Psychoville
 

Wow. Just wow. And then more Wow.

Sundae, you were right. It's absolutely wonderful. I was worried that it'd just be ..I dunno a rehash of the league...

These men are geniuses. The combination of comedy and horror and ...real pathos. I almost wept at Dawn French's character. Whne she comes home with the 'baby' and her husband 's face...oh my.

If this makes it to BBC America, watch it. It's wonderful.

Did you watch the second episode?
It was available via the red button, so of course I did, immediately.
It's the other one I'd already seen, but I picked up on some more lines by having subtitles on.

I had to smother my belly laughs at times - the scene in the restaurant was so funny, and so well played.

Don't forget to check out all the sites in the internet as well - up so far are Biggins' site, which links to Robert's and Midget Gems. I'm really looking forward to Mr Jelly's - I can't find it by googling or guessing, so I'll have to wait for a link via the main website. Oh hang on, I recorded it last night - I'm pretty sure the website address was on the hearse. I'll be watching each one in detail when the 'rents are away next week!

I LOVED the children's party. From the credits I'm guessing the Princess was actually Reece's daughter. Which is why I suppose he was able to interact with her rather than having a cut-away :)

Just found this on YouTube :)

NSFW (language)

Class act i nearly wet myself laughing at the guy who's into serial killers and his mother and Mr Jelly was brilliant...

David Sowerbutts also has his own YouTube page.
Jellyparties, murderandchips (the Murder Mystery company David works for) and David's own website (bestmurders) aren't fully live yet - I assume they contain information pertinent to later episodes.

I haven't looked for Lomax or Joy yet!

Psychoville forum
 

Yes, a lot of things are popping up on the net, David's web page isn't up yet and neither is the psychoville forum .
I sense the net will come alive after watching this great program.

Hello magical! Sorry, I missed it when you posted - welcome to the Cellar.

Rewatching the second episode of Psychoville reminded me of why I got hooked by The League of Gentlemen first time round. They said themselves that their scripts aren't necessarily funny on the page, it's the acting that brings them alive. And when I say hooked - they got me right through the gut. With a rusty Mr Jelly hook.

For me it's like Shakespeare. No, wait. I mean it's the cadence and the rhythm of the lines that work so well. I'm not claiming they have his writing ability. But they are bloody funny. And he wasn't really, bless him. Then again, they laughed at lepers in them days.

Two of Jolly's lines from episode two have been with me all week:
- They're not real sausages.
- Mr Punch. Mr Punch. Mr Punch, Punch, Punch.

Not funny in isolation, but I laughed out loud (haggis) on the bus just thinking, "They're not real sausages!".

Don't worry, Torchwood starts soon. I'll have another obsession to play with. And apparently the Captain and Ianto are officially a couple in the mini-series. What that means I don't know. But I have eager anticipation of full-on oral and butt sex scenes...

They're not real sausages.... snigger. It's so adaptable.

Oh I can't wait for the new torchwood. You know they're doing three audio plays on bbc radio 4 right? Captain Jack's voice makes me go all girly. I shall be listening.

Argh.... I've missed!
I also missed a Gatiss interview the other Tuesday.
I'll have to go searching online, see if I can track them down.
ETA - rereading I thnik they might not have been on yet? Yay?!

You know I'm seeing the Barrowman in January, right?
Last date of his panto run. Possibly telekinetic dwarfs?
It'll be great fun, he's cute facially and very naughty and personable in interviews... but he's not Captain Jack really. So it's Torchwood I hold a torch for. And Cardiff (and the various locations) I can't wait to see. He does have a yummy voice too.

I'm not completely a fangurl of TLOG or Torchwood (or the Doctor). But they are like paddles for my knackered old heart... Damn. I am that lonely old woman with a cat. David Sowerbutts probably gets more action than me!

Torchwood audioplay is on BBC Iplayer. I think the gatiss one is too.

I didnt know you were going seeing him. Or have forgoten. Oooh I am jealous.




[eta] and i'm not so much a 'fangurl' of Doctor Who, as a full-blown, beyond all hope, knows far too much trivia than is strictly speaking healthy, Whovian.

I have to say that in the end, Psychoville disappointed me.
And that's a hard thing to say, when three of my heroes were in it and the overall series was so well done.

I believe my disappointment essentially came from the fact that they made it up as they went along. Which in my mind made it little better than Coronation Street (where long-term characters change character on the whim of a new writer) or Lost (of the latter, Sixth Form drama classes have come up with more coherent improvs!)

The thing is, these are intelligent, well-read, well-versed-in-TV-scriptwriting and horror-film-buff men. They could have woven an intricate plotline with ideas seeded all the way through it. With clues and red herrings that would make even Miss Marple choke on the bones. Imagine a darkly funny comedy/drama where you rewatch the first episode and say, "OMG! That's what that was about!" That was what I really expected from this. I wanted to see something new on the second, third, fourth viewing. I wanted the writing to be informed.

YES it was funny. YES, it was dark, although they hate that sobriquet. And YES it was well acted and polished. But the story lacked cohesion. I know these writers don't spoon-feed their audiences - that's part of their appeal - but there were enough dangling ends to delight Shelob. They are capable of so much more. At least I think they are. The League series three at least suggested that. Perhaps Gatiss could have had more involvement, his novels at least display an aptitude towards planning.

I am being unfair I suppose. The series was not written in advance - it was bought on the basis of the pilot and seems to have been written piecemeal. To the extent that a seventh episode (which became episode 4) was shoehorned in at a later stage - although still pre-production - purely to raise a budget to be used on other episodes. Yup, it was a good'un. But that's no way to run a railroad. And no way to make a potential cult classic.

Now you know I am a Torchwood fan, but the budget spent on promoting the first series of that show would surely have been better spent on encouraging original work like this? Although of course, they would have to go back in time in order to do so :)

It bugs me that the Beeb would skimp on the talents involved in this show.
And I think it shows that they did - certainly where the writing process is involved.
I believe Steve and Reece could have put together something absolutely spectacular in scope, given a bit more faith and a bit more money earlier in the process.

I will treasure some cracking dialogue, set pieces, imagery.
But the ending, in the end, means it's only a bit of fluff.

Funny, I'm counting down to ANOTHER new series of Torchwood and ANOTHER series of Psychoville is coming.

I liked the Halloween Special, and I'm definitely going to be watching on 5th May.
Turns out a lot of people liked the dangling ends and not having everything wrapped up neatly. Perhaps I put too much emphasis on it. The same way people were obsessed with This is Not Pron and then ultimately disappointed to the same degree. If I was watching it for shits & giggles I might just have gone along with it.

Anyway, date duly marked in my calendar.
Hoping for a slew of promotional interviews. Although I'll probably miss 99% of them, as they're not as self-promoting as JB and there is nowhere that lists interviews and appearances in advance.

Still no word on whether JB will be in panto 2011/12.
I'm guessing not. I'd booked tickets by now for the last two years...

I liked.
I really liked.
I've watched it about five times.

I couldn't tell you if it was really funny. I think it's more wry. But parts of it have lodged in my brain the way any good comedy will.

David's performance as Jean Valjean
The Silent Singer (OMG!)
The lovely pulsing pencil
The sly references to the previous series (no loose ends!)

I expect this to go from strength to strength.

Loved the Jean Valjean performance.


And the librarian showing up for the book lol.

Not now, Silent Singer!

It's good.
It's even improving.

I always check the credits and couldn't believe - cameo from John Landis!
Seriously, THE John Landis.
And Andi Osho - I didn't recognise her, but then she was all sweetness and light, as opposed to her more aggressive stand-up persona.

And I hadn't realised Grandma was Madge from Benidorm.
Had Benidorm even started when the first series went out?

So lovely to see Daisy Haggard return. She puts in a fantastic performance as ever.
I have to be careful not to channel her too much. If I watch too much Spaced for example, I end up being a bit like the other Daisy. FSM forbid I'd stumble around like Debbie. I don't have the hair for it.

Lots of lovely sneaky little lines.
I don't mind when they're self-referential. It's like a little prize to those of us who've been fans for years.

Oh, forgot to say last week - they used tod instead of bab.
Is tod a word you use Dani?
"Mr Heyward said he found a human tod in there last week. Imagine that. A human tod."
If I didn't know better I'd say that was a Jeremy Dyson line.

Tod just means on your own to me. As in on my tod. Not heard that usage before, but a lot of yorks slang is baffling to me:-p being a lancs lass mself.

Steve's from Preston, but Reece is from Hull.
Maybe it was his tod in the lift.

Possible. Either that or it's an archaic term that I just haven't encountered yet, or a town/area specific term. There are slang words used in some parts of Lancs that I am unfamiliar with. Even in Bolton there were some slang words that took me by surprise. Usually the ones that derived from lancs dialect.

Oh, and almost forgot, something i almost posted mid-episode as I watched:

The Tina Turner impression. Holy fucking saints and sinners.

And, I know, what? John Landis! Yeah. Bringing in the gatlings now. Don't remember seeing Oshi, who was she?

Hang on...I was assuming you meant turd in that quote. I don't know what 'bab' means :p If you meant 'cock' then yes. Tod is als a slang word for that, though not one I hear a lot.

That Tina Turner... I couldn't even work it out until he took the wig off.
I wonder if it was something they considered for Papa Lazarou in the stage show? That would really make me laugh.

Andi Osho was the registrar.

And your first instincts were correct, bab is turd, as is tod.
Always good to find new (old) words for poo.
I'd never heard trump for fart until I moved to Leicester, although I was aware of pump, thanks to watching Ant & Dec on Saturday mornings.

I saw this live, and it's on the Best Of video, which is still one of my prized possessions.
I really need to get it transferred to DVD before it disintegrates.

From Youtube via a clips show:

Ohhhhh! Oh yes, i remember her now. She was different!

Not now Silent Singer!

Jason Watkins! Hello!
I know you know him as Herrick, but my original reference will always be Bradley Stainer in Funland.

He's only two years older than us!
That's the unfair card dealt to men who lose their hair young I guess.
Still, the character actor niche has worked well for him.

And Mark Bonnar!
Doctor Who and Psychoville at the same time.
As usual for me I recognised him purely from his voice.
Although neither was heavily disguised.
Very happy to prove myself right though.

VERY unfair write up in the RT this week.
They never really liked TLoG either.
I've never forgiven Alison Graham for her lousy review of Yule Never Leave.

Anyway, it was one of their TV highlights, but you could barely tell from the review!
And it's only in the magazine, not online. Talk about being damned by faint praise.

Here is a flavour, with spoilers removed.
Written by Patrick Mulkern for the Radio Times
I don't think I missed out a single positive. Oh, unless you count "a swishingly camp turn"?

Now how can that be the comedy of the week?
Perhaps give the job of reviewing to someone who really does think it's the comedy of the week? Or at least someone who understands their sense of humour. Or at the very scraping-the-bottom-of-the-barrel-least someone who has looked at ther viewing figures and realises many people LIKE the series...?

Sheesh.

The accompanying photo of Maureen with her "smoothie" is Psychoville gold though.

Ian Gelder of Torchwood Children of Earth as the butler surprised me, too. a total FFFFFF I RECOGNIZE HIM WHO IS THAT moment til the credits rolled.

I missed that one completely.
I'll check him out when I rewatch.

Can't believe Watkins is only 2 years older than us! I had him pegged for late 40s early 50s. Funnily enough, he seemed younger than usual in some of the BH interviews I saw. Mind you, he is so different in every role, it's always hard to tell.

Brilliant character actor. Seems to crop up all over the place. I remember him in a small role in Ashes to Ashes.

Rewatched Psychoville - only my second watch, and it was interrupted last time because Mum & Dad came home earlier than I expected and of course started talking over it.

I can't believe I missed Ian Gelder.
It was SO obvious once I knew who he was.
He wasn't half as creepy or knowing in this role. Which in itself is creepy.

SPOILERS!
 

I gived all you Psychville watchers out there (two?) a chance to catch up.
So I go ahead in you've-been-warned splendour.

Well.

Patrick Mulhern needs some sort of operation on his stomach.
Either that or just go fuck himself.
Because nothing he mentioned made me queasy this episode.

He mentioned nothing about the Nazi memorabilia being sold.
And sorry - Steve Pemberton looks as tempting as the Devil himself in Nazi get up. Yes. I would.

The dognapping didn't worry Mulhern either - although my goodness I felt for Jeremy Goode. Please let him escape next week! Having watched MTV without (audible) sound an the nail salon I think I know where they are coming from.

The Alan Ayckbourn farce in Nursing Home? Not worth mentioning according to M Mulhern, but a piece of television we rarely see.

And the breakfast smoothie.
Has made me laugh in private moments for what is nearly a week.

9/10 so far.

I can't tell you what would be a 10.
I tried, but they all involved sex. And really quite perverse scenarios.
Which I don't want on record.

Oh dear.

Shocks and sadness this episode.
Talk about no loose ends! Even I didn't expect this level of carnage.
Serves me right for being so miserable at the end of the last series.

The few remaining ends are being drawn together. And very cleverly.
When I couldn't sleep the other night I tried to think of a way Hattie and Jeremy could be brought into the plotline. Ditto Tealeaf, once his primary connection was severed.

Of all the ways I thought of, none matched what happened. Which is why I am a Teaching Assistant and not a brilliant comedy writer.

Shearsmiths, like Pemby can go from horror to pathos, from ugly to gorgeous, and from bastard to sweetie even within the same scene, let alone including make-up and different characterisation. Finney's meeting of minds with Jeremy made be go "Oh, noooooes!" Even though we know that Jem has already behaved appallingly. Just not as appallingly as Finney.

Again, lots of lovely League refs, without being too cliquey.

Oh I'm going to miss them when they're gone.
Still - less than a week to go - they're on on Monday I think.
Something weary is obviously taking their slot.
I doubt it will be good enough to console people who haven't heard and are tuning in for the last episode.

Please note, I was lite on spoilers today.
It nearly killed me.
I will be far more detailed next week.

No loose ends.
More or less.

For example did Jelly get any money? Will Peter Bishop ever be fingered?
Who flashed the lights in the underground carpark?

However these are proper, decent questions left unaswered.
Not what-the-fuck-happened-there? questions.
I do not expect happily ever afters, nor expect to see every character into their grave.
Although it was bloody close!

Adored this series.
It was everything I knew thay could do.
Some very sly lines and impressions. I'll have to watch again to catch them all. But then again they're probably obsessive fan things, so mabye I won't repost.

Sigh and shrug.
All done.
But like good sex - I'll be smiling for a while.
It was good. And deep. And memorable.
What more can you ask for after a half hour session with two men?
(I don't know, having never experienced it. Sheldon might be able to fill us in though)

four hundred bucks?

That would be a good deal!

Quite by chance, I felt a need to sing Let the River Run today, so looked it up on YouTube. There are many MANY Silent Singers out there. But Carly Simon has just made my list. I mean I still love her... but she has the Hair and the Gestures... and the Mouth (if not the Teeth)

ETA - it was David's new GF in the car - OBVIOUSLY! Sos for even asking.

Mum bought me a portable DVD player because I don't have a tv.
I didn't actually ask for it, we were buying her a fridge and the phones that ended up with Dad knocking out the Internet connection (d'oh!)

But Mum was impressed with the way I marched in and demanded attention from the young ginger chap, which to be fair wasn't hard, just smiled and was up front about what she needed. She still feels intimidated by these places and people. So she asked if there was anything I wanted, and I asked for a discount and therefore left with a tiny lickle portable.

Which goes the long way round to saying I've rewatched Psychoville. Both series, but not the Halloween Special, sadly. Forgot how amazeballs it was. Even the back of my head looks good, even if it's as fat as David's. Although we've both lost weight since then.

The first series is possibly funnier than I gave it credit for. The second is so full of hurt and detail, pathos and shock. Classic Steve and Reece. And so jammed full of the best of British I can't even.

Watched about five hours of it last night (commentaries included) because I had to let Diz have his way.
He was fed and watered while I was gone, but he can't cope without person-love. Or more precisely me-love. So if Diz wants to break his purr box within a few hours of me coming home, the least I can do is stay up to listen.

Glad BBC3 has gone now.
The League were told not to bother submitting any scripts because they were "too old."
Ha. Tell that to Doctor Who, Sherlock et al.
Oh and Reece is in a new series (which I won't be able to watch) but Boyd Hilton - long term League fan and ace reviewer - had as his Pick of the Day on Wednesday.

ETA is was Jennifer in the car. Got that wrong. But you never see her, so it's an easy mistake to make.