Reviews

I've loved this show since first seeing it in 1982. As a kid, the childish jokes were simply funny. Later, the way it poked fun at some of the snobbish attitudes of the 50s also became more apparent and just as hilarious.

The absurd mix of adults playing kids out camping and doing childish things (while investigating crimes) works perfectly. In spite of the scathing humour, there is still a nostalgic element to it - going cycling and camping and picnicking in the lovely old English countryside looks fun!

As well as the main cast, there are some great cameos including Robbie Coltrane, and the inspired inclusion of Ronald Allen as the sinister Uncle Quentin - a big surprise for those of us used to seeing him as David Hunter on Crossroads at the time.

Firstly, like most big budget films nowadays, this film is going back to an old franchise to guarantee interest. Secondly, hey, lets make a woman the dominant, powerful character, that's a very "original" spin nowadays. And lets just pack the film with so much action, noise and explosions that no one will get bored. That should guarantee a great film, eh?

Wrong. People are sick of remakes and films retreading old ground. Men (who tend to be more into action films than women) are getting pretty sick of being force-fed feminist agendas all the time. Make films where women are somehow physically more powerful than men if you want, by why do it with a film called Mad Max? And as for the story, well, like most action films nowadays, it leaves me cold. Back in the 80s/90s, good actions films were stories with action thrown in. They were involving, adrenaline pumping, exciting and they had likable, memorable or charismatic characters that you cared about. This film fails on all counts.

A programme looking back at bizarre, embarrassing, shocking and, to some, offensive clips from the 70s could have been a hoot, if tackled the right way. Yes, the pc brigade will watch these clips and act offended (their main occupation in life), but this should have been about laughing at how different programmes were, how backward they were in some cases, without having a bunch of ultra-pc unfunny comedians making comments after every clip.

How ironic that Matt Lucas, who made his name out of a show that was ultra non-pc for its time (ultra camp gays everywhere, old women peeing randomly, or being sick when tasting food handed to them by a black guy) is the narrator. Shame on you Matt, Little Britain was great, but now you have just spoiled the memory by going all pc and pointing the finger at other people.

The most annoying thing about the show, other than the school teacher like, arrogant comments from some of the people looking back, is the fact that many of the clips are shown out of context. Indeed, you could take plenty of shows now, cut them up and make them look even worse. Is living in a stiflingly pc world a better world now? In some ways, yes, if it means people are treated better by others. But this show's main aim seems to be to point fingers squarely at white people, mainly men,(because of course, nobody else is ever sex, racist or homophobic, are they?) and blame them for stuff they didn't do, never mind all the good thing's they have been responsible for over the years.