Britcom Goes To The Movies

Finding funny stuff on ITV since the turn of the century has been an arduous task. So it was quite the surprise to the 19-year-old Rob and Guy that late night on a Wednesday, one of the new darlings of British comedy, Rob Brydon, could be found as alter ego Peter De Lane performing fake director’s commentary on such classic Granada TV shows as Flambards, Only When I Laugh, and Mr and Mrs! As well as, for some reason, the classic US western TV show Bonanza, for which Brydon’s production company owned the rights to 32 episodes. This is a forgotten Brydon Classic. Shortly after the success of Marion and Geoff and Human Remains, the BBC turned down the opportunity for Brydon’s latest venture with collaborator Paul Duddridge, so their loss was Granada’s gain, and it would serve the dual purpose of giving ITV a comedy vehicle with the man everyone wanted a piece of as well as reminding audiences of some of their back catalogue.So for our second Rob Brydon-related round table episode, we’ve enlisted the help of two of our favourite former guests to make up a classic De Lane Four. Alison Dennison and Nina Buckley returned to discuss their love (in one case) and disdain (in the other) for a show that neither had previously remembered.Join the four of us for a deep dive into the world of Peter De Lane, Denny Hall and Lord Cheggers of Oddbins, and we’ll also discuss our favourite real-life director's commentaries and lots more to boot. Thanks as always to our payingest Patreon, Andrew Greenwood!Eurovision 1977 - Stewart Morris Talkbackhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XTgCLfYdRo4Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg, Jessica Hynes and Quentin Tarantino director’s commentary on Spacedhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KWOQH76BZbQMike Scully calls John Schwartzwelder on the Simpsons commentaryhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MAWE0Kjn8ac&t=1sDirector’s Commentary - The Duchess of Duke Streethttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXVB_tW_KXQDirector’s Commentary - Flambardshttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_Df03uATMMGrace Jones at the Golden Jubileehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kIicwZrkEhY&list=RDkIicwZrkEhY&start_radio=1The Staggering Stories of Ferdinand De Burgoshttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v37TG6uG3c Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

To round off our BritPop Goes to the Movies mini-series, we jump to 2006, a simpler time when fledgling British pop-rockers McFly and their management could force themselves on an unsuspecting Hollywood. Lindsay Lohan (at the height of her fame) and Chris Pine (who Rob would argue is the best of the Chrises) on the come-up, star in an all-American, by-the-numbers romcom, which was sold in this country largely based on the already successful McFly's appearance. However, in America, Tom, Dougie, Harry and Danny were complete unknowns, and this was their only shot to crack the US market.This film differs in many ways from the previous two in the series, not least because it is a fully American production, but also because the band is very much the B-plot to a high-concept convolution in which Lohan and Pine continue to switch luck and status. There's still plenty of British pop music in it, though. Lots of McFly tracks but a lot of repetition of Five Colours in Her Hair.Joining Guy and Rob is fellow Film Stories Podcast Network host Dev Elson of Chucky Vision and At The Movies in the Noughties. He did more than his fair share of superfluous research by listening to every McFly album. Is this film as bad as we are making it sound, though? Well, you’ll just have to finish the trilogy to find out. Five Colours In Her Hair - McFlyhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h76uVRSJ5bcObviously - McFlyhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JiyF3K7hFqMHarry Judd Wins Strictlyhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wb_s2RHVBdYChris Pine in Smokin' Aceshttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-tGV96ceBM&t=148sChris Pine - The Otley Runhttps://x.com/CapitalOfficial/status/1641409178387324934Just My Luck Trailerhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ClDQ4SLDDOwJust My Luck - Central Park Scenehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZz6l8MCFFY Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Episode two of BritPOP Goes to the Movies sees Guy and Rob joined by Catrin Lowe to discuss Spice World: The Movie. Kim Fuller, brother of the mogul behind the Spice Girls, Simon Fuller, wanted to make a genuine homage to our previous film A Hard Day's Night, and to do that he wanted to make this just as cynical and rich with meta-textual, self-referential craziness. Cramming in celebrity cameos (too many for his script editor) and musical set-pieces.Spice World certainly had that and a whole lot more. The film was put in motion before the five-piece had properly blown up worldwide, but by the time shooting had wrapped, they were truly a worldwide sensation. This movie broke all kinds of box-office records; despite being critically panned, it now sits as the most financially successful film about a real pop group ever.To believe the critics' initial reaction would do this subversive, bonkers and surprisingly well-acted film a disservice. Yes, there's the odd "what the hell were you thinking?!" moment, but for every Michael Barrymore and Gary Glitter (yes, Gary Glitter!) there's an Alan Cumming and Bob Hoskins. Sit back and listen to the gang wax lyrical and get all nostalgic about the era of Spice. With clear dividing lines about what the Spice Girls meant to their teenage girl and teenage boy fan clubs! There's even a little inside scoop from a familiar voice who appeared in the movie. So Stop! Say you’ll be there with us for a cracking episode that hopefully you won’t find Too Much……..Goodbye! Spice Girls - Wannabehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJLIiF15wjQSpice Girls - Say You'll Be Therehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ro0FW9Qt-4Spice Girls - Too Much on Top of the Popshttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1iyQBxSbvqgSpice World - Teaser Trailerhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1Ne8oBpQQYSpice World - American Trailerhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BmSBtOHzGPMSpice World Alienshttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yzxxc5KnBOESpice World - Boy in comahttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_8fYanJk88Peter Sissons on Ann Robinsonhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7PuKPiTT_4Geri - A Film By Molly Dineenhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8bnx0YcFBoSpice World - Gary Glitter deleted scenehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jYRHoQP75-gLoaded: Lads, Mags and Mayhemhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PbAWc_pQDjkAll Spice Girls Advertshttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zw54uEniaZgWaynes World - Sponsorhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KjB6r-HDDI0 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As we eagerly await Series Seven in the autumn, how about treating ourselves to a mini-series during the bank holiday? What could be more fun than watching British pop groups trying to crack the movies? In our new mini-series, BritPop Goes To The Movies, Rob and Guy will be diving into exactly that over the next three days! We kick off our series with a huge first episode, featuring a returning friend of the show. Tyler Adams from Goon Pod is back for his third appearance, ready to help us explore a film that truly changed everything. Who better to guide us through how a business-savvy soundtrack tie-in became a cinematic masterpiece? Tyler helps us to start things off with A Hard Day’s Night. Originally commissioned by United Artists to get a Beatles soundtrack album, director Richard Lester and writer Alun Owen took a modest £189,000 budget and a tight schedule and turned it into something sharper, funnier, and more influential than anyone could have imagined. By moving away from the usual vehicles of Elvis and Cliff Richard, John, Paul, George, and Ringo really shine on screen, playing heightened versions of themselves. They are supported by a fantastic cast of British character actors, including Wilfred Bramble, Victor Spinetti, and Norman Rossington, who add a sharp edge to the film’s satire on age, class, and authority. Come along with us as we get stuck into Beatlemania and the birth of the modern music video as we explore A Hard Day’s Night! Running, Jumping, Standing Still film - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ScwV_yIGZ5Y It’s Trad Dad (trailer) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jk8ad0u0URw A Hard Days Night Press Conference - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m9VJ7GZYcWU George Harrison funny scene - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QREeweMWTZk Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Is the art of parody the sole reserve of Americans? Well, us Brits have had a few jolly good cracks at it. Most recently, Fackham Hall. The star-studded Downton Abbey send-up from 2025, written by the Dawson brothers (one of whom is an Inman) and the Carr brothers (one of whom is the UK’s biggest stand-up of the 21st century).To round off the sixth series of BritCom Goes to the Movies, Rob and Guy tackle their most recent film to date and have paired it with the other most valiant BritCom ZAZ-style attempt, A Touch of Cloth. The gloriously silly spoof of the police procedural dramas of the BBC and ITV. A programme that started life in creator Charlie Brooker’s spoof TV listings website TV Go Home.Series six has had our most guests ever, so it's only right to finish it with the original lineup. For this one, Guy and Rob go it alone. There’s also the matter of the Series Six quiz champion to decide, as scores are all level at 24-24 going into this episode. Join us for the last in the series at Fackham Hall!TV Go Homehttp://www.ntk.net/tvgohome/190399.htmlA Touch of Cloth - It was 1996https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yrOnQG-ZYyMA Touch of Cloth - I cam As Soon As I Heardhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4RKGels8Wo&pp=ygUQYSB0b3VjaCBvZiBjbG90aA%3D%3D&pbjreload=102Fackham Hall - Trailerhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWrZCkL8KqsFackham Hall - Jimmy Carrhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XhP-mmIPDY Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

At BritCom Goes to the Movies, we are dipping back into the world of Armando Iannucci. Last we heard of him on this show, he’d just adapted his hit sitcom The Thick of It into big screen success In The Loop, and eight years later was turning his attention to a farcical retelling of an actual moment in history with The Death of Stalin.Based on a French graphic novel telling of the Soviet dictator’s demise, Iannucci reassembled some of his most trusted writers and performers to tell this story in a very Thick of It way, without the need for comedy Russian accents. Ian Martin and David Schneider, longtime Iannucci collaborators, would help write, and while the cast had familiar Britcom faces, there would also be a sprinkling of Hollywood with Steve Buscemi and Jeffrey Tambor as well as the cream of theater in Simon Russell Beale as the terrifying Beria.We dip not only into this 2017 movie but also the critically acclaimed 2001 sketch show, The Armando Iannucci Shows, which was one of the few TV series that Armando wrote and produced, which he also took the lead in performing. This is a second episode in a row in which we feature a TV show written by Kevin Cecil and Andy Riley (amongst others), and (spoiler alert) we enjoyed their work here much more than we did Hyperdrive.Joining Guy and Rob is the brilliant comedian, writer, and historian Eleanor Morton, who jumped at the chance to talk about one of her favourite films of the 2010s. But would Rob and Guy be quite so effusive? This episode would also represent Guy’s chance to put the quiz competition to bed with one episode remaining. Going into episode nine, Guy had a two-point lead. If he could extend this into episode ten, it would surely be curtains for Rob.Armando Iannucci - OJ Simpson on the Saturday Night Armisticehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKfEtYYqSl4The Armando Iannucci Shows - Hello Hughhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqmjWCk36C8The Armando Iannucci Shows - Chronic fatigue syndromehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDhoM_vhIeoDeath of Stalin - Trailerhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9eAshaPvYwDeath of Stalin - Rupert Friendhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EN-mq2RPAtoDeath of Stalin - Best of Zhukovhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNbvepjd46A Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Get on your dancing shoes and join Guy and Rob (because it only takes two to tango) for 2014’s Cuban Fury. Something of a passion project for Nick Frost, who basically wanted to learn how to dance and probably wanted to be the main character in a wish-fulfillment Rom Com. There’s some transatlantic crossover here as Rashida Jones of The Office, Parks and Rec, and being the daughter of famous people, joined the mainly British and Irish cast.We’ve covered Nick Frost before, of course, but never as a leading man, and while he teamed up with Nira Park and Big Talk once again, there was no trace of Edgar Wright here, but just the tiniest bit of Simon Pegg. To pair a TV show with this, it made sense to pick the first time Frost had a lead role in a sitcom as well, the divisive Hyperdrive. Starting in 2006 and running for two series, this was Kevin Cecil and Andy Riley’s (them again) venture into the unknown, for a space set sci-fi sitcom with just a few echoes of the two big hitters that came before it.To find out if Rob and Guy liked either Hyperdrive or Cuban Fury, you’ll need to tune in for episode seven, which, in a series laden with guests, stands out as one for the purists. Can Rob claw back the quiz deficit? Will Guy mention The Beatles? Will we have a challenger for the upper or lower places in the league table? Only one way to know for sure!Hyperdrive Series 1https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rz-1c2o1Dxw&list=PL2907664D333F4F02Hyperdrive - Starting Therapyhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNbKr4cm1-8Cuban Fury - Trailerhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFSP9iO71AECuban Fury - Kayvan Novakhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GrllJthntlECuban Fury - Al Pacino Impressionhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVaVICJF_gQ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Episode Seven began life as a thread on Bluesky by our guest Tim Worthington. The font of all obscure pop culture knowledge was discussing with followers what the most obscure BritCom they'd seen at the cinema was. Needless to say, a lot of the answers were on our long list, but not Tim's choice.The Young Poisoner's Handbook is the darkest of all the dark comedies we've covered so far. Based on, but the filmmakers must stress, not a biopic of The Teacup Poisoner Graham Young, who killed several people in the 60s and 70s.A film full of familiar Britcom faces, including Roger Lloyd Pack, Charlotte Coleman, John Thompson, and Simon Kunz. Still, it's the central performance from Irish actor Hugh O'Connor that really stole the show.Co-writer Jeff Rawle was at the height of his Drop the Dead Donkey fame when this film was released in 1995, so the topical newsroom sitcom by Andy Hamilton and Guy Jenkin was the obvious choice for our "source material" and was a joy to revisit. Join Rob, Guy, and Tim for the Young Poisoner's Handbook. Damien Gets High On The Field - Drop The Dead Donkey https://youtu.be/JfeQyp0PihM?si=t0cIRk2zFHKVfNZq Teddy Bear Disaster - Drop The Dead Donkey https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ip0sLEMCEdY How To Announce a War - Drop The Dead Donkey https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ErktQhN6TvM Episode One - Educating Marmalade https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGeHsjfVptk Marmalade Atkins joins MI5 - Danger: Marmalade at Work https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lHBCxewUANM The Young Poisoner's Handbook - Trailer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7_e79Ik3Vs The Young Poisoner's Handbook - Full Movie https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ndiGKuUkt0&t=1012s Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Last time Kat Hughes joined Rob and Guy, the horror writer and critic had the misfortune of dissecting the Christmas family mess Nativity! This time she’s much more in her wheelhouse as we discuss Bloodbath at the House of Death. A vehicle for Britain’s best loved DJ Kenny Everett to take his brand of spoofing, innuendo and larger than life characters to the big screen after the success on both ITV and BBC with his Video Show/Television Show.It cannot be underestimated just what a huge cultural phenomenon Kenny Everett was. As one of Britain’s most popular Radio and TV personalities in the early 80s, he could make careers of pop stars and bands and was able to attract some of the biggest names to guest on his TV shows. However, just when it looked like Kenny might hit the big time on the big screen, a controversial incident at the Young Conservatives conference of 1984 was publicity suicide for Bloodbath and it crashed and burned at the box office.However, as was often the case in the mid-80s, VHS came somewhat to its rescue, and now the film is even on Netflix…but was it any good? Could a supporting cast of such huge BritCom names as Pamela Stephenson, Don Warrington and John Fortune elevate this film beyond Everett’s more disposable TV sketches? Could Vincent Price give it some Hollywood clout and horror credibility? Writer Barry Cryer and writer director Ray Cameron had been working with Everett for years, but the big screen was fairly new to them as well.We discuss all of the above and more in episode six, so join us as we take a trip to The House of Death.Kenny Everett Video Show - Best of VHShttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7HeX1CPQf9kKenny Everett Television Showhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ecqQBG9q3OkCharley Says Always Tell Your Mummyhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDu7yYHxZr0The Prodigy - Charlyhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cSTBFZ-To2EPamela Stephenson - England My Leotardhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SMXIro1P_7gPamela Stephenson - Shrink Wraphttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZodTyEoFRZQBloodbath at the House of Death - Trailerhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6zmvE-uEu0Bloodbath at the House of Death - Best of Vincent Pricehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YyLWS_CjI1M Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Now that’s enough of the 1970s, let’s move this series into the 20th century. Well, actually, our story for this icon of BritCom begins at the end of the 20th. Harry Hill won the Perrier award in 1992 and was quickly on TV and radio soon after. Rob and Guy take a particular look at The Harry Hill Show…or rather just Harry Hill as it was known on Channel 4 in the late 90s. To join the chaps is Harry Hill superfan, internet sensation, and comedy writer Ruth Husko. As it turns out, both Ruth and Rob saw an early Harry Hill tour as their first forays into live comedy. Guy, however, still needed some convincing of the wonder of Hill’s own brand of surreal silliness. Could he be won over? Well, the chances are that would not be done by watching the universally panned Harry Hill Movie from 2013. Held up as one of the cases that most proves the rule that big-screen adaptations of small-screen comedy don’t work, but is it really that bad? There’s only one way to find out…FIIIIFGHTT! Or just have a listen to the latest episode of BritCom Goes to the Movies. Harry Hill - Fruit Fancies https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dlIGkKUxWak Harry Hill - Fruit Corner https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOOkh8ffqko Harry Hill - Channel 4 - SE1 Ep1 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uUS_EPSNNtY&list=PLVEP6KjsyeTd9sScdD-KH4ZTvvWuW17V5 Harry Hill and Stoofer - 7 seconds https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qeW61GTxe-Q TV Burp - Ear Cataracts https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NswiFD8qSgI Harry Hill Movie - Trailer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ywarD9fcZGQ Harry Hill Movie - Blackpool https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dg1AxAHJBJg Shooting Stars - Billy Elliott https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PN-ASY9X1dU Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We’re on a roll with the 70s sitcom spin-offs. Hot on the heels of George and Mildred and Mutiny On The Buses comes 1971’s Please Sir! This is, in no small part, down to our guest this week, Jason Hazeley, being the world’s loudest cheerleader for this film and its preceding sitcom. We didn’t even need to show him the list; he was straight in there for a personal favourite since his youth. But never two to hold back, would Rob and Guy’s thoughts on Please Sir! align with Jason’s? Certainly, the ingredients were there for that not to be the case. Some dated attitudes, men and women in their 20s playing teenagers, a rushed release capitalising on the success of its TV predecessor, and our old favourite, a flimsy pretext to get the cast to a holiday camp. Having said that, both Rob and Guy come to this fresh. Neither had ever seen as much as an episode of this once-beloved sitcom, but both were aware of the all-round entertainment chops of the cast. Not least Deryck Guyler, in whose washboarding hands anyone could feel at ease. Join us as we delve into one of the last ITV sitcom spin-offs left to cover, which could well prove the best of the lot. Please Sir! SE1 Ep1https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8PVA-TDeYwDeryck Guyler on the Washboardhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWKHTcC-I8k&list=RDGWKHTcC-I8k&start_radio=1Derrick Geyler Scotch Tape Adshttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AL3mpzAvHFAMichael Winner Esure Adhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=efl5pFTFnBUVictor Lewis Smith pranks Michael Winnerhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTGc1PKVrH0Please Sir! (1971) Trailerhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rhhiqg0aKOMPlease Sir! Full Filmhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qa0CL4bhlH8 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After some time away, we’re ready to dip back into the On The Busesverse. Our resident expert in all things Butler and Blakey, John Rain, returns to discuss the Empire Strikes Back of the trilogy. It’s time for Mutiny on the Buses. A mere year after the first film and backed by a (slightly) bigger budget, none of which the actors saw, the Ronalds, Chesney, and Wolf had forged a screenplay with much more of a semblance of a plot and some new characters to boot. There’s all the usual fun (at Blakey’s expense mainly) as well as naked protest, Arthur joining the depot, a huge fire extinguisher leak, and fun and frolics in Windsor Safari Park in which Reg Varney shits himself with a chimp on his lap. Great to welcome back John Rain and his unique brand of analysis and even tee up the promise of Holiday on the Buses to come…but one instalment at a time, eh? Morris Bright’s Elstree On The Buses Documentary https://youtu.be/luKxuhVxNGQ?si=pZduxvq7pY1CLk5c Mutiny on the Buses Filming Locations https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A9dv6flrmW4 Mutiny on the Buses Trailer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-LQbflW--q4 Mutiny on the Buses - Radio Control https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ECzCL97E28w Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Time to get our teeth into another straight spin-off. It’s a significant one at that. The final of the ITC/EMI/Hammer spin-offs of ITV sitcoms, which many credit as the death of the genre altogether. That’s right, it is the 1980 big-screen adaptation of the long-running sitcom that in itself was a spin-off. George and Mildred. Long-time listeners will know that in the first series, Rob and Guy were pleasantly surprised by Man About the House...if not the movie, the sitcom itself. So there’s every chance that George and Mildred could follow suit. As we always end up repeating, this show is all about expectations, which would obviously be on the floor with the reputation this film has preceding it. So things could only look up, right?….RIGHT?! Joining us to find out is comedian Alison Dennison, so committed to the G&M cause she’d already watched every episode ever made in preparation. With attention to detail like this, episode two of series six would prove to be one of the best we’d ever made. A tale of comedy and tragedy, life and death, both metaphorical and literal. Join us for George and Mildred! George and Mildred Opening theme https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0ygWHpvoFE Best of George Roper https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2YQtqXTktY George and Mildred Last Interview https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gE-3utPaAdU George and Mildred Movie in Full https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BAaNz1DW1DY Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

No sooner are we gone than we’re back with a brand-new series. In series six, we’ll pass 60 films viewed and reviewed for a project that still has plenty of legs in it yet! But we begin this brand new series by embracing the familiar. Tom Salinsky returns to BritCom Goes to the Movies for the first time since episode six, and not only does he join for a film all three of us have seen before, all three of us love it! The film in question is the 1955 classic Ealing comedy, The Ladykillers, a real contender for the top ten of our table and beyond. But how will we link this to the small screen, I hear you ask? The answer is…we won’t. We’re going down the Sellers route. As this was one of Peter Sellers’ earliest big-screen appearances, we’ve decided to match it with one of his earliest radio appearances and the rather forgotten, if not prolific, Ray’s A Laugh from the 1950s BBC radio. Ray’s A Laugh was exactly the kind of broadcast variety/comedy that Sellers and co would go on to blow out of the water with the pioneering Goon Show. While a fair few episodes still exist on BBC Sounds and YouTube, you can hear the star quality of Sellers rising above what was already a pretty tired format in the early 1950s. Then, of course, the film itself. Widely considered not just the best Ealing Comedy (and the three of us will offer some of our other favourites) but also one of the greatest British comedy films of all time. A heist/farce with some career-best performances, not least from Alec Guinness, Katie Johnson, and many of the supporting cast. But how will it hold up against the top echelons of the BritCom Goes to the Movies league? Tom has already had one table-topper with The Rise and Rise of Michael Rimmer, but could he have another? Tune in and find out. Ray’s a Laugh - 1954 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBQ7YrPNx9A Ray’s a Laugh - 1949 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s77ZhWxf9JU The Ladykillers - Trailer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TDVMD8dktKI The Ladykillers - Such Pretty Windows https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wuIvga5t_Hc Alec Guinness as George Smiley https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hCm3IrscqH8 Tom Salinsky - All British Comedy Explained https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2kFktzEvNuI&list=PLmJSdGQRAwRyQjtWhrtFtDpOLo6iaRmpX Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Happy St David’s Day! To mark the occasion here at Britcom Goes to the Movies, we are celebrating one of Wales’ most beloved comedy sons, Rob Brydon, and…actually, it is just a ham-fisted way of doing a round table episode on Cruise of the Gods! This TV film was written by Tim Firth (remember him from our Blackball episode?) and contained not only some Britcom heavyweights of the time, but also ground zero for the careers of some of the most controversial Britcommers of the 21st century, including Russell Brand, David Walliams, and James Corden. Despite all that, its stars Brydon and Steve Coogan, along with its premise of forgotten 80s kids sci-fi being celebrated by nerds on a cruise, made it a firm favourite for Rob and Guy, and they welcomed back returning guests Steve Dunne and Stuart Laws, neither of whom had seen the film before. So how would this have aged, and would our guests immediately be regretting their decision? Only one way to find out. Join us in Leicester, 1982… Cruise of the Gods - Full Film https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2uPsHGPKnWk Children of Castor https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPOMIHJHPks Sherlock Holmes in Miami https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hj8A3OEicBg Human Remains - Swingers https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVAqWMGyqH0 Marion and Geoff - Student House https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5V60QG0mJ0 You’re a Star - New Faces theme https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sMfzr2Bufkk Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Here at BritCom Goes to the Movies, we love each and every one of our listeners. That is why we’re giving you this Valentine’s present. Rob & Guy discuss their favourite British sketches of all time. To make sure there were no clashes, notes were compared before, duplicates removed, and of course, the arbitrary rule of no more than one sketch from one show per host. These two top-ten lists have a little something for everyone. A good mixture of styles, eras, tones, and formats. So settle in for nearly two hours of discussion of some of the greatest sketches in the history of British comedy! Of course, there are some obvious omissions, and some of you may want to take to the socials to share your favourites or give us grief for ours. Both are encouraged! You can find links to every sketch discussed below, but of course, these are in no particular order to avoid spoilers. Bit of a Chat - Peter Cook & Dudley Moore https://videopress.com/v/IBVjIA8I ⁠ Dirty Fork - Monty Python https://youtu.be/Z9VLwV48OHs?si=rYfeDwrAXXrrzwkc Jackson Jeffrey Jackson - The Fast Show https://youtu.be/LwbJ-N8rrek?si=U0qdYsRvlkKwOF4r Tory Conference - Not The Nine O’clock News https://youtu.be/qB0ZOu_EZ2M?si=lpBupRZ8w36a7Gsb Billie Piper - Big Train https://youtu.be/4_3oU-Z4Vxo?si=Hva6PalUR40g82-h Yoker - Limmy https://youtu.be/0YfRbNipdOg?si=ON_QecbOTrcnKXgs Wedding Registry - Smack The Pony https://www.facebook.com/Channel4Homes/videos/1101703119964373/?vh=e&fs=e&mibextid=wwXIfr Credit Card Application - Armstrong & Miller https://youtu.be/loaP46f8Lhw?si=7YILcGPHTANVCHxu Vape Doms - Ellie & Natasia https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p0c9983q/ellie-natasia-series-1-episode-4 Balham Gateway to the South - Peter Sellers https://youtu.be/8RTWk9QIKS0?si=ABCE1fZbTsR3QgxG French and Saunders - Silence of the Lambs. https://share.google/xvd7XeKyrdR2O0d2R The Two Ninnies - not the 9 o clock news https://youtu.be/IbC3Fdv5wKU?si=MPY4UulwEDyfBvZs Adam and Joe - People Place https://youtu.be/s1myCos0xXI?si=Ge42ZkfXXHrTY-Xb Goodness Gracious Me - Going for an English https://youtu.be/H-uEx_hEXAM?si=wG8IWxZzjWSL0KhG Brass Eye - Oh Me Oh Myra https://youtu.be/wVibsNPXBx0?si=ySFCFVmy2LiMBtf_ Alistair Green - Punk Squirrel IPA https://youtu.be/-wP3BjTdogY?si=G_jh4OGM7Up8OMDe The Peter serafinowicz show - Brian Butterfield diet plan https://youtu.be/1NjTWvl8x-U?si=TSC31Jkk3JLvyFyK Vic and Bob - BBC licence advert https://youtu.be/xhPVP8cghN4?si=hasgqfSIRU8Gzy8V Two Ronnies - Mastermind https://youtu.be/y0C59pI_ypQ?si=7krxJroa1tFKxi4X Fast Show - Monkfish https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_ohQ7yP0-I&list=PLu_1AWOleoaWWstu62EEnWzDGhOwo1GtD Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Merry Christmas to our beloved BritCom Goes to the Movies listeners! Thanks for seeing in the festive period with us. This is our third Christmas episode, and while our previous two were a bit of a mixed bag, we’ve finally found a film we can all agree on: the 2009 classic, Nativity! Writer and director Debbie Isitt was already the pride of the West Midlands theatre scene before turning to film. Her previous feature, Confetti, boasted the cream of British comic talent, even if some of the cast later tried to disavow the experience! For her first festive foray, Isitt enlisted everyone’s favourite wise-cracking sitcom star, Martin Freeman, at a point in his career where he was firmly transitioning into a leading man. He’s joined by oddball comedian Marc Wootton as Mr. Poppy, Extras star Ashley Jensen and a whole host of familiar British faces, as well as an ocean of charming, non-theatre-school kids. Joining Guy and Rob to discuss Nativity! (and Martin Freeman’s forgotten early-2000s sitcom Hardware) is writer and film critic Kat Hughes. Kat is the co-host of Movies with Mummy—the podcast where she and her daughter watch films together. But does Nativity! have what it takes to meet their high standards? We also have the thrilling climax to our Quiz Season. With the scores currently deadlocked at 24-24, it’s all to play for! So, join us for some "Ho-Ho-Hos" and a whole lot of sparkle and shine. Merry Christmas! Bruiser - A Level Geography https://youtu.be/pHmcBFxgov4?si=pNC_rUWx7atIUPrU Bruiser - Martin Freeman https://youtu.be/8w55vM3jwuA?si=Z3rgT1xTas8zMsxM Robert Webb on Confetti https://youtu.be/16xLrzEuLoM?si=uwIRD78sQFGSZ7YI Hardware - Student https://youtu.be/EMDwINZmwp4?si=g68dvIPmkfsnx348 Hardware - S1e1 Dailymotion https://share.google/BACweRPsFHozyTy7o Martin Freeman argues with Tim Lovejoy https://youtu.be/cqK-i6KSY88?si=Mmi2JUZ-5usxeNNW Nativity! - Trailer https://youtu.be/6DaaTsSQktk?si=-tOiWjTSdavTjoaP Nativity! - Sparkle and Shine https://youtu.be/dO6qmNNiAts?si=NUKNVKIv49MFZZir Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

1991 was the year for beloved British comedy performers to try and make their names stateside. We already heard about Rik Mayall’s experience with Drop Dead Fred, but the same year, Lenny Henry, riding high off the success of Live & Unleashed, was able to take advantage of a spot on a high-concept comedy caper vacated by Eddie Murphy (and others) called True Identity. Were the Americans ready for Lenny? Well, as it turned out, no, they weren’t. But that wasn’t necessarily down to him, as we’ll find out in this episode. It was a troubled production with rather large amounts of meddling from Disney execs, throwing Henry and his director, the highly sought-after Charles Lane, under a bus. (One of those big American school buses, no doubt.) For an American take on this British hope gone wrong, we invited the incomparable Tessa and Nicole from Doom Generation, themselves huge fans of British comedy, to join us and discuss not just this film, but Lenny Henry’s career leading up to it. New territory for the Doom Dames, who had never heard of our Lenny before. there’s also the closest ending to a quiz series we’ve had, with the scores locked at 23-23, so join the four of us as we dive headlong into True Identity. Lenny Henry Show - Thriller https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jfXzx1SHsY Lenny Henry Show - Prince https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0zmSn8tnJtA Lenny Henry Show - Sitcom ep1 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aWcBsaWpQQY EMF Unbelievable Andrew Dice Clay Samples https://www.youtube.com/shorts/QQCDE1Uy__c Lenny Henry - Live & Unleashed Intro https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x3W17Z7ZTVM True Identity - Trailer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dyHLV90D8pY True Identity - Transformation https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=heP9g22t_m Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There are a few entries from Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant on our long list at Britcom Goes to the Movies, but we start with perhaps their least remembered and least successful offering, the period coming-of-age comedy/drama Cemetery Junction. In contrast, the pair’s second sitcom offering, Extras, is in the annals of the all-time great British comedy shows. A by-product of a newfound celebrity and the connections it brought with it in 2005. Guest stars galore and a version of what might have been if The Office didn’t have the freedom to be itself. Cemetery Junction was Gervais and Merchant’s first foray into cinema after Extras and is still the only film they have co-written and directed. Based on an idea they’d had for a 70s set sitcom, Ricky and Steve turned “The Men At The Pru” into a feature-length offering, with only small roles for themselves and focussing on the journeys of three young men in 1970s Berkshire. They made it clear as possible that this would be a departure and for audiences to expect the hilarity of Extras and The Office. The result, it failed to penetrate the UK Box Office Top 10, but was that because it wasn’t any good? Stay tuned to find out what Rob and Guy made of it and a lengthy discussion about Extras as well. Ricky Gervais on the 11 o Clock Show https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zl_gS0FsIsM The Ricky Gervais Show - Monkey News - Russian Chat Show https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ikvq0wZAFLM Extras - Les Dennis https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ytDCab8ZoIM Extras - Ronnie Corbett Bloopers https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w2FNaXLe_ro Ricky Gervais & Stephen Merchant - Finding Leo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHdTve2PpeI Gervais and Merchant on Mark Kermode https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oz3MTwufC5s&t=104s Cemetery Junction - Trailer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XYDeHIszUqA Cemetery Junction - Snork performs Cum on Feel the Noize https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eTRyiNVl_G0 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We follow up a Goon-centric episodewith another Goon-centric episode! Hot on the heels of Spike Milligan’s Postman’s Knock comes Peter Sellers’ Two Way Stretch from 1960. A prison heist movie (our second after Get Santa), which has a little whiff of Porridge, just 15 years before. This is our 50th film profiled on the main series, and we couldn’t let such an important landmark go past without enlisting the help of a very special guest. Step forward, Neil Mullarkey! Neil is a comedy writer, performer, and improv king with a big love for all things Sellers, especially this film, which he’d watched relentlessly as a child and young man. We also spoke about Sellers’ 1959 album Songs for Swinging Sellers, which came out just before this film and, of course, before superstardom beckoned with Dr Strangelove. Join Rob, Guy, and Neil, who talk all things not only Sellers but also a cast with an abundance of comic talent, including Lionel Jeffries, Irene Handl, Bernard Cribbins, and, of course, Wilfred Hyde-White. Also, there’s the small matter of the quiz. It is now the business end of the series, and Guy still holds a slender lead. Neil Mullarkey in 6 Pairs of Pants https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-ZkItmbFiQ Songs For Swingin’ Sellers - Full Album https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wogie3WEhwg Two Way Stretch - Trailer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3BOsDoG29w Lionel Jeffries in Two Way Stretch https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=irnfVwdYv1Q Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices