It’s 1996, and the United Kingdom is celebrating what will quite probably be its final hurrah as the epicentre of pop culture. Cool Britannia is in full swing, with Britpop, Trainspotting and the Spice Girls making enormous waves all over the world. The Tory government, led by an increasingly disheartened John Major, is falling apart, and soon New Labour will come along and sweep up the nation into a fever pitch.
And something very weird is happening in our pop charts. Always an eclectic of popular music styles, there’s suddenly a resurgence in kooky, quirky music that had arguably taken a back seat since the summer of love had come to an end. And much like the mid-1960s, at the epicentre of this is a quartet from Liverpool, who are making strange music about losers and weirdos that’s shifting huge volumes.
Whilst they were never destined to have the chart longevity of that other fab four, Space nevertheless had a reasonable run of Top 40 success, before becoming victims of circumstance. Now, a new Anthology box-set is on the market courtesy of Edsel, collecting up most of the tracks released during their initial run, as well as the first products of their revival in the last decade.
Formed in 1993 by singer-guitarist Tommy Scott, singer and bassist Jamie Murphy, and drummer Andy Parle, the band’s debut 12” single, If It’s Real?, was a sharp number that owed a debt to The B-52’s and The Cramps, with its punky riff and almost yelled lead vocals.
Their debut album, Spiders, added a key element to the group’s sound in the shape of keyboardist Franny Griffiths. Influenced by dance music – particularly electronica – Griffiths heled the band fuse of disparate elements together, bringing in samples and synthesised filmic string arrangements to create a signature Space sound. In Scott and Murphy, the band had two alternating lead vocalists and principal songwriters, though it would be Scott’s songs that would be pushed to the forefront as singles.
And whilst their second and third singles stalled, the fourth was set to become an anthem worldwide. Recorded in tribute to Scott’s father, Female of the Species was an immediate hit, and helped push the album to sell a whopping 800,000 copies within two years.
Suddenly, the band were big news, with hit after hit under their belt. Me & You vs the World was a tale of two star-struck lovers who die in a bungled robbery; Dark Clouds dreamt of a holiday far away from a terrible life, and Neighbourhood spoke of weird and wonderful individuals who would band together to fight the threat of demolition. Space’s world was a bizarre place, with songs about serial killers and psychopaths, but it was always welcoming, with an arch wink to its audience and an appreciation for, as Lydia Deetz once put it, the “strange and unusual”.
With Parle bowing out, Space recruited multi-instrumentalist Yorkie, and drummer Leon Caffrey to record their follow up. Tin Planet became another sizable hit, with its first two singles threatening the higher reaches of the charts. Avenging Angels and The Ballad of Tom Jones cemented the band’s place in the mainstream, and the latter brought them to the attention of its namesake. Jones had joined the same label as the band (Gut Records), and asked them to join him on his covers album Reload. More high-profile guest slots followed, and the band’s cover of We’ve Gotta Get Out Of This Place became the theme to a high profile car ad for good measure. By the summer of 1999, they’d well and truly joined the big league.
But by the time their third album came along, Space’s relationship with Gut Records was strained. The band had chosen musician Edwyn Collins to produce their third album, Love You More than Football, but the label didn’t like the results. Struggling to cope with the cost of promoting Tom Jones’ Reload record, the label’s promotion of Space’s first single in 18 months, Diary of a Wimp, was lacklustre and the track failed to crack the top 40. After an argument, the label shelved the band’s new record, and whilst bootleg copies have been circulating for years, the Anthology box-set is the first time the whole album (augmented with a couple of B-sides) has ever been released in its entirety.
Frustrated by the situation, Jamie Murphy quit. The remaining members pushed onwards, self-releasing the single Zombies in 2002, as well as a series of free downloads through their website (all of which make their commercial CD debut here, too). In 2004, they released a new album, Suburban Rock ‘N’ Roll, which was arguably their strongest set yet. But without a major label behind them, the album and its singles failed to find an audience, and Space called it a day the following year.
Following the sudden death of original drummer Andy Parle, the band decided to get back together for a one-off gig in their home town of Liverpool. Tommy Scott, Jamie Murphy and Franny Griffiths were joined by members of Tommy’s new band The Drellas – Phil Hartley, Allan Jones and Ryan Clarke – and it’s this line-up, minus Murphy, who went on to record the band’s fifth album – and first in a decade.
2014’s Attack of the Mutant 50ft Kebab was strongly influenced by the psychobilly tinged punk sound of The Drellas, and now Space were comfortable with the fact that they’d never really trouble the charts again, they produced a strong set of horror/sci-fi tinged numbers that would reignite their cult following. Clarke would bow out of the group shortly after the album’s initial tour wrapped up, leaving Scott, Griffiths, Hartley and Jones to keep the flame alive ever since.
And so we come to this Anthology box-set, which begins with 1993’s If It’s Real single, and runs to 2016’s single Strange World across six CDs. It’s a far from complete overview of the band’s oeuvre: with 14 b-sides from the Gut era missing. Also absent are 2014 b-side The Devil’s at the Party, and The Shit You Talk is Beautiful: a Gut era track which remained unreleased until various compilations were peddled out in the mid-00s without the band’s input.
There’s also no sign of the band’s title track to the 1998 Hollywood blockbuster (and box office bomb) Lost in Space, their duet with Tom Jones (Sunny Afternoon), or their contributions to Noel Coward and Bee Gees tribute albums from the same year. There’s also no sign of any of their remixes, which in many cases were produced by the band themselves, and reflect the more electronic side of their output.
And the band’s most recent work is also absent: 2016 single Blow Up Doll (and its’ vinyl-only B-sides), 2017 single Dangerous Day, and 2018 studio album Give Me Your Future could all have been on a seventh disc. In fact, the end result is that 36 studio recordings and dozens of remixes are missing, and frustratingly, all but the first two CDS in the box had plenty of space left over to include them and make this set truly definitive.
On the positive side, Love You More than Football finally gets an official release here and several tracks have never had commercial CD releases either. So while it could have been better, in the end, this box-set gives you five studio albums, plus 31 bonus recordings, for under £20.
And if you’ve only ever heard the handful of top ten hits from over two decades ago, you’re in for an absolute treat, with the lesser known later albums more than living up to the mega-selling 90s records. And if you were a massive fan 20 years ago, but haven’t checked in with them since, allow me to quote one of their more recent songs – listening to this box-set will be like “falling in love all over again”. Dive in.
❉ ‘Space: The Anthology’ is released 8 November 2019 from Edsel Records (EDSL0045), RRP £19.99.
“And then, the BBC2 sketch series The Fast Show turned 25, giving a whole generation of comedy lovers a chance to reflect on the enormous impact the series, and its cast, have had on British culture ever since. Which was nice.”
It began, confusingly, with an American newsreader telling the audience his name, before immediately jump cutting to a rapid montage of unfamiliar characters, before Harry Enfield’s mate Paul Whitehouse appeared on screen in a bright yellow suit, florid purple shirt and terrible toupee, crooning Englebert Humperdink’s gawd-awful chart topper Release Me. Moments later, two chubby guys in preposterous amounts of padding are playing out a parody of The Bill in which every copper on the beat is enormously overweight and constantly looking for food.
Not the most auspicious of starts, it has to be said, but nevertheless, this is how The Fast Show burst onto our screens on 27th September 1994. And it’s hard to explain, 25 years later, how different this show felt at the time. Sketches could last as little as ten seconds, getting straight to the point that most other shows took minutes to reach – the all-important catch-phrase. This was a show that broke down what was expected of sketch comedy, truly living up to its title by rarely letting a skit outstay its welcome.
And perhaps the cleverest part of this philosophy was that it allowed the sketches that did warrant extra time the chance to breathe, and still keep the hit-rate sky high. If something didn’t work for you, there was almost certainly something else coming along in under a minute that’d make you chuckle.
From “Unlucky” Alf, Paul Whitehouse’s lonely old pensioner with terrible bad luck, to Swiss Toni, Charlie Higson’s acutely observed car salesman who can make anything a simile for making love to a beautiful woman, the series knew how to harness a trope to create recurring comedy gold.
The punchlines may often be the same, but the glory of The Fast Show was often how cleverly they got there. Watch any Roy and Renee sketch, in which John Thomson and Caroline Aherne play a henpecked husband and an overbearing wife, and tell me honestly it’s not a joy to discover how Renee is going to be offended by her husband’s casual honesty this week.
It didn’t even matter that some of these characters don’t even have names – Arabella Weir made the catchphrase “Does my bum look big in this?” into such an oft-repeated phrase that it’s now entered the everyday lexicon and a lot of people probably have no idea where it came from anymore, like some mythical comedic folklore. Similarly, Mark Williams’ humble cry of “I’ll get me coat” has become the go-to phrase to get out of an awkward situation, and his beautifully downplayed “Which was nice” has probably invaded middle class life in ways the show could never have perceived when it mocked them so beautifully.
And sometimes, it’s those perfect observations that work best. A criminally underrated character is Simon Day’s Competitive Dad – a man with two children who likes nothing more than to prove to them, above all else, that he’s a winner. If that character had come along in the days of Vine, Simon would probably be a millionaire by default, because it so brilliantly summarises toxic masculinity before the phrase toxic masculinity was on anyone’s lips. So too, did Simon and Lindsey – two laddish losers who keep failing spectacularly in their off-road adventures, and Arabella Weir’s recurring sketch as the woman who men can’t hear, repeatedly pointing out the right answer and being ignored only for a man to come along and tell everyone the exact same thing.
Also of note, are Higson’s office clown Colin Hunt (we’ve all known a Colin at some point in our lives), Caroline Aherne knocking it out the park as Rochdale teenage mum Janine Carr, Weir’s pushy cosmetics saleswoman with a bright orange face and a penchant for insulting people needlessly, and the frankly sublime series of Mediterranean TV inserts from the bonkers Channel 9.
Then, of course, there’s Ted and Ralph – which almost feels like it’s being beamed in from another show altogether. Written by the team behind Father Ted, the recurring sketch is, unusually for The Fast Show, a continuing narrative, telling the story of a seemingly unrequited love story between a rich landowner and his farmhand, both beautifully underplayed by Higson & Whitehouse to such great effect, that they even wound up with a spin-off special, and their will they/won’t they love affair was miles ahead of its time in that it was never, ever mocked by the show in an era where homosexuality was still not accepted in the mainstream.
At the other end of the scale, when The Fast Show got silly, it got really, really silly. Whitehouse’s ramblings as Rowley Birkin QC, Higson’s delightful mania as painter Johnny Nice, and any time Mark Williams ever brings out his confused country bumpkin – I don’t think I’ve ever laughed as hard in my life as I did at the unexpected cry of “What about centipedes, from an angry place?”
Yes, some of The Fast Show has dated badly. Yet alongside The Smell of Reeves and Mortimer, which began the previous year, and The Day Today which had aired back in January of 1994, the series demonstrated that this new breed of comedic talent was taking the template laid out by their predecessors, pulling it apart and sticking it back together again in new, innovative ways.
25 years later the team are household names, with an enormous legacy of work behind them. The series also gave a platform to other comic talents, like Rhys Thomas (later to create Bellamy’s People and Brian Pern), Tony Way (who is rivalling Paul Putner & Kevin Eldon for the title of ‘Most Comedy Shows Cast In’), and the brilliant and sorely missed Felix Dexter.
Not only that, but the show inspired the next generation of talent too. Would we have had the likes of Big Train, and then, by proxy, Spaced (which recently turned 20, no less), without these shows five years earlier? Or the much loved Goodness Gracious Me? The divisive Little Britain? The cult favourites Cardinal Burns, Smack the Pony, or That Mitchell and Webb Look? Quite probably – The Fast Show didn’t invent madcap sketch shows after all – but it’s fair to say that the shows would be rather different because by the time the show ceased regular production in 1999, The Fast Show was fused into alternative comedy’s DNA.
To see it turn 25 is a frightening thought. What once was new and innovative is now celebrating its silver anniversary. That feeling won’t be going away any time soon, either… Fist of Fun, The High Life and Father Ted turn 25 next year, and both Jam and Black Books will be 20, while the mighty Vic Reeves Big Night Out turns 30, for good measure. That we’re still returning to these shows all these years later is a testament to the impact they had on our lives, and that they still (mostly) feel fresh is a solid indicator of just how much what they gave us has resonated through everything we’ve had since.
Now then… does anyone fancy a pint?
The Fast Show complete box set is available on DVD.
The very notion of Jessica Hynes writing and directing her own feature film feels long overdue. To paraphrase an old script of hers, every time the actress has written for television, the results have been a slice of fried gold.
And yet the announcement of The Fight felt rather subdued. It’s hard to get excited over a film about boxing, and the initial plot outline of a put-upon mother who learns how to fight for herself could so easily have been a throwback to those ten-a-penny low budget British ‘comedy’ films that came out around the turn of the century. It’d have been so easy to make a rags to riches tale complete with a training montage set to the latest forgettable pop hit that’d inevitably date the film on subsequent viewings.
Of course, Jessica Hynes isn’t here to make another bad British movie. Instead, she’s carved out a thoughtful, three dimensional character study that doesn’t pretend to have all the answers, yet isn’t afraid – no pun intended – to throw some heavy punches.
It’s hard to say much about the plot without giving half the game away, but Hynes plays Tina, a care-home nurse by day, and a struggling mum to three children the rest of the time. Her husband, Mick (played by the ever wonderful Shaun Parkes) works night-shifts and so, apart from a brief bit of ‘family time’, never really gets to see her.
While Tina struggles with finding her place in life, Mick has accepted his lot, and is one of the few people in her life who seems to have found a degree of happiness. The same cannot be said for Tina’s parents, Gene and Frank – who, in pitch perfect turn from veterans Anita Dobson and Christopher Fairbank, are falling apart, unable to communicate with one another and prone to lashing out in frustration.
As for Tina & Mick’s children, The Girl With all the Gifts star Sennia Nanua plays their eldest child, Emma, and fresh from lighting up the screen as an infected plague carrier in a post-apocalyptic landscape, she’s especially good at portraying a young girl feeling lost in the enclosed environment of high school. School bullies make her feel unwelcome at every turn, and in an unfortunate twist of fate, the girl leading the pack not only happens to be the daughter of a woman Tina knew growing up, but has convinced her own mother that it’s Emma who’s doing the bullying, which sets up for an inevitable showdown between the two old enemies.
This is the point where those lesser films would fall into stereotypes, quickfire gags and a heartwarming, feelgood ending that’s the movie equivalent of bingeing an entire box of Milk Tray in one sitting and regretting it afterwards. And here’s the thing – despite what audiences might expect, The Fight isn’t a comedy. It’s also barely got any boxing in it.
No, instead we have a film that is concerned with the notion of the battle within us all. The struggle we all face to fit in, and to be supported on our journey. Mick finds happiness in his family, but everyone else is in the middle of a world falling apart. Even Jordan, the girl who torments Emma, has chinks in her armour – with an overbearing mother (a flawless turn from Rhona Mitra) who also has problems of her own to overcome. Almost every major character in this movie is battling for their self-worth, haunted by mistakes they made, and those around them made that pushed them into the place they are today.
There are a couple of exceptions to this. Sally Philips plays a music teacher at Emma’s school, who helps her find the confidence to perform, Cathy Tyson is hardened boxing trainer Viv, and Alice Lowe has a brief cameo as a middle-class hippy home-schooling mum who uses a special pebble to indicate when it’s your turn to talk. In their own way, much like Mick, they’ve found the happiness they seek, and don’t let the past haunt them. Yet there are also moments when these characters have their happiness challenged, and they must either push away what they don’t want to think about, or use it to make themselves stronger. Everyone must find a way to feel proud, and for some that comes through ignorance. For others, it’s acceptance. And for a couple, it’s breaking the rules altogether.
And part of what makes this film so special is that Hynes has honed in on the shadows that the past leaves behind on an individual. Dysfunctional families. Abusive guardians. Childhood bullying and the notion of anger driving your actions. Hynes characters allow you to hold up a mirror to your own past, and like them, maybe find some inner peace along the way.
On top of this, the film looks and sounds beautiful. Shot by noted cinematographer Ryan Eddleston (who also worked with Alice Lowe on Prevenge), the framing is rich, and once again defies the fact that the whole film was shot in 12 days. And composer Luke Abbot has a light touch approach which never impedes on the drama, enhancing key moments with a sprinkling of electronica.
Could it be more adventurous? Perhaps. Make no bones about it: this is a small scale drama that won’t rock the boat. But sometimes the richest rewards are not laugh-a-minute gag riots, or action packed CGI extravaganzas. It’s the little things like a dad encouraging his young daughter to turn her poetry into song. It’s a woman taking her shoes off to help a young girl find her phone in a river, or a silly conversation in a front garden with the person you love the most. As Tina begins to learn, those little things can help more than a million self-help tapes. Hard lives begat hard lives, but sometimes, if you just sing to your own tune, life can be worth living.
❉ ‘The Fight’ was released by Sparky Pictures Ltd. on DVD 9 September 2019. Cert: 15. Running Time: 91 mins approx. Cat.No: SPARKY1008. Director: Jessica Hynes. Cast includes Jessica Hynes, Anita Dobson, Christopher Fairbank, Liv Hill, Rhona Mitra, Alice Lowe, Sally Phillips, Cathy Tyson. Also available on digital VOD platforms.
The League of Gentlemen return with three anniversary specials next week, and TVO has been lucky enough to take a sneaky peek at the first two instalments.
Fifteen years after the third series, and twelve since their movie spin-off and final UK tour together – is it worth the wait and deserving of the hype? With some very minor spoilers below, find out…
There was a time when the only people in showbiz having reunions were has-been pop-stars of the kind Les McQueen would have claimed to have played rhythm guitar for (on the demo) back in 1982. Then came the big guns of music and comedy, from The Stone Roses and Led Zeppelin to Monty Python and Goodness Gracious Me.
To say every big name reunion has worked out would be a bit of a fib, and sometimes it’s been best to leave the past in the past. This feeling couldn’t help but linger in the back of our collective minds when it was announced that The League of Gentlemen would return to celebrate twenty years since both their Perrier Award winning Edinburgh show and their BBC debut with radio seriesOn the Town with The League of Gentlemen.
After all, across three further televised series, a Christmas special, a fully fledged high-concept movie and two sell-out tours of the UK, The League of Gentlemen had blazed a bold trail. As a teenager, their work was as vital to me as pens were to Pauline Campbell-Jones. I made the pilgrimage to Hadfield, where the show was filmed, after the second series aired. I had a life-sized cardboard cut-out of Papa Lazarou, and could quote you his ad-libbed gibberish to this very day (even the deleted bits). When they filmed in my local garden centre for the third series, I was more excited than I thought it was possible to ever be about a garden centre. The League of Gentlemen was special, so much so that I made a decision over half a decade ago to stop watching it (and a handful of other shows) over and over again, and to only revisit it when it could feel fresh once more.
The news of these special episodes prompted that eventual rewatch after all these years. Admittedly, there were parts of the show which most definitely hadn’t held up as well as others, particularly some uncomfortable use of yellowface in Series Three. And there were whole scenes which were still stuck in my mind to recital level, which perhaps robbed them of their comedic joy. But it was still delightful to rediscover the series blackly comic finer points once again, but now with the knowledge that there was to be a new and hopefully fitting coda to their legacy. All four of The League had gone on to great acclaim with wonderful work such as Inside No. 9, Psychobitchesand Sherlockin the years since, so surely they’d only be revisiting their old creations if there was a point to it, and not just as a cheap cash-in?
Still, there was a genuine fear that, as wonderful as the old series was, some of it was very much a product of its era and could simply be uncomfortable viewing if aired today, and that’s before we considered the possibility that – whilst their work apart in the years since has been a delight – the reunion just might not actually be that funny.
Writers and stars Mark Gatiss, Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith, writer Jeremy Dyson, returning director Steve Bendelack and Inside No. 9 producer Adam Tandy have managed to not only make a successful return to Royston Vasey that feels like they’ve never been away, but also have fused that template into some insightful social commentary, and a big budget look the original series could only dream of.
To say too much would spoil half the surprises, but perhaps the cleverest stroke of these anniversary specials is to mirror the original series from the get-go, joining the story as Benjamin Denton returns to Royston Vasey for the first time since he left at the end of Series Two, in a sequence that harks back to the very beginning of Episode One right back in 1999.
And that’s not the only sweet touch throughout the new episodes, which are jam-packed with carefully placed in-jokes to please the show’s hardcore following, from the Lost & Found posters put up around town, to the latest iteration of The Full Monty spin-offs that are still going strong. There’s even a beautifully done visual reference at the climax of episode one that will surely please fans of Pemberton and Shearsmith’s post-League output that we won’t spoil – just look out for it.
Throughout the opening two episodes (the third and final part is being kept strictly under wraps until next week), there are appearances from most of Royston Vasey’s most beloved characters – including Reverend Bernice Woodall, who is the latest foul-mouthed Mayor for poor hapless Murray to keep in check; Herr Lipp back in town to, as the trailer revealed, “dig up some old friends”; and Mr Chinnery who has another couple of tragic appointments with vastly improved special effects. So far, so expected, perhaps. This could have been a pointless jaunt through the jolly old catchphrases of old, and in fairness, these sequences do play a little bit like a Greatest Hits album re-recording because the rights issues to a big hit are tied up in legal issues. Similar, but not quite the same.
Underpinning most sequences, however, are two themes that drive the episodes forward – loss, and the passage of time. The latter is obvious from the technology on display – there’s no need for Benjamin to use a payphone any more when he’s carrying his own mobile phone, whilst Tubbs has her own wonderful experience with a tefalome of her own that isn’t just a quick gag, but an ingenious way to advance the plot. Similarly, time is a respecter of change, and while we initially thought the League might shy away from including trans cab driver Barbara Tattsyrup (nee Dixon), they’ve found a way to make her work in 2017 without being too crass about it. Despite her cantankerous nature, she remains, after all, one of the nicer folk in town.
So too, do these two themes become a driving force of the main sub-plot of the series – that Royston Vasey is to be engulfed into a bigger town and thereby erased from the map, with its rows of boarded-up shops and its astonishing track record for missing persons being swallowed up and brushed aside. Whilst the concept is exaggerated for comedic effect, it nevertheless remains a genuine fear for many small communities across the UK who pride themselves on being – well, local – and you have to hand it to the League for tackling the subject in an inventive way.
But crucially these undercurrents of loss and time passing us by define the episodes in many ways, and like much of the best work that the League have done since the series originally ended, allow the comedy to shine through bittersweet situations.
Take Geoff Tipps, now working at a garden centre part-time, struggling to make ends meet, and his only friend Mike Harris, whose marriage has reached such a terrible state that he’ll consider drastic action to find peace. Or there’s Al, Richie and their long-absent Pop, who has returned after a long time to reignite old fears that had previously haunted both his two sons, and Al’s wife Patricia (a brilliant returning cameo from Carshare star Sian Gibson).
Then there’s the story of Ollie Plimsoles, former head writer/director/star of Legz Akimbo Theatre Company, who is now a teacher with his dreams of stardom now purely his dreams alone. Elsewhere, Henry & Ally, the former video-store regulars, are desperately trying to flog pirate DVDs to people half their age. And there’s a beautiful monologue from Mark Gatiss’ new character Toddy which has the hallmarks of Mark’s other Royston Vasey loners Mick McNamara, Owen Fallowfield and Les McQueen, yet still manages to do something quite moving with bingo numbers that acts as a welcome change of pace at just the right point in the middle of Episode Two.
But most especially, there’s Pauline and Mickey. It’s extremely hard to say anything about their appearances (or that of former nemesis Ross) in the new series without ruining the narrative, but what we can say is that it’s while it’s a joy to see these characters, they remain one of the emotional cores of the series and what happens to them this time around will tug at your heartstrings in ways you didn’t think possible.
Make no mistake though – these episodes are as funny as the originals, if not more so in places, from Barbara’s favourite pronoun to some sublime physical comedy from Reece Shearsmith as Geoff tries to travel stealthily. Legs Akimbo and Bernice continue to push the boundaries of good taste, The Dentons are dialing in from a weirder reality to everyone else, and Tubbs & Edward remain as deliciously and potentially murderously bonkers as ever.
And through it all the core acting trio of Shearsmith, Pemberton and Gatiss never break the precious things that made their characters so oddly lovable in the first place – they slip into them all like old outfits that still fit perfectly, and even when times have changed and the character doesn’t quite fit into our world anymore (such as the odorous Pop), in most cases they still find a way to make them work for a new generation. And even when that doesn’t quite pay off in a tiny handful of characters, they at the very least play them through their regular scenarios with such gusto that you can forgive them their folly because it’s still delightful to see them back on our screens.
What we have here is a faithful continuation of what went before – right down to minor plot points being explained (or at least explicitly referenced) – so that future fan marathons will allow these episodes to sit right alongside the original three series and that glorious Christmas special as one complete narrative cycle (The League of Gentlemen’s Apocalypse appears to remain in its own special bubble… or does it?).
Factor in a mysteriously unexplained photo booth, and the promise of yet more favourite characters returning in the third and final instalment, and it’s fair to say that these three new episodes are crammed full of special stuff and demonstrate that there’s a lot of life in Royston Vasey yet. If there’s one complaint, it’s that 90 minutes doesn’t feel long enough, so as long as The League of Gentlemen have something to say, we’ll always be willing to allow them to use Royston Vasey to say it. Let’s hope we don’t have to wait til the 30th anniversary to see them again…
The League of Gentlemen anniversary specials air on BBC Two on Monday 18th, Tuesday 19th and Wednesday 20th December at 10:00pm.
Hang on to your bonnets – Jane Austen themed improv show Austentatious is currently on tour across the UK, and to celebrate, TVO caught up with the team and decided to ask each of them just one question.
Imagine a cross between Russian Roulette and Smash Hits ‘Oh No Not The Biscuit Tin’, and you’re not too far off the mark, except with much better Regency get-up and nobody dying. And sadly fewer biscuits. This is the result…
The Velvet Onion: Were you a fan of Jane Austen’s work before getting involved in the show, and has all this improv on her themes changed your perception of her work?
Rachel Parris: Before starting Austentatious, I certainly liked her novels but had only read a couple. It was after creating the show that we all made an effort to get to know her work better – and having read her books, her letters and learned more about her world, I am a bigger fan now than I ever was. I think doing improv around her style makes me take notice of the less obvious sides of Austen – the moments of mournful feeling, the biting sarcasm, the fervent frustration. She’s known for light witty conversation but doing this show reminds you she wrote much more than that, and we try to incorporate all that into what we do. It’s a challenge!
TVO: What’s the best bit of improv you’ve seen come out of the group so far?
Andrew Hunter Murray: ‘Best’ is tricky, but the most effective was probably at this year’s Edinburgh Fringe, when Joseph took all his clothes off to play a nudist. This sounds relatively easy, but when you consider the amount of buttons involved in a Regency costume, it’s actually extremely impressive.
TVO: You ask audiences to come up with titles for lost Austen works. What’s the weirdest one you’ve seen?
Charlotte Gittins: After six years, you could be forgiven for thinking we must have heard every possible title suggestion, but our audiences continually come up with mind-blowing new gems. We’d need an entire novel to run through all the weirdest titles we’ve received, but ‘Godzilla vs. Mega Darcy’ was definitely up there with all the great literary classics. Who better than Jane Austen to tackle the fractious romance of reptilian monster vs. bionic man in all its scaly, homoerotic glory? Somebody pass the smelling salts…
TVO: Do you prefer improv to performing scripted comedy?
Amy Cooke-Hodgson: I don’t think I can choose between them! There’s something very satisfying about rehearsing and crafting a sketch or performing in a comedy play – you get the chance to tweak the timing.
I was lucky enough to play the Queen in the UK premier of a long lost Cole Porter comedy musical for a six week run. Because it had never been seen in the U.K. before, there were no expectations of how the role should be played, which was a gift. It was a real lesson in making it ‘different every night’; the perfect opportunity to experiment with delivery.
TVO: You can only read one Jane Austen book ever again. Which one?
Cariad Lloyd: I know it’s obvious, but Pride & Prejudice is still my absolute favourite. I think the cool kids like Persuasion, which I do also love. But for pure joy filled writing and to simply spend time with as excellent a character as Lizzie Bennet, it has to be P&P for me. I always think of it as a gateway book for Jane Austen – if you’ve never read or seen anything she’s done, start here and you get exactly the style and why we’re still going on about her 200 years later.
TVO: If you were an Austen era tavern, what would you be called?
Joseph Morpurgo: THE GROG ORIFICE.
TVO: How much fun was Crosstentatious, and are drag shows going to reoccur?
Daniel Nils Roberts: It was loads of fun! Just for anyone who doesn’t know, Crosstentatious (as the name suggests) is an annual cross-dressing take on our show that we do for charity. Obviously it’s tonnes of fun squeezing into chest-hair exposing dresses and daubing on daft beards, but it is also a chance to turn the restrictiveness of Austen’s writing on its head. In many ways it’s a bit of a relief as a performer to be able to throw off the templates of cossetted female characters, and sombre menfolk, and mix things up a bit. There’s always quite a different atmosphere too – we do it late at night, so we get quite a different audience, and lots of returning fans, which means it turns into a baying hothouse of bawdy references and is all performed with a bit more abandon. And of course it’s lovely to think that such silliness raises lots of money for amazing charities (always Waverley Care when in Edinburgh). We’re sure we’ll be back next year – XL stockings at the ready!
TVO: What’s your favourite thing about going on tour, and what would you rather skip about the whole affair?
Graham Dixon: My favourite thing about touring is the games we come up with and play in our tour van. I wish I could say that we are doing something more rock and roll in our tour van, like sulkily recovering from apocalyptic hangovers and callously ignoring the desperate messages of spurned groupies, but the reality of the Austentatious tour bus is no doubt what anyone who has seen the show would expect. We are all massive nerds, so we spend our time playing adorable, esoteric word and guessing games. Every van journey turns into Boxing Day around the fire. The thing I could skip is actually doing the shows. Just get me back in the van so we can play “TV Commissioner” and “2.4 Children” (These are actual games we play).
TVO: Lastly, one for anyone and everyone… apart from Austentatious, what are you all doing next?
Many various projects! Joseph is doing his show Hammerhead at the Soho Theatre, Andrew is going on tour with his podcast, No Such Thing As A Fish. You can see Charlotte in Poland and Australia at various impro festivals, Cariad continues to host Griefcast, a podcast where she interviews comedians about death which is cheerier than it sounds! Rachel is gigging around the country and also performing in new improv troupe with Marcus Brigstocke, There will be Cake. Amy is also performing with improvised Enid Blyton, The Bumper Blyton Improvised Adventure, Graham is performing his Edinburgh show Graham Dickson is The Narcissist in London, and Daniel can be found in the long running improv comedy show Racing Minds. Basically we’re busy!
We here at The Velvet Onion were very excited to find out earlier this year that the legendary alternative character comedian Simon Day was going out on tour across the UK.
Now the tour is underway, and runs through October and early November, it has transpired that Simon is merely directing the show – which instead features four men who look rather a lot like him.
Prog-rocker Brian Pern is joined by East End know-it-all Billy Bleach, Northern poet Geoffrey Allerton and last but by no means least, reformed convict Tony Beckton, who you may recall appeared in Rhys Thomas‘ documentary series Bellamy’s People and more recently BBC Two smash-hit Nurse.
When we tried to reach out to Simon to find out more about his tour, Tony answered the phone instead. Admittedly a little bit too scared to ask where Simon was, TVO decided to ask Beckton for his thoughts about the tour – and this is the result…
The Velvet Onion: Er… hello, Mr Beckton. It’s an honour to speak to you. May I call you Tony?
Tony Beckton: Yes. Tony is fine.
Thank you. We don’t know if you’ve heard of us, but we tend to write about comedy. Do you like any particular comedians?
I used to like Dad’s Army before I went inside. And it is still on! I saw some geezer called John Bishop the other day, but he was a Scouser, so i turned him off.
You’re one of the most highly respected – and most feared – criminals of all time. How did you end up going on tour?
I was asked by the home office and my publishers to share my experience of the misery and pain of incarceration. What’s weird is virtually every place I am speaking at, I was in jail in the same town at some point.
How are you enjoying this taste of freedom?
Freedom is a double edged sword. There are so many changes in the world. Everyone staring at screens on the train. The coffee shops. So many different languages being spoke, I must remember not to speak my first language: the language of violence.
Glad to hear it. Back in prison, it’s fair to say you ruled the roost. Is life treating you as well on the outside?
Inside, I dreamed of the day I could feel grass beneath my feet, stroke a rabbit and feel the wind on my bonce. Now I can… amazing.
Councillors have given me tools to deal with my rage. Where once, I carried a shotgun – or a piece of lead piping – I now carry a mental programme to keep me and other people from harm. Other people have to count to ten when the red mist comes down. I count to a hundred.
The other day in Cardiff, a load of football fans come towards me chanting. I started counting. I was still there at five o’clock the next morning, but no one was hurt.
I am a changed man. I am completely rehabilitated. I still bear the scars, though. As do all the screws, nonces and librarians who crossed me. Prison has changed, though. It is full of Muslims and white collar criminals. I can never go back. I hate to think what will happen if the Old Bill come for me again. I will go out on my shield, but yes my rehabilitation is complete.
Err.. moving on swiftly. If you could go back to the point you got busted and never get caught, would you change it?
Makes no odds: I was a wild beast. A nobleman who scoured and plundered the land, taking what I wanted. Women… gold… I scalped a bookie once who nobbled my greyhound. Liars Charter. What a dog he was… I would have been nicked at some point though. I was out of control.
Indeed. The tour then. Are there any places you’re particularly looking forward to visiting?
Anywhere is amazing to me. Apart from Brighton.
What’s wrong with Brighton?
I was accused of killing a teddy boy down there on the dodgems. To be honest, I threw him in the sea. He’d rubbed candy floss on my new jacket. I was only 17. My first murder charge. I got a ‘Not Guilty’ – He got a seaweed salad. “It wasn’t me!” as Shaggy said.
Right. Err… You’ve got some very unusual tour mates. Let’s start with Billy Bleach. He must remind you of some of the blokes you saw inside?
He is a proper gentleman. And what a barnet he has got… staunch.
I imagine Billy would look up to you. Has your presence been rubbing off on his interactions with audiences?
He is a lot more confident than me. And he’s got the patter. I still struggle under the lights. Reminds me of being on the wall when the searchlights come on you. Sometimes… you piss yourself.
Northern poet Geoffrey Allerton is joining you too…
He is very scared of me. But also turned on by the violence. Like a lot of guys, I think he wants me to hurt him. His poems are good though. Really good…
Is poetry something you can get on board with? You did write a book after all…
I have written poems. But there is no money in poetry. I am doing a prison diet book, and a guide to masculinity.
We’ll keep an eye out for them. The big surprise of the tour is Brian Pern being involved. Are you a fan?
He is a mug who thinks he knows about jail, because he wrote a song about a Mexican priest who died inside after eating a sacred beetle. He started talking to me about the eternal soul of the unknown prisoner, and I slung a cup of soup over his silly Catweazle coat. He keeps away from me now…
To be honest, Tony… We thought Brian was dead. We wrote an obituary and everything. Simple Minds put it on their Facebook page. THE Simple Minds.
That was a tax dodge. Look, I don’t want to talk about him. I am starting to get annoyed by all this, why are we talking about that prick?
And with that, he counted to 100, called us a bad word and hung up. We don’t mind though, Tony, because we’d like to keep our knees.
Tony Beckton appears in Simon Day: In Character which is on tour across the UK now. For the latest tour dates, click here.
This week sees the release Adam Kay’s medical memoir, This is Going to Hurt, in which the former Mongrels and Crims writer and musical satirist revisits his seven years as a practicing Doctor. TVO took a sneak peek at the results, to find out if you should buy a copy yourselves.
As journalist, author and full-time punk rocker John Robb once sang: “We live in media-evil times.” Every day we’re bombarded with things we’re supposed to want and things we’re supposed to need, to the point that almost every conversation we have in earshot of our phones or our smart-TVs is then recycled into an advert to make us buy more stuff. Some would have you believe this is all a ploy by our governments to distract us from the growing problems in our society which they’re failing to fix. Sometimes, you have to wonder if they’re correct.
And gawd knows, we here at The Velvet Onion are guilty of contributing to that cycle with almost eight years of every successive “best thing ever” that you simply have to experience. Indeed, here we are again, with another review and a list of reasons why you need to buy something.
Except… this one is different. Anyone who knows anyone who works in medicine will appreciate that they work their arses off to provide care for hundreds, possibly thousands of people every year. Those of you in the UK in particular will know that our National Health Service is under constant threat from cuts to services and budgets that force Doctors to work excessive amounts of overtime that puts patients at risk.
It just so happens that Adam Kay – one of the wittiest musical satirists we’ve ever seen – also happens to be not just one of the loveliest people on the planet, but a former Doctor, working in obstetrics and gynecology, from House Officer up to Registrar. He resigned in 2010 following a truly horrendous series of events nobody should ever have to live through, and ended up writing for Mongrels and Up The Women, as well as creating the criminally underrated sitcom Crims, alongside a career as a script editor and musical comic on the live circuit.
This is Going to Hurt takes the actual diaries written by Adam whilst on the job (the medical one, not his appearances on The Now Show), and lays the reality of life in a 21st century hospital bare. Previously performed as a sell-out Edinburgh Fringe show, Fingering A Minor on the Piano in both 2016 and 2017, Kay’s diaries have reduced audiences to tears of laughter in one moment, and left them with a gut punch of harsh reality in the next.
The obligatory disclaimer here: the diaries have had the gentlest of tweaks and refinements to protect patient confidentiality and to placate worried lawyers. There may be some jokes added here and there, too, but the harsh reality is that Kay’s natural responses are intrinsically funny, even if at some points they may seem surprisingly cold, or the descriptions may be overtly graphic – with one passage on a degloving incident almost certain to put off a few readers. The gallows humour throughout is arguably the only logical way to process some of what Kay experienced, and while sometimes you may find yourself wondering if it’s genuinely okay to laugh at something, it’ll immediately be followed by an entry which will do one of two things: warm your cockles or break your heart in an instant.
Through it all, Adam’s incredible warmth as both a comedic writer-performer, and as a truly remarkable person shine through, and the result is a tome which, though stark in places, never truly feels dismissive or cruel towards the variety of unusual patients Kay meets, nor does it exclude audiences unfamiliar with this incredible life so many wonderful people undertake.
And the book doesn’t shy away from the difficulties of working in this profession outside of work, either. Sacrifices are made on a regular basis, relationships crumble under the weight of the intense pressure, but through it all, Kay’s smile stays on… until one pivotal moment which provided Kay with the realisation that this life really isn’t for everyone, and in particular, it was no longer for him.
It’s fair to say that, in comparison, life has been kind to Adam since he resigned, but he’s still acutely aware that the pressures he faced haven’t gone away for countless other medical professionals still out there. This is Going to Hurt concludes with an open letter to the Health Secretary, suggesting he stops getting tours of swanky new facilities with men in suits, and actually tries to do a shift with junior Doctors to truly experience the strains they are under. And if you’ve made it this far into Kay’s text, and don’t conceed he’s got a point, it might be worth making an appointment with your local GP to check you have a pulse. Or a heart.
That’s the rub: for all our passionate pleas for you to watch this tv show, buy this blu-ray, go and see this comic on tour, we’re acutely aware that it’s all a giant distraction from the problems and struggles people face on a daily basis.
This book isn’t. It’s funny, and it’s heartwarming, but it’s also a wake-up call to anyone who isn’t living this life that a lot of what practicing medical professionals go through truly beggars belief.
There’s a lot of snobbery in the arts world about comedy’s place as an artform, but it’s arguable that through humour society truly understands itself. In much the same way that, for example, comedic play Every Brilliant Thing manages to handle depression, anxiety and suicide better than most ‘serious’ dramatical portrayals, This Is Going To Hurt cuts to the core of the struggles faced by medical professionals around the world better than a book written by a comedian will ever be considered able to do.
If push came to shove, and you could only ever purchase one thing from the entire back catalogue of products The Velvet Onion has plugged over the years, this is the one which matters the most, and the one this particular writer would be most keen on you choosing.
We all know that the NHS is under threat, and that all around the world medical professionals are being pushed to their limits, whilst having their life’s work reduced to cheap political weapons. This is Going to Hurt is an essential reminder of just how much society owes these individuals, and how vital it is we support their fight, at a time when we really need it the most. Buy it.
This is Going to Hurt is published by Picador on 7th September 2017. Order a copy now.
The Windsors is currently charming audiences every Wednesday night on Channel 4, as the soap-style sitcom about the royal family is back for a second series. With a number of TVO regulars in front of and behind the camera, we thought it was high time we spoke to some of them about the show.
Next up is director Adam Miller, whose previous credits include Katy Brand’s Big Ass Show, Some Girls, Otherworld, Boomers and creating and directing something called Mongrels we definitely didn’t obsess about at the time. We chucked a big load of questions at him about his latest directorial effort, and this is the result…
Hi Adam! Welcome back to TVO. The Windsors is back for a second series, and with two episodes down, can you tell us what’s left to see this series?
An absolute bucket-load. Let’s just say you’re never going to look at Nicola Sturgeon the same way again. Or Camilla Parker-Bowles for that matter, who takes the Special Relationship with Donald Trump to a whole new level.
That’s one of the joys of the show; each one is absolutely jam-packed with treats – Kate tackling “The drug problem that is unique to Scotland”; Justin Trudeau on a pub-crawl with Beatrice and Eugenie; Pippa’s marriage, but who to?! Hugh Skinner showing off his Les Miserables vocals in Poundbury; Harry Enfield playing his own identical twin brother. Joy upon joy.
It looks like the show is an absolute hoot to shoot. Are you able to enjoy the process of filming whilst steering the mad ship?
Yes, a million times yes. Such fantastic people to work with, and on a show I truly love, I couldn’t be luckier. I mean we all have our hair-tearing moments, but I suspect any industry has that. Indeed sometimes our biggest problem is losing take after take to hysterical, tear-filled laughter. Have a look at the Ebola scene from series one – those aren’t tears of devastation on Will’s face.
The casting for the series is fantastic. How involved were you in choosing your royals?
Hugh, Louise [Ford] and Richard [Goulding] were already on board when I joined, having been so brilliant in a teaser that had already been shot. The rest were part of the usual casting process with the wonderful Nadira Seecoomar, although I see them all now and wonder what on earth took us so long. It seems so obvious. They really are the most extraordinarily talented troupe and such a privilege to work with. It’s a testament to their brilliance and Bert and George’s characterisation, that the appearance of every single artist on set is something I genuinely look forward to.
There’s been some new cast members since the first series, with Vicki Pepperdine joining at Christmas, and now Gillian Bevan, Corey Johnson and Kathryn Drysdale joining the team. How easily did they slot into the team?
Well, it’s a fiddly old show to drop into. Our unwritten (and probably rather obvious) rule is that whatever nonsense these characters are spouting, they have to take it seriously, because they believe it. The four you mention, and some you haven’t seen yet (including Harry Peacock), really ran with that and, as a result, look like they’ve been doing this odd, unique show for years. Hats off!
The series has had a really diverse range of critical and audience response. Has feedback from the first series played into the second?
There’s been so much love for this show, it’s hugely gratifying. But if you start making a show for the critics, and not for yourself, then you’ll probably never make anything good. If not everyone likes it, but some love it, then that’s bloody GREAT. We’re not making it for the ones that don’t like it.
You’re no stranger to controversial comedy, of course, after the delightful Mongrels. Are you drawn to pushing big red conservative buttons?
To be honest, I’m simply drawn to things that make me laugh. And the scripts for this just did, in such a big way. As for controversy, well that’s the job of comedy – if we didn’t live in a society that can ridicule the ridiculous, I fear there’d be a lot more Trumps around. We are an anti-trump. Thank god.
How quickly are you and the writers able to react to real life events? And how much of what ends up on screen was down on the page when you started to map out your shoot?
The scripts are very tight when we go into production – there’s very little in the way of improv, although everyone is welcome to make suggestions and those often make it in. As to staying up-to-date – well that’s a bit of a tight-rope to walk. Although I have noticed on shows before now that real life often synchs when you least expect it. That said we did go back and tweak a couple of bits from episode 1 to shine a clearer light on a Theresa May who, at the start of production, was a VERY different political beast to the one we know today.
Is there a particular sequence from this series that stands out for you?
There are so many joyous moments, but if you forced me to pick one, I’d tell you to watch out for Kate’s rather direct approach to tackling the ‘drug problem that’s unique to Scotland’, in episode 5.
At the opposite end of the spectrum you’ve had great acclaim for your work on BBC sitcom Boomers over the last few years, featuring a cast of television icons. Does directing on a show like that differ from The Windsors?
Well, the mechanics are basically the same, but every show I’ve ever done has a different process because of those in front and, most often, behind the camera. The Boomers cast were absolutely brilliant to work with, all legends, and all utterly charming. To work with two such casts in two years has been a great privilege. God that sounds like a wanky speech at an awards ceremony. True though.
Of course, you’ve been part of another royal family for the last few years now: namely The Velvet Onion! You’ve regularly worked with a number of your fellow regulars, including several of them in this cast. Do you feel part of the comedic family we write about?
It’s funny how small this industry feels at times, especially now I’ve been around a while, but one thing that seems to hold true is that the Onion Family isn’t just populated by the talented, but also by the lovely. Maybe that’s why there’s so much cross-over?
It’s been a tough decade for British comedy, with so few shows getting a deserved second (or third!) series. Is it gratifying to be returning for more with The Windsors?
Hell yes! I really love this show, it makes me LAUGH. And there’s precious little of that about in the world today. So to be told that we could make another, is to be told that I get to laugh again for five months. Gimme.
If there’s a third run, where would you like to take the family next?
America! The road trip and film please. Followed by the Grand Tour of Europe as a sequel.
And beyond the series, what’s next for you?
Lying down in a quiet room. Probably snoring.
Thanks to Adam for answering our questions. Catch The Windsors on Wednesdays at 10pm on Channel 4, and catch-up via All4 now.
The Windsors is currently charming audiences every Wednesday night on Channel 4, as the soap-style sitcom about the royal family is back for a second series. With a number of TVO regulars in front of and behind the camera, we thought it was high time we spoke to some of them about the show.
Next up is House of Fools, Murder in Successville and Year Friends star Ellie White, who plays Princess Beatrice, and her on-screen sister Celeste Dring, who plays Princess Eugenie…
Hi Ellie & Celeste! The Windsors is back for a second series. What’s new this year?
Celeste: Well the show takes a semi-fictional approach to what’s happening in the world, so you can expect a new, American love-interest for Harry and some familiar politicians having run-ins with the Royals.
Ellie: More of the same for Eugenie and Beatrice. They seem to spend most of their time trying to make up jobs for themselves – doing motivational speeches in Port Talbot Steel works for example – or fighting over unsuitable men – in this series, Justin Trudeau.
There’s been a really diverse range of critical and audience response to the show. Has that played into the second series for you all?
Celeste: I guess we’ve all felt a little bit more confident having been somewhat buoyed by the response – but no more than that really.
Ellie: I think you can’t really let anyone dictate what you do. I guess just continue doing what you think is funny and hope people agree.
You play Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, who are perhaps less well known than most of the other characters in real life. How do you go about making them so memorable?
Celeste: Well I can’t speak for Ellie, but for me I’d say my version of Eugenie is more modelled on the folks in ‘Made in Chelsea’ than it is the real-life Eugenie: the Chelsea lot are excellent models for rich, stupid, frivolous types.
Ellie: I mainly just try and pastiche most of the people I went to university with.
A lot of what your characters did in the first series was independent of the main plots, and yet the Princesses were an integral part of what made the show so funny. Are you more directly involved with everyone this year?
Ellie: We like to keep ourselves to ourselves. It’s better that way.
Celeste: I think the writers have been careful not to over-do it and stay true to what worked before. Part of what drives Beatrice and Eugenie is their desire to be more involved and accepted within the core of the royal family, so, I guess we can’t be too central else what would we be striving for?
You spend a lot of your time with TVO royalty Katy Wix, and I know Ellie has recently finished a West End run with her too. What’s it like working with her so closely?
Ellie: She is the funniest woman on the planet, so naturally it’s a dream.
Celeste: Katy is an absolutely mad joy. She is so funny and so unique. I don’t know what magic made her and I hope it never wears off.
How much of what ends up on screen is on the page? Do you get much chance to ad-lib or refine scenes together on set?
Celeste: Not massively – the scripts are pretty lean and strong (like a good horse) so they don’t need much additional stuff. Plus the turn-around time for shooting is incredibly tight so we have to get right to it.
Ellie: We don’t get much rehearsal time so a lot has to be done on set. It’s mainly scripted but the odd ad-lib gets in.
Is there a particular sequence from this series that stands out for you?
Celeste: Ellie and I fight over a boy in one episode which was a lot of fun to shoot. I got to do a hand-stand, by which I mean two of the crew had to raise my legs into position because I couldn’t do it. It felt very much like how a royal would expect to do a handstand.
Ellie: And I cried with laughter watching Fergie trying to get off with Justin Trudeau. Just the way Katy Wix spins on a chair. Unreal.
The show’s pulled together a genuinely impressive cast all round, some of whom I know that Ellie had worked with on previous projects. Was there anyone in particular you were very excited to work with?
Celeste: I love everyone but I suppose I am a quiet super-fan of Haydn [Gwynne, who plays Camilla – Ed.]. The woman has amazing craft and is just so compelling to watch – those eyes!
Ellie: Genuinely everyone is a dream. Everyone is extremely funny and extremely lovely. I was very excited to work with Vicki Pepperdine. She’s now my mother.
Yes, you’ve recently worked with Vicki on a short for Sky One, featuring Katy Wix too. Did that come about because of The Windsors and is there more collaboration in the pipeline?
Ellie: I’ve always thought that Vicki was extremely funny and also looked a bit like she could be my mum, so when I met her doing the Christmas special I asked if she wanted to develop something together and fortunately she did. She’s amazing and I love working with her so hopefully there will be more in the future.
Director Adam Miller is no stranger to us, either, thanks to his previous work on Mongrels and Katy Brand’s Big Ass Show. Does having a comedy director experienced in heightened parody help the process?
Ellie: Adam is so fantastic and has such a vision for the show. It’s interesting to see how things end up on the screen in the end because on the day they are completely different. It’s cut and edited so well.
Celeste: Yeah for sure. Adam’s very precise and creative – he really wrings as much out of a scene as possible so there’s not a beat missed.
Of course, Ellie: you’ve been part of another royal family for the last few years now: namely The Velvet Onion! We’ve been covering your work since we met you on House of Fools back in 2014, and since then you’ve constantly been on our radar and worked with a large number of your fellow regulars. Do you feel part of the comedic family we write about?
Ellie: It’s a privilege! It’s so lovely! I like them better than my real family.
And Celeste, you’re a little bit newer to our screens than Ellie, but a lot of what you’ve been involved in so far has been a bit Oniony – Sun Trap, Year Friends and Morgana Robinson’s The Agency. Are you keen to pursue working mostly within comedy?
Celeste: Yeah – that’s where I’m at now and I’m enjoying making my own work and stuff. My private dream would actually be to be in a gritty Shane Meadows film ha – but I don’t expect that’s on the horizon any time soon… Unless he’s a big fan of The Windsors which surely he is?
You’re both part of a brand new wave of alternative comedy, with your own regular double acts too. For anyone who hasn’t seen your live work, or shows you’ve written, how would you best describe them to the uninitiated?
Celeste: There is no question I am worse at answering than how I would describe my own work, but here goes… It’s loosely sketch / character comedy – increasingly though we’re moving towards stuff that’s less definable in terms of its form – i.e. what it can be labelled as. I’ve been told tonally it’s every day and surreal at the same time. If that’s not too vague / pretentious?… I’ll see myself out.
Ellie: I work with Natasia Demetriou, who is one of the funniest people on earth. We try and make characters that make us laugh, that I guess are a mix of people we see around and the slightly odder and weirder nature of our senses of humour.
Comedy has a track record of the old guard passing down the baton: have you found that older comics are supportive of your work so far?
Ellie: So so supportive. Every established person I’ve worked with has been nothing but interested and supportive of me as a comedic actor. That’s so important I think because it’s such a hard industry and it feels lovely to have people helping you along the way when they genuinely believe in you.
Celeste: Yes definitely. I think there’s this idea that comedy is hyper-competitive but that hasn’t been my experience. Everyone is very encouraging and supportive: although the comedy landscape has changed so much that I think we are all just trying to keep up.
It’s been a tough decade for British comedy, with so few shows getting a deserved second series. It must be gratifying to be returning for more with The Windsors?
Celeste: It’s a modern miracle! I’m really delighted – mostly for selfish reasons but also because George and Bert [writers George Jeffrie and Bert Tyler-Moore – Ed.] are so talented, kind and diligent.
Ellie: It’s lovely! More shows should be given second chances. It’s so hard to prove yourself in 6 episodes. Things grow over time. Comedy needs to be nurtured!
If there’s a third run, where would you like to take the princesses?
Celeste: Well obviously the princesses are so hard-working and prolific that there is little that they haven’t done but, as they have a keen eye for fashion, it would be fun to take them to London Fashion Week, or see them trying to design their own range.
Ellie: I’d love more love interests. Just so we can cast people we fancy as our boyfriends.
Celeste: Well right now it’s lunch, and then after that I’m working on a series for Radio 4 with my double act partner, Freya Parker, that will be out in the autumn. I am also writing on / being in a second series of Tom Rosenthal’s Absolutely Fine – a little web series for Comedy Central.
Ellie: I’ve got a few things in the pipeline which are exciting, but mainly writing and development and lying face down on my sofa.
Thanks to Ellie and Celeste for answering our questions. Catch The Windsors on Wednesdays at 10pm on Channel 4, and catch-up via All4 now.
This week sees the return of The Windsors to our screens, as the soap-style sitcom about the royal family is back for a second series. With a number of TVO regulars in front of and behind the camera, we thought it was high time we spoke to some of them about the show.
First up, is the delightful Katy Wix, who plays Sarah “Fergie” Ferguson. Here are her thoughts on coming back for more multi-millionaire hijinx…
Hi Katy, at long last, welcome to TVO! We’ve been covering your work since 2010 – and shamefully we haven’t caught up with you for a project before now! Do you feel part of the comedic family we write about?
I forgive you. Yes, I think I do, thank you. You have very good taste: I like all the people you like. If I ever don’t feel part of the family, I’ll let you know.
Of course, in that OTHER royal family you’re not a part of, you get to play Sarah Ferguson, who is quite a distinctive personality to begin with. How do you go about heightening her character in line with everyone else?
The storylines that Fergie has been given are already pretty heightened so a lot of the work is done for me. Because it’s slightly melodramatic in style, I think it’s just a question of really stressing the emotional crisis that she is always finding herself in. It’s campy but also with pathos, hopefully. I always thought there was something very vulnerable about their version of Fergie – she just wants to be loved and accepted.
Fergie is pretty much the royal they’d like to forget in the show. What fresh hell does the poor bugger have to go through this series?
Poor Sarah. She tries to hide in a box at one point to sneak into an event, which is very relatable. She’s still trying to flog her juicer and still in love with Andrew.
You spend a lot of your time with relative newcommer Celeste Dring, and fellow TVOer Ellie White, as Fergie’s daughters Eugene and Beatrice. What’s it like working with a new generation of comic talent so closely?
It’s great. We only get closer, it’s lovely. They’re not jaded (yet) and full of ideas and energy, but it’s also interesting to see what they subvert and take inspiration from in their live stuff. I hope I work with both of them again soon. They’re both a lot more sorted than I was in my late twenties.
How much of what ends up on screen is on the page? Do you get much chance to ad-lib or refine scenes together on set?
There is always time pressure with television so usually you’re just concentrating on getting the scene right once, let alone add anything new. But certainly now we’re a bit more confident with the characters, I think we’ve been quietly throwing ideas in.
Is there a particular sequence from this series that stands out for you?
Andrew and Fergie have some great scenes this time round and I really enjoy the scenes where it’s Fergie and her girls – I think we’ve found lots of interesting layers in their family dynamic.
The show’s pulled together a genuinely impressive cast all round, some of whom you’d worked with on previous projects like Fried and Together.Was there anyone in particular you were very excited to work with?
Well, I’ve worked with Ellie a lot and that’s always a treat. We made a little short film together a while back but then her lap top broke and we lost all the footage. I’ve a great admiration for everyone in the cast – I think they play their parts so brilliantly and it’s a genuinely lovely and harmonious atmosphere on set.
Director Adam Miller is no stranger to us, either, thanks to his previous work on Mongrels and Katy Brand’s Big Ass Show. Does having a comedy director experienced in heightened parody help the process?
His notes are really excellent and useful which doesn’t always happen with comedy directors. Often, you have a set idea of how you were going to make it funny as you’re learning it and then it’s a pleasant surprise when a note changes the scene in a way that hadn’t occurred to you, but still feels funny. Usually the notes are about driving home a plot point or moment. The first time we watched it back and realised how pacy it was, you start to think about how much plot there is to deliver in the most economic way as possible whilst still making it amusing.
It’s been a tough decade for British comedy, with so few shows getting a deserved second series – including your own sketch show with Anna Crilly, and the joyous silliness of Fried. It must be gratifying to be returning for more with The Windsors?
Sketch shows don’t seem to be as popular with commissioners at the moment and I’m sure it will change again. But to be able to do these big sketchy characters is an absolute joy, and with such talented people.
The show divided critics and audiences last year, and not just those predisposed to praising the royal family, but we feel there’s an incredible charm to the ride if you go along with the madness. Has audience response played into the second series at all?
Really? I don’t tend to read reviews – I wasn’t aware that it was such a divisive show! I wouldn’t have thought that public opinion had a direct effect on the creative process but I’m sure that the writers probably had a sense of which characters were well received and popular when they came to writing more this time.
If there’s a third run, where would you like to take Fergie?
I really hope there is. Perhaps she deserves some love that is requited now? It would be fun if she went on a chat show as a storyline or became a buddhist.
And beyond the series, what’s next for you?
Well, I’ve just finished a six month run in the west end so I’m tired. Filming Ellie White’s short film for Sky last week was tremendous fun. Beyond that, you know bobs and bits. I’m always starting things and never finishing them, don’t know why. I’m pitching an idea for a book I want to write, so we’ll see who bites…
Thanks to Katy for answering our questions. The Windsors returns on Wednesday 5th July at 10pm on Channel 4.
Prevenge – the directorial feature debut from Alice Lowe – is available on dvd and blu-ray now.
To celebrate, TVO cornered Alice once more to talk in depth about the Prevenge experience from conception to completion. With major spoilers (you have been warned), this is the result…
“It’s like the final push of labour,” Alice Lowe jokes as we catch up for the first time sincePrevenge was unleashed upon the world a few short months ago. “Or it’s like a child that’s graduated. It’ll be alright now. It can fend for itself. I don’t have to be holding its hand every step of the way.”
The last time TVO and Ms Lowe spoke, she and her co-star Jo Hartley, not to mention Alice’s adorable young daughter Della, had wowed audiences at a Q&A within Manchester’s arthouse HOME, and the film was just days away from wide release.
Now, at last, the film will be in the hands of fans as a tangible item: the download is already available, the dvd and blu-ray are shipping, and Alice’s direct journey with the film is almost at an end.
“It’s been nice to have a little break from it,” she tells us, “but I’m never going to get bored of talking about it. I’m still finding new things that people respond to.” She pauses for a moment of reflection. “At the end of the day, you don’t want the last project to be the only thing people are talking about. You just want to be making another one. And another one and another one. My head’s already in the next one now, so Prevenge feels like an old fashion you used to wear, or a band that you really like but you haven’t listened to in a while.”
You get over the nerves about it being any good… I’m kind of past that now.
Alice Lowe
Surely that distance offers a chance for a little objective reflection, TVO opines: not just on the enormous success the film has faced, but on the work of art a creator has made?
“I probably won’t watch it for a while,” Alice explains. “Because I don’t feel like I’ve got enough distance from it. If anything, you forget what it is to be an audience member watching it. People have a reaction to it, and you can’t put yourself in those shoes. You get over the nerves about it being any good, or people liking it, understanding it, being offended. I’m kind of past that now. And there’s enough people that I like who say they like it, and you can’t please everyone. If there’s certain people who don’t like it, I don’t mind at this stage.”
Those initial nerves, however, are something Lowe is keen to hold on to. While it feels a long time coming, Prevenge was Alice’s first feature as a director, and it just so happened to come along as an offer as the actress, writer and director was pregnant.
As such, the film is so closely rooted into the birth of Alice’s first child, who, of course, has been growing all the time since. As the challenge of motherhood naturally changes, it’s highly possible that Alice’s perspective as a filmmaker will too.
“When you make your first film,” she opines, “your lack of experience and naivety is actually a strength. You make a lot of mistakes, but sometimes those mistakes are quite good. A lot of established filmmakers talk about getting back to that initial innocence. That’s kind of like motherhood in that with your first child, you’re filled with a sense of wonder, because this has never happened to you before, and it’s completely new and magical.
“But as you go on, motherhood just becomes more complicated, I suppose,” she adds. “I think that’s probably true with making films as well. I’m just a little bit more jaded about this process now, so I will probably have to shake a few preconceptions that I might have in order to find that initial feeling again.”
What is clear, however, is that Prevenge has been taken seriously. It’s not just the UK tour, the rapid-selling vinyl release of the soundtrack, or the countless respected film critics across the world who have hailed the film as a visionary first attempt from a new director: audiences have loved it too. And unusually for a British film, let alone a comedy or a horror picture, the critical response has been deeply analytical and fascinated by the subject matter.
“That’s my secret fantasy,” Alice deadpans when TVO mentions this. “That people take me seriously.” She immediately bursts into laughter, before a spot of ego-checking clarification is required.
“I always say that when I write stuff,” she says, “I write with absolute seriousness. I’m often not thinking about whether it’s funny or not. I’m thinking about the story and the characters. Really early on we had a sniffy review from someone who said: ‘There was a weak one-liner about mascara’. And I didn’t write it as one, so if they didn’t laugh then how is it a one-liner? It might be one line…”
It’s fair to say that Lowe does not fall into a traditional comedic mould. Never one to chase gags, Alice suggests her writing stems from stories of human awkwardness, and that Prevenge was the product of something seismic within her.
“I think real life is stranger than fiction,” she states. “I was trying to avoid writing what I thought were film scene clichés, and was trying to be stranger about the interactions people have. All the interactions within the film are private. Anything can happen in a private moment. You only have to have a weird person suddenly throw a conversational bomb into the mix, and you’ve got a strange situation.”
TVO suggests one of the strengths of the film is that the naturalism makes the emotional drama of this hyper-surreal concept hit home. As Jon Pertwee once quite famously said of why Doctor Who worked best in a contemporary Earth setting: ‘There’s nothing more alarming than coming home and finding a Yeti sitting on your loo in Tooting Bec.’
“Oh, you mean that a banal context makes strange things even stranger?” Alice responds. “I definitely think that’s true. Even my radio show [Alice’s Wunderland – Ed.] The whole way I was writing that show was mixed reality, whereby you create surrealism by paring a really mundane situation with a surreal figure or content. It produces strange effects that snap people out of their usual way of thinking, like dream logic.”
There aren’t rules of reality, or film rules you have to stick with. You can do what you like.
Alice Lowe
Indeed, one of the key factors in Prevenge’s success as a work of art is the deliberate ambiguity about the origins of the voice urging Ruth to kill her victims: is it her unborn daughter in some supernatural manner, or something inherently psychological? This reminds Alice of an encounter with an audience member in New York, who came up to her after the screening to ask a simple question: ‘Why didn’t the police come and get her?’
“In film, everything is a metaphor,” Alice suggests. “A film by natural is a dream. I don’t feel it has to be real or not real. I feel like that’s how I’m trying to make films at the moment. There aren’t rules of reality, or film rules you have to stick with. You can do what you like. Who wants to hear about police procedure? Watch a detective series on telly. These strange rules immediately make something less entertaining.”
Not to mention, we suggest, effectively the deeply claustrophobic tone of most of the film. Alice agrees.
“We did have another character that we lost,” she explains, referring to Jill (played by Sightseersactress Eileen Davis), who didn’t make the final edit. “She knew Ruth, and grounded her in reality. But as soon as you grounded her, you didn’t believe that character. When she’s just gliding around killing people without any consequences, it gives her this mystic, almost superhero status. As soon as you ground her, it starts to pull apart. Someone like David Lynch doesn’t bother with that shit. His characters are just there, don’t ask what time it is, or what their jobs are. They’re just in a strange timeless zone.”
Interestingly, however, one of the film’s key sequences breaks all of the façade away: as Ruth pretends to be flat-hunter Claire, and briefly befriends the flatmate of one of the people on her hit-list. For these few moments, in the company of Josh (a pitch perfect Mike Wozniak), Ruth lets her guard down, and for the first time since her partner’s death, enjoys herself, until it inevitably has to come crashing down around her.
“That was her chance,” Alice explains. “That was her window to have a normal life. Maybe even get a boyfriend. Someone who could look after her. I almost wanted it to be a gentle sitcom. I wanted it to be so domestic and nice, and go on for such a long time that the audience is almost relaxing. Then bad stuff happens. It was so important to have that scene, and see a warm side of her that doesn’t come out otherwise.”
As something of an anti-hero, Ruth’s journey plays out like a 21st century Alex from A Clockwork Orange: audiences are invited to be sympathetic to the character, even though she’s committing truly horrendous acts… albeit with a much stronger motive and far greater intelligence than Anthony Burgess’ hapless Droog. Here is a character who has suffered an enormous emotional loss, and it becomes clear that the challenge she faces is draining her as much as it is her driving force.
Nevertheless, Kubrick’s film, which also partially inspired the sonic electronic soundscapes on Prevenge’s soundtrack, has an ending that chimes with Lowe’s film. In it, (major spoiler alert), Ruth becomes the creature she wants to be, and audiences cheer what is, in essence, a cold-hearted killer.
“We called that ‘Back To Work’,” Alice reveals when the comparison is put to her. “We didn’t call it that on the soundtrack, but when we were discussing it, we said her ‘Back To Work’ theme should come in here, because you know that people are going to enjoy it. It does feel like we’re back in familiar territory. We talked a lot about the music and how it had a sense of pre-destiny. She can’t stop. It’s just going to happen, and the audience can’t help but be carried along as well. There’s a pleasure to that, like scratching a familiar itch.”
What many may not realise when they see Prevenge and identify Alice from her roles in Hot Fuzz, Darkplace, The Mighty Boosh or many other familiar productions, is that this isn’t just a vanity project, where a star actress puts in a half-arsed directorial job, and gets the writer credit while others refine the script uncredited. This is a full blooded attempt from a creative mind who has bided her time to be given the chance to do so, and as such has a hand in every aspect of the production, without detracting anything from the producers about whom Alice is consistently complimentary.
As well as working closely with composers Toydrum on the sound of the film, Lowe’s strongest collaborators on the style of the film were Director of Photography Ryan Eddleston and editor Matteo Bini. The trio focused heavily on the visual aesthetic, from the choice of lenses to colour grading choices, and multiple edits of scenes in order to best reflect the film’s mood. And while she’ll often downplay her own efforts, it’s clear this is an apect of the film of which she is, quite rightly, rather proud.
A lot of the projects I’ve done have been misinterpreted in some way. Prevenge was the first time I’ve really had this synergy… I felt like people were really listening to me.
Alice Lowe
“I never claim to be an expert in anything,” Alice states, “but I know what my tastes are. I think that’s all that being a director is, as much as it’s vaunted as this godlike status. It’s very easy for people when you’re starting out, to believe you don’t know what you’re talking about. I definitely had a vision for it. I always have a strong sense of my projects. I know what the colours associated with it are. All the songs. The tone of it. When I’m giving a script to someone, it’s nothing to do with the final package in my head.
“This is why I’ve started directing,” she continues. “I know that I’ve got a more complete vision in my head than just being a scriptwriter. How everything complements one another. I can’t show that to people unless I make it. A lot of the projects I’ve done have been misinterpreted in some way, for one reason or another. Prevenge was the first time I’ve really had this synergy with all those different things coming together, and I felt like people were really listening to me. I didn’t feel inhibited in what I was asking for, either. I pretty much got all the choices I wanted. I don’t know if that was just being pregnant and people indulging me!”
It helped that some of the key crew members were familiar to Alice from previous productions, and the cast were all friends.
“Even if they hadn’t worked with me as a director,” Alice considers, “which is a bit of a leap of faith, I suppose… they like me. They know I’m a good performer, so they were willing to make that leap. It meant I didn’t have to turn up and go: ‘Hi, you don’t know me. I’m not an idiot.’
“I’m sure that when we were filming some people actually had no idea if it was any good or not. Especially because everyone was so separate from each other and didn’t see any of the other bits. I think the one person who saw any rushes was Jo Hartley, because she had a spare half hour when we were filming. Everyone else just did a day on it and had no idea what it would be like! There are still some members of the cast who haven’t seen it, because they’ve been busy and couldn’t make it. I wouldn’t blame them for having no idea what the film was.”
“I like to film in a really relaxed style,” Alice continues. “We shoot the rehearsal and just keep shooting. I don’t like there to be a division, or when the shoot starts everyone thinks they’re acting now, and suddenly switch on and become a different person. I like to almost blur those lines, so people walk away wondering if they did any acting, or if it was any good.” She laughs, and in her inimitable sardonic style adds: “It’s a sense of ‘Was that it?’”
The results, however, speak for themselves. Prevenge has wowed audiences across the world, and is set to find many new friends as it makes the transition to home media and streaming platforms. There’s also a strange joy in watching the film take off at the same time as the film industry is sitting up and paying attention to the former Ealing Live and Mighty Boosh crowd that The Velvet Onion has at its core. Simon Farnaby is now scriptwriting Paddington 2 with former Boosh/Garth Marenghi director Paul King, and alongside Julian Barratt, was responsible for Mindhorn. Following Sightseers, Steve Oram got rave reviews for his challenging debut Aaaaaaaah! and is currently planning his second feature, while Gareth Tunley and a cast primarily made up on TVO regulars, ditched the comedy and made psychological horror thriller The Ghoul, which had rave reviews at its initial screenings and is set for wider release in the Summer. And then there’s the continued efforts of Ben Wheatley and Richard Ayoade for good measure. Suddenly, with Prevenge as the most delicious of proverbial cherries on top, it feels like the Onions are finally getting the respect they deserve.
“It’s a really nice thing,” Alice explains. “A lot of potential that could have been lost has come back to life, really. I don’t want to sound too bitchy about it, but I think I was trying to fit myself as a square peg into a round hole for a long time. I wanted British TV comedy to be what I wanted it to be, which is pretty strange and with dark narratives. And now it’s a massive relief that I’m in the right job.
“Jo Hartley gave me this book, because she’s a bit of a guru in her spare time. I call her The Blue Fairy, because she’s that person who makes you feel really uplifted about how the universe works. She gave me this book by Florence Scovel Shinn, and its full of stuff about non-resistance. Jo always says ‘Go with the Flo’. When you find your right path, it’s easy. It’s not that you don’t work hard, but it feels easy, because it’s what you should be doing. That’s what Prevenge felt like. Don’t get me wrong, I have worked my arse off, but it hasn’t felt like work to me.”
“I think that’s probably true of someone like Gareth Tunley,” she adds, “who is such an intelligent person with so many hidden depths. Of course The Ghoul was the right step for him. Part of you thinks: ‘You should have done this earlier, Gareth! Why didn’t you show us what you could do?’ But you can’t hurry this stuff. It’s a natural evolution. Sometimes a penny drops about who you are and what you should be doing, and it comes at just the right time. It’s really nice that we’re all doing stuff we enjoy, and getting a bit of recognition for it doesn’t hurt either.”
The recognition has also led to new opportunities, with the production company behind it leading the pack by giving Alice another feature to develop. Alongside this, she’s working on a comedy drama concept for TV, and an exciting acting project this summer, which we’re sure TVO will be shouting about in due course, but not just yet! Alice has also directed a music video for collaborators Toydrum, featuring Prevenge’s Kate Dickie, but again, more on that soon. In the meantime, as she prepares to put the film behind her, TVO asks Alice to reflect on what she hopes its legacy will be.
“I’ve done a few projects where I’ve thought: Maybe that’s the thing that goes on my gravestone,” she admits. “Maybe that’s the thing that defines my work. It’s really funny, because now I’m mainly getting asked about Prevenge. I don’t often get asked about Sightseers or Garth Marenghi or whatever. I mean, I love it when I am, because it’s something different to talk about! But it’s a nice thing that people are interested, or bothered to find out what I’ve done before and follow it. I feel liberated. I don’t feel indebted to anyone. With Garth Marenghi, I didn’t write it, so I felt lucky to be involved in that. To an extent it’s the same with Sightseers, because someone else directed it, and I’d co-written it with Steve. With this, I felt a calm sense of realisation that I’ve done it. Nobody can say I haven’t pulled my weight with this to get the job done!”
“I wanted it to have a cult vibe to it. I want people to still be interested in the film in ten years. That would be my ambition: that people would see it as part of the development of British filmmakers, or even just my own work, and come back to it. I just want to go on and make films, and make lots of different types of stories, and just have fun. You have that moment when something does well, and you can capitalise on it. I’ve always been really bad at doing that in the past. I’d always run away and try to hide, because I prefered to be the underdog coming out of nowhere. You can’t do that all the time. So, I’d hope that it’s part of a beginning of a career, and not just that one fluke film that woman got to make.”
TVO is confident that it’s the former, rather than the latter. Prevenge is done and dusted, and is out there for you all to enjoy. Here’s to the next one!
Alice Lowe’s smash hit film Prevenge is released on DVD and Blu-Ray in the UK on 5th June, which gave TVO an ample excuse to revisit a film we’d previously called “a startling debut from an incredibly talented individual”.
With the film also available to download from today, we’ve had a sneaky peek at the discs themselves, and our fresh thoughts on the film and its extras package are below.
When Prevenge was first screened, it wowed audiences into thunderous applause and standing ovations. And yet, the theatrical release was many months away.
At the time, TVO raved about the film, and how it marked Alice Lowe‘s “transformation from cult comedy actress and writer to internationally renowned filmmaker in her own right”. All we could do then was sit back, and wait…
As such, it has been an enormous pleasure watching not only more audiences fall in love with Prevenge, but critics worldwide too: the film currently holds a 95% Certified Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and those singing its praises have included The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Time Out, Variety and Sight & Sound.
So while the film may not be to everyone’s taste, it’s nevertheless pleasing to know that our positive thoughts do not amount to biased hyperbole: the film is loved, by an awfully large number of people.
Spoiler alert: for the uninitiated, Prevenge follows mother-to-be Ruth (Lowe), currently grieving the recent loss of her partner in an unfortunate climbing accident. Reeling from his death, which happened the day she discovered her pregnancy, Ruth has fixated upon the rest of his climbing group, who survived due to a snap decision to let her partner fall.
In ways which are deliciously not made explicit: Ruth begins to hear her unborn baby talk to her, urging her to kill those who robbed her of Daddy. That this is never confirmed to be a real, supernatural ability on behalf of her daughter, or Ruth’s tired, grief-stricken mind pushing her over the edge, allows for a multiplicity of interpretations for what unfolds on screen, and this in itself fits the duplicitous nature of Ruth as she adopts a multitude of meticulous personas to strike names off her hit-list.
Prevenge is a natural progression for Alice Lowe, allowing for the purest distillation of her unique perspective on humanity yet. Alice’s penchant is for blackly comedic, off-kilter situations which make audiences uncomfortable before pulling the rug from under them leading to utter hysterics via an unexpected twist or a blunt, naturalistic drop back to reality. She draws from her influences in a style reminiscent of one of her heroes, David Bowie: taking a concept from here, and an approach from there, sprinkling on an aesthetic from something else, and then being very open and honest about just where it all came from whilst blowing you away with how well these pieces go together in a manner you’d never have thought of in a million years.
As such, Prevenge feels as if it draws on as much the work of Ken Loach or Alan Bleasdale as it does Kubrick’s The Shining and Eyes Wide Shut, Noé’s Irreversible, the works of Nicolas Roeg and, of course, the obvious Andrzej Zulawski’s Possession. But like Bowie, Lowe’s inspirations come from further afield that you’d expect: the soundscapes of A Clockwork Orange, the music of Kate Bush, and as she explained to BFI recently, Abraham Bosse’s illustrations for Thomas Hobbes’ Leviathan, and the tomb of Marie Laveau.
And there are shades of her previous work, from Lifespam to Sightseers, to the deliciously bonkers Brethrenand the way in which Birdhandlerfused the surreal with a naturalistic approach, and how Junglophilia‘s affectionate pastiche of Toyah betrayed Lowe’s obsession with Cracked Actor many moons before Prevenge was a twinkle in the eyes of her painted face.
So too, is Alice’s Wunderlanda logical pre-step on this path of discovery: allowing Alice the opportunity to fuse mundane reality with fantastical ideas in the “Poundland of magical realms”: in a parallel universe, the idea of an unborn baby urging its carrier to kill could just as easily be a sketch in the Radio 4 series, and still work. Alice’s oeuvre has frequently put the strange and fantastical into ordinary realms, and that allows for the horror of the situations to feel all the more powerful.
This is ably realised by the wonderful supporting cast, who took Lowe’s deadpan, naturalistic script, and refined it on the day with the actress, writer and director. The production focused on shooting the graphic and intricate death-sequences first and foremost in most cases, which then allowed them the rest of the day to play around with the lead-ups in each vignette. Most of the cast had worked with Lowe before, which no doubt helped the performances, but there isn’t a duff one between them: from Kate Dickie‘s dead-behind-the-eyes corporate middle manager, to Mike Wozniak‘s gentle soul Josh, and Tom Davis‘ lecherous has-been DJ Dan.
As Ruth’s midwife, Jo Hartley has the hardest challenge of all. The allegorical angel on her shoulder, the Midwife’s first appearance cleverly makes her seem like yet another enemy to be ticked off the hit-list, but as the film progresses, she becomes the only person who can genuinely save Ruth from both the devil on her other shoulder (ok, it’s a bit lower down than that), and herself. It’s a real testament to both Hartley’s portrayal, and Lowe’s good nature as a filmmaker, that the Midwife is allowed to be the soul of the picture, even if the mysterious Baby is the deadly beating heart.
And in putting Ruth in the middle of the pair, Alice has created a tortured soul who the audience can either love or hate, and she wisely chooses to give neither side an easy ride. Here is a woman who has lost her entire life, and the love of it for good measure, and is trapped in a seemingly impossible situation which she’s desperate to break free of.
When she meets a man who just so happens to live with one of her potential victims, Ruth lets her guard down and for a brief moment, appears to enjoy a moment of genuine happiness before reality hits, and she realises there’s no going back. And yet, throughout the film, there are also moments when it appears that Ruth is actually celebrating her liberation as a one-woman killing machine, and the freedom that wiping scum off the streets is allowing her. The dichotomy of the character is truly fascinating, and Lowe has not only written it to perfection, but has directed and performed it with a flawless understanding of the shades of grey that real life is all about.
There’s a moment in the middle of the film in which Ruth lies in a tepid bath, staring at her pregnancy bump, and tells her unborn baby how she feels. “I think I’m changing,” she says, “into something else. It’s because of you.” Watching Prevenge feels like Alice really has changed into the incredible film-maker she always promised to be. This isn’t a vanity project, shot in a basic style because the director has some star pulling power: every single aspect of the film has been scrutinised to the finest detail. The soundscape is almost a character in itself, with Toydrum’s brooding electronic score pushing the moods which the film’s colour grading and camera angles support, all without becoming overbearing: the detail is there, if you want it, but easy to ignore if you don’t. Hell, it’s a Film Studies casebook example in waiting, as well as being a seriously bloody funny film.
That last point may be the sincher: Prevenge is a comedy with horror elements, rather than the other way round, and it delivers on that front too. By filling the cast primarily with comedians, the lines never fail to deliver, and quite frankly, if you come out of this film without a huge grin on your face, TVO is a little concerned for you.
Dan Skinner is a brilliantly smutty early addition to the cast, and his chemistry with a flirtatious Lowe is a delight. Tom Davis pulls no punches as the utterly disgusting DJ Dan, and his vigenette also allows the brilliant Leila Hoffman to pull off some gloriously fun scene-stealing. Mike Wozniak and Kayvan Novak bring a charming vulnerability to their performances, and whilst Gemma Whelan‘s brief role is perhaps the one that doesn’t quite land as well as the others, it’s no fault of the actress, but only because her sequence is essentially a spot of light relief at a point when the film needs it most.
The end result is a film that everyone involved has a tremendous right to be proud of. Like Sightseers before it, the theatrical release is only part of the story: Prevenge will live on via DVD, Blu-Ray, Streaming and occasional screenings in the years to come. Rave reviews are one thing, but audience word of mouth will make this film into the cult classic it deserves to be. After all these years, watching Alice Lowe fight to get her own unique vision on screen, it is incredibly gratifying to see it happen for the first time, and even more gratifying to know that it is only the beginning.
It’s a sad fact of both the current feeling towards physical media in the industry, and the limited resources available to smaller productions, that the extras on the DVD and Blu-Ray are rather minimal. Of course, that’s quite often par for the course these days – the streaming market is often key, the discs almost an afterthought. Perhaps one day, Prevenge will be reissued with a glorious retrospective extras package, but right now, what we’ve got is a small but tight sprinkling of bonus material.
The first step for most will be the featurette, Postnatal Confessions, in which Alice Lowe is joined by executive producer Vaughan Sivell, director of photography Ryan Eddleston, editor Matteo Bini and (briefly) co-stars Jo Hartley, Kate Dickie and Kayvan Novak, to talk about the challenges of putting the film on the screen.
It’s quite a dry piece, but not without its charms – from the reveal that the first day of filming involved Alice being naked in the bath (“People are going to see up my vagina. I might as well let go.”), through to former Game of Thrones actress Kate Dickie’s joy that, in comparison, she got to keep her clothes on for this one!
The team talk about the difficulties of getting the film completed before Alice was due to give birth, the genuine fear that the team had for her safety during the Cardiff city centre night shoot on Halloween, and how so many people are convinced that the real birth of Alice’s daughter Della is actually shown on screen.
If there’s any real criticism, it’s that the rest of the film’s stars don’t really feature at all. Kayvan Novak makes a brief appearance early on, to have a muck-about in front of a behind the scenes camera, but crucially, doesn’t get time to talk about his role or the film itself in any degree of reality. Meanwhile, fellow co-stars like Mike Wozniak and Gemma Whelan are conspicuously absent, though this is likely to be due to the frantic nature of the shoot not allowing time for interviews, and the continued demand for their services making a post-filming catch-up rather difficult to arrange.
Still, it would have been nice to see more from the behind the scenes team, given they were clearly on set a lot and potentially lots of laughs were had, though interest in watching such footage may not be high on everyone’s agenda.
Besides the original theatrical trailer, there’s no further video footage to savour, but the core team of Lowe, Sivell, Eddleston and Bini are reunited for a feature-length audio commentary packed with golden nuggets of info, and a lot of laughs.
“It’s quite nerve-wracking isn’t it, doing one of these?” Alice asks at the start. “Can we record the whole thing again once we’ve done it, if we really ruin it? Or, if I really ruin it?”
Yet time and time again, Alice proves to be every bit as fascinating as we here at TVO already knew from our numerous interviews over the years. For example, we learn from dop Ryan Eddleston that Alice provided colour references for every single scene, because she believes every sequence should reflect the moods and emotions of Ruth’s hormonal and mental battles. The awe in Ryan’s voice is sweetly palatable when he says firmly: “No other director does that.”
In fact, Lowe’s attention to detail is the core learning from the commentary. The opening scene went through 28 different edits, as Alice and editor Matteo Bini tried the sequence with differing perspectives so the audience ends up rooting for either Lowe’s Ruth or Dan Skinner’s Mr. Zabek.
And throughout the commentary, she leads the chat not just with positive anecdotes about her cast (a personal favourite, her attempts to make Mike Wozniak look like, and I quote: “Jesus with pasta.”), but with technical talk on grading, the use of specific lenses, the brooding soundscapes she developed with composers Toydrum, and the effects work by Colin J. Smith. The team around her are quick to support her own efforts, even as she downplays them, and it becomes clear that she inspires them to do even better work than they thought possible.
From a TVO perspective, those cast notes are of particular interest. Dan Skinner is ‘hilarious’ but with an ‘edge’; Tom Davis is “a giant in his own lifetime” who was so funny in the DJ booth that the team would have quite happily have used ten minutes of his ad-libs (yes, this is the kind of thing that would have made a great extra feature!).
Elsewhere, Kayvan Novak is praised for his screen idol looks combined with his ability to play ‘slippery’ folk; Gemma Whelan is a chameleon as well as an excellent actress; and Mike Wozniak’s naturalistic delivery of what Alice describes as “quite weird, idiosyncratic things to say about anchovies” blew her away. There’s also sweet talk about Tom Meeten’s trust in his long-standing collaborator for his brief cameo sequence, love for the inimitable Leila Hoffman and Kate Dickie, and the startling revelation that all of Jo Hartley’s scenes (the biggest supporting role in the film) were shot in a day, meaning the actress had to perform a whole character arc in just a few hours.
Overall, what you’ve got here is a commentary that can be explaining how films like Gaspar Noé’s Irreversible influenced the production one minute, to the less glamorous revelation that a heavily pregnant woman had to roll about in, as she puts it, “a lot of different Cardiff people’s wee” to get the right shot. The team took their task deadly seriously, but it’s also clear that they had a lot of fun doing so, and the result is a film that they can all be proud of, and an audio commentary that is worth every penny.
So while it would have been amazing to see more on-set footage, some of the alternate takes and deleted footage, and heck, maybe even Alice’s 2010 short film My Old Baby (made with Jacqueline Wright and co-starring Rich Fulcher and Sarah Kendall) could have been popped on there as a fun, vaguely related extra that would have been easy to clear, what we have here is a disc which fits the current trend for minimal, essential extra features, and leaves you wanting more, instead of less. And if Prevenge has proved one thing, it’s that Alice Lowe is going to do so much more…
