When I first heard about 'Not The Nine O'Clock News', I thought: "Umm. Not very original, is it?". Three years before, there'd been a series called 'Beneath The News' which also poked fun at world events. Despite a cast which included Doug Fisher and Hilary Pritchard, it went down like a lead balloon. Here the BBC seemed to be going down the same road. The only familiar name in the cast was Rowan Atkinson, who'd starred ( and wrote ) ITV's 'Canned Laughter' the year before.
The first edition opens with a parody of 'Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy''s opening titles, and news footage of Jim Callaghan and Margaret Thatcher. Nic Rowley wrote the catchy theme tune. This was made just after the Tories' general election victory. Kenny Everett appears briefly. On using a naughty word, however, he is told to clear off ( Kenny would return to the BBC full-time in 1982 ). A sketch pokes fun at animal rights activists ( and ends with a shot of a nude Pamela Stephenson laying on a platter, an apple in her mouth ). There are no spoof news items ( they came in with the next edition ). Some sketches fall flat, such as Chris Langham's monologue and the 'Zardoz' sequence featuring the cast inside a giant stone head and exchanging one-liners. Much better is the advertisement for Harold Wilson's book 'Final Term' ( the ex-PM is voiced by Chris Emmett ). Also Atkinson's doctor who, discovering that a hospital bed is free, auctions it off to patients. A mixed bag, in other words. Despite that, it went on to become the most popular comedy sketch show since Monty Python.
Of the cast, Atkinson is the stand-out, whereas Langham looks out of place ( he would be replaced the following year by Griff Rhys-Jones ).
Funniest moment - Atkinson's smarmy delegate at the Tory Party conference, gloating about Thatcher's victory and establishing his anti-racist views ( so he thinks ) by claiming to like curry.
The first edition opens with a parody of 'Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy''s opening titles, and news footage of Jim Callaghan and Margaret Thatcher. Nic Rowley wrote the catchy theme tune. This was made just after the Tories' general election victory. Kenny Everett appears briefly. On using a naughty word, however, he is told to clear off ( Kenny would return to the BBC full-time in 1982 ). A sketch pokes fun at animal rights activists ( and ends with a shot of a nude Pamela Stephenson laying on a platter, an apple in her mouth ). There are no spoof news items ( they came in with the next edition ). Some sketches fall flat, such as Chris Langham's monologue and the 'Zardoz' sequence featuring the cast inside a giant stone head and exchanging one-liners. Much better is the advertisement for Harold Wilson's book 'Final Term' ( the ex-PM is voiced by Chris Emmett ). Also Atkinson's doctor who, discovering that a hospital bed is free, auctions it off to patients. A mixed bag, in other words. Despite that, it went on to become the most popular comedy sketch show since Monty Python.
Of the cast, Atkinson is the stand-out, whereas Langham looks out of place ( he would be replaced the following year by Griff Rhys-Jones ).
Funniest moment - Atkinson's smarmy delegate at the Tory Party conference, gloating about Thatcher's victory and establishing his anti-racist views ( so he thinks ) by claiming to like curry.
