Reviews

The glut of DVDs flooding the market is giving us a chance to wallow in some ripe old tosh and I love it!. This pongs like an ignored armpit. Poor old Waris Hussein, its not his fault. Would you fancy telling Dick and Liz that they can't act or even dare whisper that they should at least try to look at the script before the camera rolls ? Everyone around them seems to be red faced. Barry Foster can scarcely hide his shame - fresh from Frenzy and then THIS?. Rudolph Walker puts in an appearance and makes you realise that Eastenders ain't all that bad and that at least you could understand Jack Smethurst whilst he was being all controversial as Rudi's Loving Neighbour. Let's hope that some more enterprising DVD companies release more choice cuts such as this. Bring out your dead! Seriously, if you get a thrill out of high class trash get this one before it goes back into hiding for another 30 years.

This film regularly gets a one star rating in the film guides. Why? For this film is a short sweet joy and truly the best TV spin off film of the early 70's - it stands head and shoulders above the dire On the Buses series. The acting and writing are a joy and for once it looks as though someone actually cared about the photography and direction. Its not a million miles away from Hobson's Choice and certainly Bill Fraser, Raymond Huntley and David Battley and the rest of the well known ensemble give this Hammer lo-budget gem a touch of class. Miss it at your peril.

Don't be fooled by easy brush offs. What Coogan and Normal are doing for British television comedy is nothing short of revolutionary. In years to come this period will be known as something - I can't say what exactly but it will, trust me. Baby Cow productions are grabbing the screens and saying - we'll try and give you something worthwhile, something different. Lets not forget that this baby cow`s main writer is Graham Duff - new TV talent with a pedigree from Radio 4. Coogan and Normal seem to be nurturing a writing stable...yes, full of Baby Cows! Dr Terrible is more than pastiche, its new, fantastical TV. These days the label Cult TV seems to attached to anything that may have a fantasy slant to it. A genuine cult TV programme - fantasy or not - has to seep into our TV land brains. It can't be planned, scripted or sold. Sadly we have very little of the genuine article left. I say that Dr Terrible gives audiences a chance to experience great out of this world TV that no one else seems to be producing. Hit and miss yes - but wasn't The Avengers, Tales of the Bleedin' Obvious and Hammer House of Horror? This series was rammed in-between yawn central when first shown on BBC 2: one joke comedy from The Kumars (talk about flogging a dead horse) and a series with Stephen Tompkinson,four months down the line I fail or care to remember its title. Easy laughs. Give me comedy with integrity, give me something worth while, give me more Dr Terrible.