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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I am going to miss Jeremy Lloyd and I am unanimous!

When David and I are not here, they’ll still be making people laugh with things we thought of.

-Jeremy Lloyd

The Story of Are You Being Served? 2010

It’s tough to hear about the death of someone that I have never met but who had a long life. Yet, I feel like I have lost someone very influential in my life. Jeremy Lloyd was a writer that had co-written the episodes to one of my favourite TV series of all-time. Are You Being Served? I think Are You Being Served? is starting to get, over the last few years, some of the attention it deserves. It seems to me that when I got onto the Internet and seeing what people from the UK thought of these shows that it felt like Are You Being Served? was generally panned. Of course, in the US it was a mainstay on PBS stations across the country for decades.

Hearing about the death of Jeremy Lloyd chips more away of my youth. I often talk about watching these series with my Mom when I was young living at home. These are truly happy memories. It also reminds me of how it doesn’t matter what country it was made in, if it was funny then it was funny. I remember a long time ago that I needed to make a VHS tape for my grandmother-in-law (is that a thing?) Mary of episodes of Are You Being Served? because she loved it so much. She was 94 when I made her the tapes and she treasured them. The humour is accessible to everyone of virtually any age. Mary loved it simply because it was funny. It had funny lines and sometimes it was a bit slapstick. Hearing about the passing of Jeremy Lloyd reminds me of how his work not only touched me but also people who I really cared about even if they were not into this genre like I am. Mary lived to be over 101. I think of her and her sister Ruth often who lived to 98. I miss them and I smile when I think of how I was able to share my love of these series with them.

Jeremy Lloyd was born on July 22, 1930. He was immensely talented. He was a dancer, an actor, a writer. He was a writer and a regular on Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In in 1970. It was here where he needed to make the choice of going back to the states to do the next series of Laugh-In or stay in the UK and marry Joanna Lumley. He stayed with Joanna…for a very short amount of time. Thankfully he did!

I am going to be selfish here. If you want to know the background and life to Jeremy Lloyd, you should check out his Wikipedia page here. If I were to go into great detail of his life, I would just be taking most of the information from that page and basically re-arranging the words. What I want to do is take a look at 3 specific episodes from 3 of the series he co-wrote and point out some areas that I think are brilliant and why he and David Croft were a magical team together. Of course, before I get too far down the road of praising him, I do need to make a small confession. I often got Jeremy Lloyd confused with Jimmy Perry who is another writing partner to David Croft. David Croft and Jimmy Perry were responsible for Dad’s Army. As Captain Bertorelli would say on ‘Allo ‘Allo!, “What a mistaka to maka!”

Oh, What a Tangled Web TX: 13/05/76

It don't look like she got the job.

By the time Are You Being Served? got into Series 4 this show was on fire! There is almost a bit of smugness to the actors when watching some of these episodes because they knew they were doing something special that no one else was doing. The scripts were solid and especially the episodes of this series were, as far as I’m concerned, among the best.

The episode surrounds Captain Peacock being out all night with Mr. Rumbold’s secretary. Apparently, he was being very irresponsible with his blow tickler and everyone assumes that the two of them were up to no good. Of course, nothing is as simple as that. Captain Peacock tries to hide the fact he was out all night from his wife and the lie continues to grow and get out of control. In true Are You Being Served? fashion, everyone is assembled into the boardroom where the whole truth comes out.

I have said other places that my favourite type of comedy is the comedy of errors. Comedy where the characters think one thing is happening while the truth is something else is going on. Characters are misled because they overhear something incorrectly or assume something wrongly. This episode is a non-stop cavalcade of mis-information culminating into pure chaos.

It starts with Peacock and Miss Hazlewood spending the night in Redding. There is a great exchange of Rumbold telling his secretary’s father what happened over the phone based on her story she gave Rumbold. Her story says nothing about Peacock (whose first name is Steven) or being in Redding but because Rumbold can’t read his own handwriting, he tells the story wrongly and actually tells it exactly how it happened! Then, Mrs. Slocombe is going for a new job and will be interviewed by someone else in Rumbold’s office. It turns out Mrs. Peacock shows up at the store to confront her husband and Slocombe thinks she is the one to interview her for the position. That does not go well. Finally, the secretary’s father thinks it is Grainger and not Peacock that was fooling around with his daughter. She was engaged to get married but her father thinks Grainger ruined it. He takes the wedding cake (that he brought all the way with him to the store) and smashes it over Grainger’s head.

We find out that Grainger was in the pudding club. As a kid, I had no idea what this meant but everyone looked shocked when he said it. It’s getting someone pregnant! It’s a great funny moment to see Humphries and Lucas’ reaction to this revelation. Something else I noticed was that Mr. Humphries was actually more of a bystander in this episode. As time goes on, he becomes much more of the focal point. I do notice that in this episode and the one before it, Fifty Years On, he breaks the fourth wall and talks to us. I like it but glad this wasn’t an ongoing occurrence!

It is really tough to write about this one because it is a very intricate script. One mistake overlays into the other one forming a cohesive barrage of pure comedy moments. I think this is one of the best episodes of the entire series and if anyone had never seen it, I think this would be a great first episode to show for pure comic value on its own. There are so many quotable moments in this episode alone. This is a really crappy overview of an episode that needs to be watched to be truly appreciated. If you haven’t seen this episode, please seek it out.

Captain Peacock: I sat behind the wheel all night, trying to think what to say... [stands]

Captain Peacock: to the woman I love.
Mr. Lucas: Why not, "Jump in the front for a quick cuddle?"
Captain Peacock: Foolishly, I asked Mr. Rumbold to perjure himself. Quite correctly, he refused so to do. For, after all, when the final account is balanced up in the Book of Life, we are men of integrity. What I've said is true, and I swear it, as a God-fearing man, and an ex-officer of the Royal Army Service Corps.
Mr. Rumbold: [after applause from the department, Mr. Rumbold stands] Mrs. Peacock, if ever I've heard the truth from the lips of a man, then I've heard it today. I'm sure you can doubt your husband no longer.
Mr. Humphries: [to Mr. Grainger] I didn't think people talked like this anymore!

In Orbit TX: 17/07/78

Come Back Mrs. Noah was a series that starred Mollie Sugden as a housewife that won a prize of a tour of a new space station before it launches except she accidentally launches it into space with her and a few other people on board. To some, this is considered one of the worse British comedy series ever made. It is not, has anyone ever seen My Hero? I have to admit that I am not a huge fan of this series but am perplexed as to why this series has not been released in the US as Mollie and Are You Being Served? has a pretty big fan base over here. It seems like an obvious choice. I am very lucky to have been able to procure copies as it not only has never been released here but it doesn’t get shown over here anymore either.

This episode continues on from the first episode of the crew on the station trying to figure out what to do and how will they get back to Earth. This isn’t so much a Jeremy Lloyd thing but David Croft was always about using a lot of the same actors in multiple series. He almost had his own rep company in a sense of the people who he would regularly employ in his shows. Apart from Mollie, there is Gorden Kaye who we would see in ‘Allo! ‘Allo!, Ian Lavendar from Dad’s Army, Donald Hewlett & Michael Knowles who were both in It Ain’t Half Hot Mum.

The first half of the episode is very funny with the crew from the station in touch with Earth through a special satellite link from the TV series Far and Wide that Gorden Kaye’s character as host. Their transmission to Earth starts early with the crew overhearing Gorden telling the crew’s loved one in the studio that there is basically zero chance of the crew making it back to Earth safely which is performed pretty hilariously. Mrs. Noah’s husband is not with everyone else in the studio and Far and Wide cuts to a camera crew at his house. There, he tells his wife, Mrs. Noah, not to worry as he is being looked after by the neighbour. This is the point that the neighbour appears on camera and she is some twenty-year old model. It’s funny but what makes it even better is that Mrs. Noah doesn’t even really notice anything wrong with this scenario.

For me, it falls down in the second part of the episode. A lot of the episodes have a lot of “set pieces” and gags that are based off of funny props. Done well, it can be very funny but I found most of the effects on Come Back Mrs. Noah to be really lackluster. In this episode, they decide to make scrambled eggs and what they need to do to get eggs is to get them from a robotic chicken egg laying machine. It’s a silly concept which raised a few smiles from be but it is much labored. What really bored me to tears is the end of the episode where Mrs. Noah and Clive end up needing share a bedroom together and the process they need to go through to go to bed is ridiculous. I think things can be ridiculous and still funny but this is not the case.

The British Are Coming TX: 30/12/82

The very first episode of ‘Allo! ‘Allo! is what I think one of the best pilot episodes to anything, ever. It is a wonderful episode that accomplishes much in 35 minutes. It introduces us to the characters, which there are a lot of main characters! This is led by café owner Renee Artois played by Gorden Kaye. I had just seen Gorden as the TV Presenter in Come Back Mrs. Noah. I have always had a soft spot for Gorden Kaye. He works his ass off in this show. Just watch this episode, he works himself into a sweat, there is much running around in this episode.

As Renee is the café owner, he is on good terms with the two bumbling German officers Colonel von Strom and Captain Geering. They are not all that innocent. They have nicked some stuff that the Nazis have stolen to keep for themselves for a rainy day. This includes the portrait of the fallen Madonna with Big Boobies. There is a simplistic charm to these characters and plots which I think can be said of all of these series. I think what really sets the series that Lloyd and Croft have done over a lot of other series is that all the characters are loveable. This includes the “villains”.

From the Colonel and Captain to Herr Flick from the Gestapo, these characters are loveable. I smile when I see them enter a room. Sam Kelley as Captain Geering is such a joy to watch. All of the actors plays these characters as basically children. The episode moves from slapstick comedy such as the French résistance springing Leclerc from the jail cell he was currently occupying and the scenes with Edith’s mother not understanding the radio that had been installed in her bed to pretty complicated humour like how Leclerc was supposed to initiate contact with Renee at the café through code. Leclerc was supposed to ask for a cognac then ask for light to which Renee would respond, “I have no matches.” Unfortunately a new German in Nouvion, Lieutenant Gruber,  gets in the way and this wonderful exchange takes place:

René: Good evening, Herr Lieutenant. What is your pleasure?

Lt. Hubert Gruber: I would like a cognac, if you please?

René: Maria, cognac for the officer. If you would like to, eh

Lt. Hubert Gruber: Why not, why not?

René: [René puts down the cognac. Lt. Hubert Gruber reaches into his pocket and produces a cigar. René mistakes Lt. Hubert Gruber for Leclerc] I - I - I expect you would like a light?

Lt. Hubert Gruber: Thank you, you're very kind.

René: I have no matches.

Lt. Hubert Gruber: Then why do you ask me if I would like a light?

René: I'm very sorry.

Lt. Hubert Gruber: If you have no matches... if you have no matches, take mine. I have a spare box.

René: Are you one of them?

Lt. Hubert Gruber: Well, it... it was very lonely on the Russian front.

Leclerc: A cognac, if you please?

René: Maria, a cognac.

Leclerc: [Leclerc reaches into his pocket and produces a cigar. Lt. Gruber notices and lights Leclerc's cigar. Leclerc to René] Do you have a light?

Lt. Gruber: What do you want a light for? I just lit it.

Leclerc: Well, I don't want a light, I just wondered... if he had a light.

René: I have no matches.

Lt. Gruber: I've just given you some matches!

René: These are your matches! They're not my matches.

Leclerc: [to René] Is he one of us?

René: No, he's one of them.

Leclerc: Please do not tell everybody! 

Of course all of these series are famous for sprouting off catchphrases such as “I’m Free!” “Are you being served?” “It will ride up with wear.” and “Listen very carefully, I shall say this only once.” In The Story of Are You Being Served?, Jeremy Lloyd said they never wrote catchphrases because one would never know what would catch on. I don’t know if I believe that. It seems to me that some of those were set up to be catchphrases from the start and some worked better than others. Another hallmark of their productions were special effects and specialized props to accentuate the humour. This could be a department store prop as in Are You Being Served?, exploding coffins as seen in a later episode of ‘Allo! ‘Allo! or a great big robot chicken that spits out eggs at people as seen in the episode I watched of Come Back Mrs. Noah. These props didn’t always visually work but when they did, what a lot of fun to watch!

It was bad enough when David Croft passed away in 2011 at the wonderful age of 89 and now Jeremy Lloyd is gone too. These two help to prove, along with others, how universal humour is for everyone. It doesn’t matter what country you are in or what language you speak, if it’s funny it’s funny. And Jeremy Lloyd was funny.

Next week: I take a look at the rarely seen but wonderful Douglas Wilmer version of Sherlock Holmes. This is exactly the type of series I love to watch. We will be taking a look at The Beryl Coronet.

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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Don't worry, it's just a hidden coo-coo clock. Nothing sinister!

Ab Fab: Kate O'Mara Is Fabulous on an International Scale!

The one thing about writing on this blog is the ability to go back to series I haven’t seen in a long time. We all do that, right? At one time these series are very dear to us and then, like with friends, we just lose touch. I used to watch Absolutely Fabulous all the time. Religiously and basically ritualistically. Of course, with most things, I got to it fairly late in the day. I don’t think I started to really watch it until after The Last Shout aired which is par for the course for me. I remember accidentally calling a friend, who was deeply into the program, when Comedy Central was broadcasting the final episode. That didn’t go to well for me.

As with current custom, I got into Absolutely Fabulous after it was all over (for the first time) and all of the hype died down. It wasn’t because of the numerous friends who are smarter than me telling me to watch it was what got me into it. I think I just turned on Comedy Central one Saturday afternoon and watched it for about an hour and a half. I loved it. As it happened, the first episode I turned to happened to be the first episode of the series, Fashion. With each subsequent episode, I would love it more. It became funnier and riskier. I would make it a Saturday afternoon ritual to watch it before I went out for the night. Back in the mid-1990s, I would go out all the time for parties and other interesting endeavors. Those Saturday nights were a lot different to my Saturday nights now where I sit in a darkened room writing about British television.

To get myself ready for a night out (which would generally be all night), I would watch the 2 hours of Absolutely Fabulous that Comedy Central would show us every week. It was fun and would put me in the mood for a good time out. At the time, when the series was over, we all thought that was it. Absolutely Fabulous ended on a high which seemed appropriate for them.

I would have never guessed in a million years that Absolutely Fabulous would return in 2001. The last series of specials ended in 2012. Of course I will say that the first three series are superior. That being said, when it came back in 2001, for the most part I have still greatly enjoy it. As I finish up writing about the holidays, I think I was fortunate to pick Absolutely Fabulous at the right time because I can pick a Christmas episode but even more exciting is that I can pick an episode that has a rare New Year’s episode. We don’t get one of those very often so it is nice to be able to check it out, especially after so many years since I have seen it.

Happy New Year TX: 06/04/95

“Am I correct in thinking it's when the year goes up one?”

It really goes to show how long it has been since I have seen this episode. I somehow thought that this episode and the following episode Sex shared an episode. I know the plot for both episodes but I had them combined into one episode in my head. Even though the transmission of the episode was in April, this episode is solely focused on New Year’s Eve. Eddie and Patsy are getting ready to go to one of the most exclusive and hottest night clubs around. It is so exclusive, it is held in an underground car park in Romsey. I am not sure if this is a joke or not in the sense that this sort of thing was or was not happening back in the mid-1990s. I have no doubt that true raves were happening in secret all the time but this idea that this is now very common in a lot of different professions of having something in a unique location and then tweeting a bunch of people of where the location will be is ahead of its time.

Saffy is a little annoyed because once again Eddie will not be home for the New Year; out somewhere getting out of her mind. Saffy has invited everyone to the house for a get-together. In fact, this is one of the episode where the entire cast is together including Oliver who is Justin’s boyfriend but thinking about it, it’s not since Bo is not in it.

The opening scene in the kitchen with Eddie making her appearance is hilarious but every time I see it, I wonder if she will live or seriously hurt herself. Eddie goes down the stairs from the main level down to the kitchen on roller blades. It is so dangerous but hilarious. I give her credit, I would never do anything like that. Ever. Of course Eddie thinks the rollerblades were a Christmas gift from Patsy:

Eddie: Fabulous, aren't they? Pats gave them to me for Christmas.

Saffy: I gave them to you for Christmas.

Patsy: I didn't say they were from me, I just gave them to you.

Another great moment in the opening of the episode is when Marshall calls in from Hollywood. We find him in a hot tub with some airhead bimbo named Cherysh (with a Y).

“How come when she put the phone to her ear, all I could hear was the ocean?”

I didn’t realise this until I watched the episode this time is that Cherysh is played by Rebecca Font. I had just seen her in an episode of Midsomer Murders Let Us Pray and she was a regular on The Thick of It opposite Peter Capaldi playing Nicola Murray. She is simply fantastic in it. It’s a great series.

Cherysh: You have a really good sense of humour.

Marshall: And you have really great tits.

Cherysh: Thank you.

I love that exchange because it is so crass.

One other person who was not invited was Bubbles. She is a little confused on how this New Year thing works but she is also here to deliver a message. This is where we find out the Patsy has an older sister named Jackie. Jackie appears to be very influential in all things.

“She is there behind the rich and powerful, beside the rich and powerful, under the rich and powerful.”

Jackie is played by Kate O’Mara which is one of the greatest pieces of casting ever. When the doorbell rings and Patsy answers it to find Jackie the audience gasps at seeing Kate. I love it and those two play-off each other well. There is something not quite right with Jackie. She is a little out of it. Patsy wants to bring Jackie along, Eddie doesn’t want Jackie to come along and Jackie just wants to stay in.

Finally, we realise that Jackie is throwing up her food, I suppose not too difficult since she was spending time eating potpourri instead of crisps. Anything to stay thin! At the end, Patsy finds out what Jackie’s scheme is for visiting. It’s a refuge for animals. Patsy assumes it’s for bad ass animals like cats on crack but sadly it’s just animals.

Jackie: Pats I'm 72.
Patsy: Oh, my God, what does that make me, then?

It’s kind of interesting since at the end Patsy gives Jackie a needle and tells here to use it and go out with a bang. Perhaps some kind of foreboding……

When I used to watch these and collect the series, I couldn’t have been content to get them on VHS like most people. I had to be special. My collection had to be “superior” so I originally bought the first 3 series and The Last Shout on Laserdisc. That’s right, Laserdisc. I figured this was the best quality I could ever get them in. I also figured this would be the last time I would ever need to buy this series. I was set. I talked myself into this scenario, oh, so many times with just about every TV series that I have re-bought 2-3 times. What could ever surpass laserdisc? With all the times I have bought BBC titles over the years again and again, you think they would allow one of the “B”s in the BBC to stand for Bakun!

My Laserdiscs!

I actually held off on buying the DVDs for a long time because I knew that the R1 DVD set did not include the theme as broadcast but an instrumental thing. My “simple” plan was that I was going to import the R2 discs as I often did for everything else. I assumed the correct theme music was not on those discs either. The elaborate plan would call for me to rip all of the DVDs and digitally record the episodes from the Laserdiscs so I could edit them together with the theme music and then author new DVDs. If you think this is a lot of work, then you don’t know me and my own DVD creations to make sure things are broadcast accurate as possible. The good news was that when my R2 DVDs arrived, they had the proper music to them. That actually was a really nice surprise! Well, that’s one ridiculous project avoided. As I am writing this, I am streaming the series in the background on Hulu and these do not have the proper theme music to them. It really ruins it for me.

Cold Turkey TX: 24/12/03

It’s only been 8 years since the events of Happy New Year. It seems like decades. So much has happened in the series in this period of time. One of them is that Saffy got married and had a kid. Even though I still enjoyed the series, I thought the cast grew too big and strange things were happening such as how & why they made the kitchen so big, etc. I didn’t dislike the series in any stretch of the imagination, it just wasn’t as much fun as it had been. I can easily describe what happens in Series 1-4. In fact up to Gay. Series 5 is a blank to me with the exception of Cold Turkey. The last set of specials are pretty good. I deplore White Box. That being said, I think this episode is a wonderful and to be honest, one that I think could have easily ended the series.

Patsy and Eddie always go away for Christmas. This year, Eddie has decided to stay at home so she can be with her granddaughter Lola. This infuriates Patsy but we finally find out why this has always been the case. We get a look into the psyche of Patsy. She has been constantly rejected by her mother. We get a flashback and what is awesome about this is that we get Patsy’s mother in this played once again by the great Eleanor Bron. We last saw Eleanor in Magazine and Birth. Her mother hated Christmas to the point of keeping all the curtains drawn so Christmas couldn’t get into the house!

As much as Patsy is angry with Eddie for wanting to spend Christmas with her family (to the point of head-butting Eddie), something sinister is afoot. There is someone performing voodoo on Patsy and she is taken to the hospital. This is the first time since Happy New Year we see Patsy’s sister Jackie. Jackie put together Patsy’s Will for her and she is ready for Patsy to sign it. Another look into why Patsy is so bitter. Jackie has always ruined everything for Patsy. Jackie took away the only person Patsy loved.

Jackie: He was mine! Marcello Agnelli.
Patsy: He was the only man I ever loved.
Jackie: We were meant to be married.
Patsy: You took him!
Jackie: How could I take him? He was a grown man!
Patsy: You told him I was dead!
Jackie: I thought you were dead. How many people survive a heroin overdose on that scale? (QUIETLY) I must've got the purity wrong.

This time, Jackie intends to get the purity correct and put an end to Patsy’s life. The next morning, Eddie and Saffy go to the hospital to visit Patsy where a nurse finds them:

“Miss Stone passed away last night”

This is an amazing moment. As this is said, everything is quiet. The studio audience is slightly gasped and this is a real emotional moment. Nobody knows for sure what is going on. I had seen the episode before but when I watched it for this article, a great flood of emotion came to me at that moment. It’s actually quite powerful.

They walk into the room and there is a body in the bed covered up. The camera shot switches to Patsy coming out of the bathroom and asks if they are here to take her home. We find out that Jackie is the one who overdosed. I think this scene could have played out better to maximize the surprise. Perhaps cliché but I would have preferred to have seen Eddie and Saffy come into the room, upset by the news they just received. Eddie moves over to the body at the bed to pull down the covers to look at her friend only to find it is Jackie in the bed instead dead. See what I did there? I think the studio audience would have just gone crazy. We don’t see Patsy until after this moment. I think that would have been amazing. Look at me, telling Jennifer Saunders how to write Ab Fab! Where is that William Shakespeare! I have a thing or two I want to tell him too!

As I mentioned earlier, I think Cold Turkey would have been a fantastic ending to the series. It is clear that much of what had clouded Patsy revolved around here family and very much Jackie. This was lifted and now Patsy can’t stop wishing everybody a Merry Christmas. At the hospital right before they leave, Patsy looks at Saffy and whispers with a smile on her face to her, “Merry Christmas”. It is a beautiful moment. This simple scene which takes up less than 5 seconds is probably my favourite moment from Absolutely Fabulous. It is sweet and feels like a fresh start for Patsy.

Patsy is truly different after this for the rest of the episode. She is easily accepted in from everyone else in the family. Hell, she is even willing to eat food! If they had never made another episode of Absolutely Fabulous again after that, it would have been a triumphant ending. Unfortunately, it was followed up by White Box but luckily redeemed with a slight reboot of the 20^th anniversary specials.

If I were to choose between the two episodes which were better, of course I would choose Happy New Year. The writing of the series, to me, is superior and much more sharply formed. Some of the jokes make you think a little bit more and they are not just laid out there to laugh. Even if it is a series about two drug-laden boozed out women, there is a great deal of sophistication to the writing. Cold Turkey is different in that regard. It is still immensely enjoyable but the laughs seem to be a little cheaper.

There is this whole side bar about Bo & Marshall trying to sell a product called Staylene which is a weight loss product from God. As Bo and Marshall explain the concept, we cut to an “infomercial” bit that tells us what Staylene is with Bo and Marshall hawking it. It is mildly funny but actually comes across as cheap filler humour that only works OK. Other may enjoy that but it just screamed of filler. That’s just a small issue in an otherwise great episode.

I thought Cold Turkey would make a great last episode but the series goes on. I am sure we will see Eddie and Patsy ride again! There is still that movie they want to make…….eventually!

A couple of notes:

I just wanted to write about the passing of Bernard Kay who died on December 29^th at age 86. He was a tremendous actor and have seen him in many things. Obviously I first noticed him in his outings on Doctor Who where he played Tyler in The Daleks’ Invasion of Earth, Saladin in The Crusades, Inspector Crossland in The Faceless Ones, and Cadlwell in Colony in Space. I have seen him in other things such as The Avengers, Z Cars, Out of the Unknown, Survivors, Space: 1999, Foyle’s War and much more. He brought a lot of warmth and dimension to these characters that always seemed effortless. I can truly say I have enjoyed everything I have seen him in. A wonderful person who will be missed.

Finally, there is a great radio documentary on the classic series One Foot in the Grave. Producer of the documentary Richard Latto sent me a note to make me aware of it and I wanted to pass it along if you haven’t heard it. It looks back at the series and includes contribution from many of the cast and crew. You can find the documentary here. It is available to listen to until January 25^th. Richard has done other radio documentaries on other series such as Doctor Who and Hancock and I hope he does more that reflects this genre of television. Let’s support him!

Next week: I say farewell to Jeremy Lloyd who wrote some of my favourite TV series. I celebrate his amazing career by looking at 3 episodes from 3 great series: Are You Being Served? Oh, What a Tangled Web, ‘Allo ‘Allo! Pilot and episode of Come Back Mrs. Noah.

Have a great week!

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"Merry Christmas!"