The League of Gentlemen TV series review
(originally published on Dooyoo several years ago about the first series)
I thought the phrase “ground-breaking” had fallen into disuse as a method of describing comedy. The ground has been well trodden. The League Of Gentlemen has managed turn over a patch of the compacted earth with their surrealist slant on black humour and hopefully planted something that will survive.
When I first saw this comedy, I wasn’t paying a lot of attention. I was working away on my computer as the television played to itself in the background. The sketch that arrested my attention was one where Steve Pemberton played a bloke in a pub telling a joke to his two mates.
The sketch was deceptively normal at first, but as his joke was repeatedly interrupted with hair-splitting points and side issues from his friends he sank into a manic depression culminating in him pulling a gun on them and shouting, “you know I’ve got this gun don’t you?” From this point, the sketch had entered the black zone that the viewer would be taken to each week, and I was intrigued.
The League Of Gentlemen are Steve Pemberton, Reece Shearsmith and Mark Gattis. A fourth member who writes, but does not perform, is Jeremy Dyson. They specialise in black humour, creating dark, sinister, and sometimes grotesque situations and characters.
They each play multiple characters and give Oscar deserving performances. It took me weeks to work out exactly which character was played by whom.
What I find fascinating about this show is that the comedy is played dead straight. The only silliness comes from the absurd situations and surreal plots. It is the contrast between the superb acting and bizarre situations that create the sinister atmosphere.
The butcher for example, is one of the grotesque characters who supplies something “special” from under the counter wrapped in brown paper. We are never shown what the product is, but the stuff is as addictive as heroin. The “junkies” are under his control and the whole series of sketches on this theme seem to be metaphors for drug users and pushers. The contents of the brown paper are never revealed to us but it obviously isn’t ordinary meat – or is it? Is it human flesh perhaps?
The sinister overtones are sometimes disturbing. Occasionally they might not even be funny – but even then – I find there is something eerie that draws me in and holds my attention.
The show is based in a fictional Northern English village called Royston Vasey whose welcome sign says simply, “You’ll never leave.” The character I described earlier, who pulled a gun on his mates, is featured in each episode of the first series and each time the sketch leads to him pulling the gun.
The best example of this is when he is the best man, at his best friend’s wedding giving his speech. At first, everything is as it should be. He thanks everyone for coming, and rambles on about how he and the bridegroom grew up together. His speech slowly descends into the black zone as he reminisces about their long friendship. He recalls how the bridegroom had always been better than him at everything and how he’d always tried to live up to him and failed.
The atmosphere at the reception turns sombre. Then he appears to temporarily perk up as he recalls, “Remember that time when both our mothers were ill?” Then triumphantly declares, “Well I won that time ’cause your mother died and mine got better.” By this point you could hear a pin drop and the atmosphere plumbs the final depths when he pulls the gun and waves it about menacingly. “You know I’ve got this gun don’t you?” In true black humour style, the sketch ends with him receiving a round of applause as he comes to his senses and calls a toast for the bride and groom.
Written by Andy(ArT)Trigg on April 14th, 2008 with
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