Jackson Booth-Millard
I had seen a few clips from the show over the years, and I had seen the stars in dark comedy sitcom show Psychoville and dark comedy anthology show Inside No. 9, but I had never seen the full show, it was only when it returned in 2017 that I was finally able to watch it all. Mark Gatiss, Steve Pemberton and Reese Shearsmith, along with writer Jeremy Dyson, formed The League of Gentlemen comedy troupe in 1995, the show originally started on BBC Radio, and aired on television in 1999. Basically the show is set in the fictional Northern English village of Royston Vasey (apparently, the real name of comedian Roy Chubby Brown), and follows the lives of the bizarre characters. Edward and Tulip "Tubbs" Tattsyrup (Shearsmith and Pemberton) run the Local Shop, they have distinct pig noses, they challenge strangers that enter the shop, and humiliate or murder them, their catchphrases include "Are you local?", "This is a local shop, for local people; there's nothing for you here", "Hello, hello? What's going on? What's all this shouting? We'll have no trouble here!". Harvey Denton (Pemberton) and his wife Val (Gatiss) live in a 1970s-style house in an insanely ordered manner, their completely normal nephew Benjamin (Shearsmith) comes to live with them, he is bemused by their strict rules of cleanliness and use of amenities, to the point where he is trying to get away. Pauline Campbell-Jones (Pemberton) is a Restart officer working at the job centre leading mandatory (and exceedingly condescending) Restart courses for unemployed attendees, including well-meaning simpleton Mickey M. Michaels (Gatiss), she eventually loses her job after confrontations with Ross Gaines (Shearsmith), and goes to prison, is released and marries Mickey, and then develops dementia, going to a state where she believes she is still has regained her position at the job centre. Papa Lazarou (Shearsmith) is the blackfaced leader of the travelling Pandemonium Carnival, a circus and freakshow, he is often seen terrorising women and kidnapping them to make them his "wife", he only appears in one episode a series (and the Christmas Special), but became one of the most popular characters, with his gruff voice and circus ringleader costume, his imitable catchphrases include "Hello, Dave!" and "You're my wife now!". Geoffrey "Geoff" Tipps (Shearsmith), Mike Harris (Pemberton), and Brian Morgan (Gatiss) all work at the local plastics injection-moulding company, while Mike and Brian are calm, Geoff is the most distinctive of the trio, being tactless and distasteful, failing to be funny when he wants to be, getting into fits of rage, and then doing whatever he can to get by, legal or illegal. Mr. Matthew Chinnery (Gatiss) is the cheerful but accident-prone local veterinarian, most of the animals he treats end up dying, due to these many accidents he feels he may be losing his sanity, and his accidents may be curse, one which never seems to lift. Les McQueen (Gatiss) is former rhythm-guitar player for 1970s glam rock band Creme Brulée, he constantly bothers other aspiring musicians and others he meets, boring them with tales of a now outdated and unfashionable music era. Reverend Bernice Woodall (Shearsmith) does not believe in God or the teachings of the Bible and takes perverse pleasure in constantly berating and humiliating parishioners for their sins. Herr Wolf Lipp (Pemberton) is a gay German teacher and self-proclaimed "Queen of Duisburg", he is also a paedophile who likes young boys, he has not mastered the English language, so often mistakes phrases from others as double entendres, his catchphrase is "Alasclah". Hilary Briss (Gatiss) is the local butcher, he sells a secret "special stuff", mysterious and highly addictive foodstuff. Legz Akimbo is a travelling theatre company, Oliver Plimsoles (Shearsmith) is the leader, writing and directing all their work, Phil Proctor (Gatiss) is gay and getting many film and television roles, making Oliver and Dave Parkes (Pemberton) jealous, they travel around mostly performing shows for schools and halls with performances consisting of delivering "helpful" advice to their audiences. Barbara Dixon (Paul Hays-Marshall and Michael Gallagher, voiced by Pemberton) is a transsexual taxi driver, often picking up characters from the village, she is only seen in glimpses, with noticeable male attributes, including chest hair and a deep gravelly voice, she often discusses with her passengers all disgusting details of her transition. The plot of the first series involved a new road being built through the village, meaning more strangers visiting the town, this ends when the construction manager is taken in by his long-lost parents, Tubbs and Edward, to live "locally". The plot of the second series saw many residents experiencing a deadly nose bleed epidemic, killing many; and the Local Shop murders are discovered. The Christmas Special sees three characters seeking the advice of the Reverend on Christmas Eve, with their stories seen in flashback, Bernice hates Christmas because of a terrifying childhood experience, her mother was kidnapped, and the kidnapper, Papa Lazarou, returns to take her. The fourth series, which was produced as a celebration of the 20th anniversary for the BBC Radio series, catches up with the characters, Royston Vasey is threatened by boundary changes, Bernice has escaped and returned to become the Mayor, she launches a campaign to save the town. Tubbs and Edward have survived the fire that burned down the Local Shop, the Prime Minister eventually changes his mind about the village boundaries, while Tubbs and Edward go on the run after killing a councillor and a local journalist, and a photo booth causing people to disappear is revealed to be a trap by Papa Lazarou, bringing women down into his mine. Also starring Jeremy Dyson as Various Characters, Roy Chubby Brown as Mayor Larry Vaughan, Car Share's Sian Gibson as Tricia, twins Megan De Wolf and Rosy De Wolf as Chloe and Radclyffe Denton, David Arnold as Victorian Gentleman with Fox, Freddie Jones as Dr. Magnus Purblind, Liza Tarbuck as Donna, Doctor Who's Nicholas Briggs as Garden Centre Worker, Christopher Eccleston as Dougal Siepp, Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen, Andy Nyman as Carl, Coronation Street's Brooke Vincent as Casey Glass and David Morrissey as Gareth Chapman. The first and series remained as a sketch show style format, with running sitcom themes, the Christmas Special only had two or three of the regular characters and seemed almost like a separate thing, and the fourth series tried mildly well to recapture the spirit, the show is obviously inspired and paying homage to great horror movies, all in all it is both a scary and funny show, and spawned its own spin-off movie, an entertaining dark comedy series. Job Seekers - The Interview was number 23, the Circus Comes to Town was number 14, and Tubbs and Edward - Road Men was number 3 on The 50 Greatest Comedy Sketches, Tubbs was number 16 on The 100 Greatest TV Characters, Pauline was number 22 and Papa Lazarou was number 8 on The World's Greatest Comedy Characters, "You're my wife now!" was number 36 and "This is a local shop for local people" was number 10 on 50 Greatest Comedy Catchphrases, the Christmas Special was number 32 on The 100 Greatest Christmas Moments, and it was number 24 on the 100 Greatest Scary Moments, and the show was number 41 on Britain's Best Sitcom. Very good!
unclekrunkle
This is probably the best television show I've ever seen. I first saw it on Comedy Central several years ago. At the time I was unaware that it had been dramatically edited and was shown out of order, and having just watched all three series in order and unedited (thank you internet and your wondrous "series of tubes") I am SO GLAD I rediscovered it! I think Comedy Central sort of picked and chose their way through series one and two to make a "season"......and I tried to get friends and family to watch it, but nobody really seemed to like it (I need new friends). So, on my own, I made the best out of it that I could. Even when I felt like it was waning a bit, I still felt compelled to continue watching. Years after when I discovered Little Britain, I immediately recognized Pauline from LoG as having influenced Marjorie in Fat Fighters. Also, I love the idea of writers who act the entire show....(not new, but done impeccably here). LB has nothing on LoG! (No offense, Matt & David....Love you)! This is indeed a darkly comedic piece of genius. Serial murder, implied cannibalism.....you name it and it's probably found in this wonderful, unique piece of TV art. The location shots from the very first scene themselves are chilling and seem to beckon you to the town of Royston Vasey.....You'll Never Leave! I think my favorite character would have to be Tubbs, but each character as portrayed has it's own "charm". My least favorite was Papa Lazarous, that was until he re-surfaced in series three (clever and wholly unexpected)! It's best to watch several episodes in a row as it drives the continuity and as I said before, becomes so compelling (while repulsing) that you really CAN'T stop watching. This is not for those with weak stomachs, kids, conservatives or Grandma (unless you've got one saucy granny)! I have always loved British TV, particularly comedies, from Monty Python to Benny Hill, Red Dwarf to Keeping Up Appearances, Absolutely Fabulous and the British originals Coupling and The Office (but not their US counterparts....sorry). This is unlike any of those in that it completely redraws the line between what's funny and what's just sick and twisted. Nothing, NOTHING on US TV has ever come close to this level of entertainment. US broadcast TV is so sad and lame, I can barely stand to watch ANY of it. It's kind of sad that even our cable channels don't have the guts to show unedited versions of this gem (your loss, Comedy Central). Thankfully there are shows like this one that come from the "across the pond" that redeem the entire medium every decade or so. Basic cable here in the US has been making tiny steps the last few years in confidently "crossing lines" with more graphic sexual content, drug use and adult language, but they are still years away from just deciding to be Adults about showing real life, adult behavior (instead of just murder obsession and blowing things up, sheesh, it's like the same basic show format for the past 35 years)! Don't even get me started on US sitcoms! Waste of time and lots of wasted money......did you know that "According to Jim" has been on the air for 10 years??? 10 YEARS?? Anyway... Watch this show, get it on DVD, do what you must and then make your friends watch it as well! You've never seen anything like it. There are three specials that I have not watched yet....I'm saving them to spring on my best friend next time he visits. He'll watch them, even if I have to chain him up and paint him with Excrement! Lines and lines and lines and lines! Note that series three departs from one and two....the greater town seems to fall away to concentrate on newer characters, the laugh track is gone (thank bloody hell), the theme is more band and less orchestra and a bit of the story takes place outside of Royston Vasey. Don't be thrown by any of that as by the end, the series has preserved the quiet perversity first demonstrated in series one and two. I think these four guys have created something sort of undefinable. Brilliant, confident and absolutely demented. You will want to re-watch it again and again. It's amazing that in 5 seconds of screen time they can go from cheap sight-gag to horrifying blasphemy then end with a single actors close-up facial expression. If ever I were to meet any of the writer/performers, I'd implore them not to recreate it or try to top it.....I'd just say "Can I help you at all?" (Then they'd probably slap me, so I'd ask them to sign the slap-mark)! 10 out of 10
