james-tuck-1 Reviews

A Christmas Carol (1984 TV Movie)

An Excellent Production

[10/10 · 21 December 2021]

Watched this for the first time on freeview and enjoyed it watching to the end. Doesn't usually happen with "A Christmas Carol" as the story is so familiar yet it kept me engaged.

There is a stellar cast - barely a role is not filled with serious 'name' in acting with long experience in the profession. George C Scott makes a very good Ebenezer Scrooge. You feel dislike for him at the beginning, sorrow toward the end as the uselessness of his life is revealed and warmth as he bursts forth to engage with the world and life again to make the most of his final years.

The film was shot around Shrewsbury and there are good scenes of the town and buildings.

Star Stories (2006–2008)

So Low Brow and Unfunny they made Three Series .......

[10/10 · 5 December 2021]

Truthfully, I discovered this on terrestrial TV by accident when it was first broadcast and hadn't laughed so much at a mainstream TV comedy in years. Clearly a couple of reviewers (one seemingly a Tom Cruise fan - maybe a fellow scientologist????) were not amused by I was and so were many others.

Watch the outlandish portrayals of Paul McCartney, Jennifer Aniston, Bono, Heather Mills (McCartney), David Beckham, The Spice Girls, Elton John, Bob Geldof, Wham and many others all by a core cast of talented impressionists and actors to scripts with just enough reality to make your sides split.

Sails close to the wind most of the time (the revelation of Gary Glitter's unfortunate taste in female companionship and subsequent legal difficulties provide one set of jokes to give you an idea) and if a celebrity character turns up in an episode it won't be so they can be fawned. Each episode focuses on high profile celebrities of the time and references real events and news articles which might be why it was so funny.

Many of the cast have done sterling work afterwards plus the lovely Daisy Beaumont, Laura Patch, Dolly Wells and Thaila Zucchi feature in nearly every episode.

The Sharp End (1991)

A Gem of A Series that was Too Short

[10/10 · 5 December 2021]

Watched this when it was first on and thought it was great. It was a mystery to me why it only got one series as the writing, acting and plot lines were fantastic. There's a good cast too; either experienced actors or new faces who went on to stay the course. Gwen Taylor as widowed mother trying to run a debt collection business and keep her daughter in private school whilst fighting off a ruthless competitor from her business. James Cosmos as her assistant 'heavy', Philip Martin Brown as 'the competition' and Gaynor Faye as her secretary. It opens you eyes to the debt collection business and the games people play, the situations they end up in and the twists and turns of the law which can leave the individual stuck right at the bottom of the pile as the big companies wriggle around it with their solicitors. Maybe that's why only one series got made? It wasn't repeated either. If you can find a copy - watch it.

The New Adventures of Lucky Jim (1982)

The Ups and Downs of Lucky Jim

[7/10 · 30 November 2021]

Remember watching this as a child when it was broadcast and it is pretty standard fare for the comedy of the time. Set in the nineteen sixties it is awash with pretty girls in mini skirts and mini cars. Everyone smokes cigarettes and drinks alcohol at lunch time with the occasional reference to cannabis and free love. Probably wouldn't be allowed before 9pm now although it was early evening viewing then. It's good fun as you follow Jim Dixon round Swinging London never quite getting into the groove and gelling with the beautiful people no matter how much he tries.

They get the atmosphere right with the various classes portrayed accurately and the humour comes from the clashes and 'unlucky' Jim's near misses with girls and success. Jim's 'Walter Mitty' monologues liven up his dull life as he scrapes his way through. Clean whimsical fun for everyone.

Lots of British actors who made names for themselves at the time or a bit later. Glynis Barber, fabulous in sixties attire, and Steven Pacey just out of Blakes Seven in completely different characters. I was a Blakes 7 fan at the time and it wasn't until watching this again that I realised they were both in it, their characters are so different. Miranda Richardson, Anthony Sher, Barbara Flynn, Bill Treacher and John Altman all appear for an episode or two.

The Comic Strip Presents: Five Go Mad in Dorset (1982) Season 1, Episode 1

Funny and quite daring for it's time

[8/10 · 19 November 2021]

Thought I would do a slightly less "web warrior" review to stand alongside the others. This was the first in a long series of shows and is one of the best. It did get quite a bit of notoriety on transmission partly due to it's chosen subject of the Famous Five and being the nascent genre of alternative comedy. It was produced and broadcast with the approval of the Enid Blyton estate so if anything proved they had a sense of humour.

The main joke is, of course, four obviously grown adults pretending to be innocent pre-teen children on an impossibly naive, anachronistic adventure. The book series started in wartime 1942 and was nostalgic even then so although reviewers have said it was set in the 1950's a more accurate description would be pre-war England. That also adds to the humour since nobody in 1982 spoke or behaved that way so with the cast hamming it up extensively it certainly found a chord with rebellious teenagers / young adults which is what the series aimed at.

It did cause a stir when broadcast as the book series was popular and fondly remembered by many and was still being read and dramatized up to the late seventies. It wasn't the first programme broadcast on C4 (that was the first episode of Countdown) but it was on the first night and the whole nation did not tune in expecting to see a faithful reproduction of the books (the title gave that away). However many of the jokes became part of the school children's staple humour of the time.

To get most of the jokes you really have to be familiar with the books and their tone to see why jokes about 'George' possibly being a lesbian (actually based on Enid Blyton's tomboyish childhood) , Dick being a closet homosexual (can't remember that from the books), Anne being a 'wet' girl & Julian being unbearably precocious hit their mark. Also the hilariously dumb & inept criminals and Uncle Quentin (who was a genuine character in the books) turning out to be not quite as 'in love' with his wife Aunt Fanny as you would expect (again no link with the actual books) are funny in their own right without any need to justify them with political correctness.

The other episodes of similar calibre (in my opinion) are "A Fistful of Travellers Cheques", "Strike". "Bad News Tour" & "More Bad News". Probably the biggest ironic joke of them all is that having started out as daring "Alternative Comedy" the genre, this series (and cast) became the new "Mainstream Comedy" and to be subversive and daring in 2021 all you actually have to do now is watch episodes of any sixties / seventies comedy series which was then considered innocuous tea time entertainment.

Hannibal (2013–2015)

A Bit of a Soap Opera

[6/10 · 29 October 2021]

The series is focused on the relationships between Will Graham, Hannibal, Crawford and their colleagues so if you are expecting a sort of police procedural episode you will be disappointed. There is usually a psychopath killing per episode but often the killer figures only minimally and the route to their capture dealt with in a matter of minutes in total. Usually very gory but it is not dwelt on. I didn't find it particularly gripping in truth because you know Hannibal is a killer and he might be up to something. Interesting enough and I watched all the episodes but I felt that it was meandering a bit at times and the surreal imagery used through out doesn't always help. Interesting but not brilliant.

The Comic Strip Presents: Susie (1984) Season 2, Episode 3

Not one of the classic episodes

[2/10 · 15 September 2021]

Fifteen minutes in and hadn't spotted a joke. Plus points are Dawn French looking really quite svelte as the village school mistress / bike and Peter Richardson trying to be a Rick out of the Young Ones. The wooden acting seems to be intentional. Thirty minutes in and still hadn't laughed but I guess that is what was alternative about it. Location is nice though. Looks like an early draft of Les Dogs later on. Has the same sort of surreal atmosphere at times but they did it better in the later episode with more laughs.

Starcrash (1978)

Good Fun for the Kids

[6/10 · 9 September 2021]

If you ever watched the old Flash Gordon Saturday morning serials then this is basically the same but with a bikini clad female lead and a similar budget. After Star Wars and it's ground breaking special effects Sci Fi could only match it or give up. Star Crash clearly had no budget but in fairness it is the kind of stuff that kept us happy on Dr Who at the same time in 1978. It's a basic plot with play fights and no real violence. Good versus evil and you can guess which side wins. Some of it is a bit wooden but some is good fun. None of the science and physics makes sense because nobody knew what it all meant in those days anyway.