that’s because he knows nobody on the force should be above the law. Fowler gets a lot of ribbing from CID and even with online articles I read such as saying Fowler was a poor leader. This simply isn’t true. Fowler can be a stick in the mud but he knows what is right and he knows his duty.

One area I do find very dull is Sergeant Dawkins constant jealousy of everything Fowler does. Fowler and Dawkins have been in a long term relationship for 10 years. They live together but she is very jealous and this becomes very prominent with the arrival of Mayoress Wykham in Series 2. To me, it’s not even funny. I understand it adds a different dimension to Dawkins & Fowler’s relationship and to the whole series but it bores me. Maybe because Dawkins seems to have no element of professionalism to her work ethic at all. Am I taking this all too seriously? Yeah, I thought so.

Ism Ism Ism TX: 21/11/96

The Mayoress needs to have Fowler and his team arrest an asylum seeker. During all of this, the Police, in general, are asked to look into how it treats minorities. Fowler needs to have a mini-seminar with his team about compassion for minorities and other minority groups. Meanwhile Grim is trying to become a Todger.  He has tried to get into the Masons and other secret groups that could help him move his career forward but no one wants him. Hopefully the Todgers work out better for him.

While Fowler is trying to explain why we should accept people’s differences, Fowler does an impression of an alien from another planet who would like to work at the Police station. It’s a lot of fun to watch since this is the kind of stuff that Rowan is so good at. He does multiple things with his body and his mouth all at once to be weird yet truly funny. It’s out of character in a sense for Fowler but it is what I love to see from Rowan Atkinson. During this, Grim comes in and enlightens the rooms and about “Isms” which he constantly get burned by Boyle:

Grim: What "ism" ever robbed a bank? What "ism" ever mugged anybody? What "ism" ever put a gun to somebody's head?
Boyle: Terrorism?
Grim: Yeah alright. What "ism" ever threatened the security of the state?
Boyle: Marxism?
Grim: What "ism" ever hurt anyone?
Boyle: Sadism?

It’s funny. It’s also funny how even with the best intentions (perhaps being too PC) someone could get themselves into trouble. Fowler tells everyone including Grim that he is bringing in a gay officer to talk to the officers. At that point Melvyn Hayes (who played “Gloria” Beaumont in It Ain’t Half Hot Mum) comes in the room dressed very flamboyant and clearly everyone in the room thinks he is the gay officer. Fowler of course starts stuttering making innocent comments to hide his nervousness towards him, even saying “Don’t think twice about being a homosexual.”   In fact, this is the Chief Todger who actually is at the station to look for Grim. Grim doesn’t realize it is the Chief Todger and freaks out after the Todger calls him “Little Bird”.

Regardless of all of the work the crew does to understand people’s differences better, when they arrest the asylum seeker, they arrest the black man in the room dressed in foreign clothing. They did not arrest the asylum seeker, in fact, they left him behind. They arrested the EC Commissioner for Human Rights. What about Grim, did he make it into the Todgers? Sadly no. Just as he was about to do the ceremonial initiation of kissing a turkey’s bum while wearing a dress (as one does), Fowler and Dawkins burst in through the door of the apartment. They saw silhouettes of a man beating a woman from the street but it was in fact Grim wearing a dress and going through the initiation. As the Chief Todger says, “Close the Turkey’s legs…his bottom will not be kissed tonight.”

One of my favourite parts of this episode is when Fowler and Habib are talking about men and women in terms of sexual discrimination in the workplace and Fowler goes to Dawkins to get her support on his views. Fowler talking to Dawkins:
Fowler: “Constable Habib and I are talking about sexual positions. And I want you to assure her that I know only one.”
Dawkins: “There’s no need to tell the whole world.”
Fowler: “And that is the upright one. In which men and women are interchangeable.”

For some reason which I never knew, Ism Ism Ism was not originally shown on PBS. It was left out of the syndication package. I have heard that it was because of the subject matter of the episode or it may have simply been because of some kind of mistake such as the episode of Are You Being Served? Top Hat and Tails accidentally being left off the PBS syndication package in the 1980s. Of course now it has been reinstated and I believe Ism, Ism, Ism has been too. It was said that the episode had been included on VHS when it was released. While researching this article, I did not see an NTSC video release for this episode but it was released in the UK. The R2 DVD release came out in 2000. This is what I viewed these episodes from. I do not remember if this is the first time I had seen this episode. Something tells me it is as I seem to remember thinking it was very good and a shame that it was not in syndication. Maybe some of you have better memories? What is interesting that a lot of these episodes are longer and this episode clocks in at 35 minutes.

The Thin Blue Line is the old guard vs. the new. I know that Ben Elton was a big fan of Dad’s Army and he based some of the relationships and characters from that series. Fowler was Mainering Vs. Grim who was Hodges. Goody was Pike. I can see this but I also see it as slightly different way. Fowler is the stiff old generation in the Police force.  He is needed to teach these newer officers about how the Police force works. In some ways he seems modern and other ways he seems inflexible. He talks about how his bowel movements run like clockwork. He gets annoyed when the store no longer has his chocolate frog. He thinks the youth is behind this. He is afraid that his chocolate frog will be replaced with caramel private parts or strawberry flavoured lesbian. Of course, this is where Rowan shines and this is where my youth of watching this series was way off. Like I said, I wanted Blackadder and what I got was another glimpse at how Rowan is genius. What was odd for me was that Fowler was not in control. Unlike Blackadder, he never got his way and a lot of times he was the underdog. Fowler always looked after his team. He may have yelled at them for doing something stupid but he always was loyal to them. He was a good leader.

The rest of the cast is kind of odd. David Haig as Grim is amazing. Simply put. He likes to talk tough but sounds like a complete moron: “cause you know what'll happen Raymond, don't you - it'll be your cock up - my arse!” Habib has some life to her but I feel Ben Elton was a little out of touch with the youth and she felt a little one-dimensional to me. Gladstone was very forgettable. Some of his lines were funny but even writing this paragraph, I almost forgot to write about him at all. This leaves me with Goody.

I really don’t like Goody. To me he is almost the Gilligan from Gilligan’s Island. He is someone who screws up everything. On a side note, if I were on that damn island and Gilligan kept screwing things up that cost me from getting off the island, there would soon be no more Gilligan. Ok, I am glad I got that out of my system. Goody shouldn’t have a job. He is a horrible officer. He messes everything up and is extremely juvenile. This is not a slant against James Dreyfus who played Goody. I think he is a great actor. I loved him in Absolutely Fabulous. I never watched My Hero nor will I ever watch My Hero. Just for the record, both of these episodes include the Mayoress. She was once a sort of flame to Fowler. Lucy Robinson plays her and I honestly think she does a horrible job. She plays the role so over-the-top that it just cringes on me. I can’t stand her; sorry! She is in only 3 episodes of Series 2 yet it feels like she was in all of them. This is not a compliment.

I know there is a sort of correlation between The Thin Blue Line and Dad’s Army but I think there is a closer line between this series and Dixon of Dock Green. Dixon of Dock Green was about Constable George Dixon who firmly believed in his duty to protect every citizen in his reach. It was a very romantic view of the job and I feel this is similar to Inspector Fowler. Fowler has that same romantic view. I don’t mean that in a derogatory sense but more as someone to admire to take those beliefs and really stand behind them. If Dixon of Dock Green were to ever have been a comedy, this could be it. Even the openings are similar. Dixon would start (and end) every episode with him addressing the viewer and letting them know the “lesson” to be learned of the episode. Starting with Series 2 of The Thin Blue Line, the show ditches it opening title sequence and starts each episode off with Fowler addressing the audience warning us about what kind of problem will crop up in this week’s episode. After he is done, we then go into a more subdued and simpler version of the theme with title graphics taking place over the episode action. That was a real nice way to start the episodes.

Like I mentioned above, it took me a while to get into this series. It wasn’t the series fault but my own ideas of what I expected. I am really glad I stuck with it. It really is one of those gems of British comedy that gets funnier with every viewing.

Next week: From police to spies, we travel back to the 1960s where we meet up with that amazing duo John Steed and Emma Peel as we look at an episode of The Avengers. We learn The Correct Way to Kill.
Have a great week!

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