Let's rewatch Brass Eye

[Thomas]

I mentioned CookdandBombd to Charlie Brooker on Twitter last year, asking if anything from here might make it into that 'online comments' bit of Weekly Wipe - he said we 'tend to be far too cogent / funny' for that.

Am I right in thinking that Lee and Herring have posted here? Possibly before the Crash of 2004.

[Ambient Sheep]

Yeah, can't remember what his username was and I think he was more of a lurker* and very low key about who he actually was... he did get really stuck into a thread about Sapphire & Steel (which he was in) once, though. It was through here that I contacted him and found out some amazing behind-the-scenes Blue Jam stuff, including the truth about the Archbishop edit.

*Do we still have 'name' lurkers/occasional posters? I know Walliams, Ayoade, Brooker etc were back in the day (as well as, erm, Marie from Kenickie), and Christian O'Connell used to post to the mailing list a lot. Someone once told me a pre-fame Matt Smith was a regular poster too?!

I had no idea that David Cann ever posted here under any guise, so that's fascinating news.  Like many here, he was my favourite Morris collaborator... although that took quite a hit in my eyes when I found out he's a practising Tory.  Still great performances, though.

Brooker, Ayoade, Marie-from-Kenickie I knew about, Walliams I didn't.

When Matt Smith was announced as the then-new Doctor Who, there was quite a lot of piss-taking about his "massive" forehead (which isn't that massive but was unfortunately emphasised in the early publicity shots), at which point a rather concerned Huzzie told us all that Matt used to post here.  How Huzzie knew, fuck knows.

The only other one I know about who's not been mentioned is Arthur "Good Moaning" Bostrom, on the pre-2004 board.  Had a perfectly anonymous username then one day decided to out himself; credibly so.  Not sure if he bothered to re-register for the post-crash version; if he did, he must have changed his username.  He and I once had a nice PM chat about 4AD band His Name Is Alive; I recommended their second album Home Is In Your Head, never did find out what he thought of it!

[Glebe]

Interesting stuff... I'm actually a bit sad to hear David Cann is a Conservative supporter. Arthur Bostram posting on the earlier board?!? And about 4AD bands?!? We'll be finding out Gordon Kaye is a lurking This Mortal Coil fan next.[nb]No. We won't.[/nb]

[Ambient Sheep]

Interesting stuff... I'm actually a bit sad to hear David Cann is a Conservative supporter.

So was I, but only ELW10 seemed to agree with me.  Everyone else just looked at me oddly.  I did get a bit melodramatic about it, it's true, but I was younger and a bit more passionate back then.  It was just a helluva shock.

Not just any old supporter either, but a ward chairman in Hammersmith & Fulham who ran for election as a Conservative councillor in 2010.

Arthur Bostram posting on the earlier board?!? And about 4AD bands?!?

I know.  Nobody was more surprised than I was.  His musical-taste credentials were impeccable (at least, from where I was sitting).

We'll be finding out Gordon Kaye is a lurking This Mortal Coil fan next.[nb]No. We won't.[/nb]

Haha, what a wonderful thought.  Or perhaps Throbbing Gristle?

[Glebe]

Haha, what a wonderful thought.  Or perhaps Throbbing Gristle?

Easy there, partner![nb]Though having said that Sam Kelly is rumoured to have a complete collection of Einstürzende Neubauten rarities.[/nb]

[Squink]

the pre-2004 board. 

Is there an archive of this board somewhere? It'd be a shame if not. I'd love to read over the reactions to the Brass Eye special when it aired. Even if they're in Comic Sans.

[Neil]

Thankfully, no.

[up_the_hampipe]

I mentioned CookdandBombd to Charlie Brooker on Twitter last year, asking if anything from here might make it into that 'online comments' bit of Weekly Wipe - he said we 'tend to be far too cogent / funny' for that.

what an prick!1!!

[Thomas]

If you're reading this, Brooker, include this in the next Weekly Wipe.

Listen out.

[checkoutgirl]

Baffled by the assertions it's dated badly, and is still anything but one of the greatest artistic statements of all time.

I agree with this completely. People saying it has aged badly are surely talking out of their hat. Brass Eye is one of the best TV programmes ever made and is a relentless onslaught of information technology and satirical invention. It is densely packed and is better than anything in its genre that has ever been made before or since. It's so good that part of me wishes that Morris just retired after it was broadcast because he will never get anywhere near it again, his subsequent career has been good but somewhat pedestrian by comparison. Maybe I was just at the exact right age when it came out (around 18 tears old), I don't know, but is a galactic class piece of television. It is Morris's magnum octopus and is an acutely observed comment on how we produce and consume media in the modern age that shines a light on the type of idiot who makes money by going in front of the camera with some unflinching filth and candid camera thrown in. A heady brew.

It is the culmination of Morris's genius that had been building toward it for years and makes The Day Today look slow and static. I love The Day Today but Brass Eye is another level entirely in my opinion. We won't see another operator like Morris ever again I reckon. It's interesting to hear the opinions of younger people who came to it a decade late, even if those opinions are completely wrong.

[Kane Jones]

I agree with all of that, checkers (except I think Morris peaked with Blue Jam). I was 21 when Brass Eye aired and it felt like it was mine, in much the same way Pulp Fiction felt like it was mine in 1994 when I was 18. I hadn't seen anything as exciting and dangerous as Brass Eye before then. The stuff at the beginning of 'Drugs' when he was winding up the drug dealer in the intro blew my mind. He just seemed so smart, funny, brilliant and, more than anything, brave. How he had the balls to do that stuff completely stunned me.

[Bored of Canada]

I agree with all of that, checkers (except I think Morris peaked with Blue Jam). I was 21 when Brass Eye aired and it felt like it was mine, in much the same way Pulp Fiction felt like it was mine in 1994 when I was 18. I hadn't seen anything as exciting and dangerous as Brass Eye before then. The stuff at the beginning of 'Drugs' when he was winding up the drug dealer in the intro blew my mind. He just seemed so smart, funny, brilliant and, more than anything, brave. How he had the balls to do that stuff completely stunned me.

I don't think he peaked, although Blue Jam was my first introduction to his stuff and is still my all-time favourite. Totally agree with the thing about it being yours. Discovering that, especially at such a low point in my life, it's so immensely personal for me. I love it so much. Everything about it. It is just a perfect series for me that I'll always have.
And just to defend my reputation as an idiot to some of you, as I said before, I bloody love Brass Eye regardless. Some bits don't carry the same weight because I don't recognise the people, but overall, it's still generally pretty hilarious and bold. Really haven't seen anything quite as brave and impressive since Morris did that. Although, seeing Nathan For You recently, especially the Claw of Shame episode, I do wonder if he's aware of Brass Eye and Morris' work, because it's RIGHT up there with it. The Claw of Shame itself does feel like an insane reality show concept from the 2001 special.

For those of you who've not given Nathan For You a go, despite the high-praise for it on the Boards, you should give it a shot.

But I don't think he peaked whatsoever. I love all of his work. Even Nathan Barley I stand by, especially the fifth episode. For me, I think Blue Jam and the Music Show episodes were the best work he could do with the radio or even podcast format, and with his TV work, he did the best work he could do with that. And Four Lions was brilliant. So close to being perfect. The first act always feels a bit weak, but when it gets going, it's one of the funniest and clever films in a long time, and honestly, I can't wait till his next film. And I really do feel he will continue with film.  So I don't think he's peaked. He's got quite a bit of range and it's all been incredibly unique and fresh.

[Melth]

My only gripe with Brass Eye, having re-watched the whole lot, is that most of the celebrity stings don't seem quite so audacious as they did when I was 18 and the funniest ones are often the ones with the vaguest satirical point. Peregrine Worsthorne getting tied in a knot about wasps' stings is still brilliant because CM keeps pushing the conversation to the brink of collapse but steers it towards two fantastic punchlines. The pleasure's in Morris's improvisational skill and the joke isn't really on Worsthorne at all. The Claire Rayner / David Sullivan stuff both seemed desperately unimaginative at the time, and still do - that deleted scene where Morris squirts ketchup on a dildo was far more daring.

The fake charity appeals are a mixed bag but are at their best when the celebs are trying to read something grammatically addled - "big to contain trip nutrients. Yellow is purely a fashion thing" - rather than simply describing a daft scenario. The fake drug names are a missed opportunity - 'clarky cat' and 'Russell dust' feel a bit bland by CM's standards.   

[Kane Jones]

^
^
Okay, perhaps 'peaked' wasn't quite fair.  I've enjoyed everything he's produced since Blue Jam, but I just don't think anything's been quite as good.  Well, to me at least.  For comedy, Morris owned the 90s.  On The Hour, The Day Today, The Chris Morris Music Shows, Brass Eye and Blue Jam - I mean, my God..  That's fucking incredible.  Jam was okay, but worked better on the radio, Nathan Barley was good but not great, Four Lions I really enjoyed.. I dunno, I just can't see him bettering his 90s output, but I'm prepared for him to prove me wrong.  In fact, I wish he would.

[up_the_hampipe]

I dunno, I just can't see him bettering his 90s output, but I'm prepared for him to prove me wrong.  In fact, I wish he would.

I just wish he would do something. Anything. Even if he appears on Chatty Man, I just want to see him doing something again.

[Van Dammage]

I was watching the crime episode again last night and realised that Colin Firth and Ian Mc Shane are credited as "Stunt Flautists" at the end of the episode.

[Glebe]

Watched the Torque TV pilot recently, in which Sally Phillips pops up. She's now a born-again Christian, so I imagine some of the Brass Eye material is not to her taste.

[greenman]

The most obvious "dating" issue for me is actually that both The Day Today and Brass Eye predicted the future rather too well. Sketches at the time that derived some of there comedy from just how extreme they'd taken things like say the Pedofiles are now sadly too close to reality.

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

I always enjoy 'Alabaster Codify', not just as a name but as a sort of dim-witted vacuous American news segment presenter.

Amazing how much of Brass Eye is a one man show, Morris playing the presenter, the correspondent, and the interviewees, without it ever feeling 'look at me' or tiring.

As a wider point, I still believe someone like him with that work ethic and ability to study and mimic media so well could have the same desire to satirise, break things down and get up peoples noses. But where's the encouragement?

[jenna appleseed]

Not sure if this belongs here or in an Alan Partridge thread but  I've been wondering about this on and off for a while now, after re-watching I'm alan partridge & Watership Alan getting repeated soon afterwards.

Is Chris Morris as the farmer in that episode an in joke re the Animals episode of Brass Eye?

I mean him being forced to listen to Alan spouting extreme nonsense about what they're doing to animals is basically "Chris" and the celebrities in reverse &  it would've been either being made or finished and waiting for delayed broadcast around the same time.

[Sexton Brackets Drugbust]

Not sure if this belongs here or in an Alan Partridge thread but  I've been wondering about this on and off for a while now, after re-watching I'm alan partridge & Watership Alan getting repeated soon afterwards.

Is Chris Morris as the farmer in that episode an in joke re the Animals episode of Brass Eye?

I mean him being forced to listen to Alan spouting extreme nonsense about what they're doing to animals is basically "Chris" and the celebrities in reverse &  it would've been either being made or finished and waiting for delayed broadcast around the same time.

I doubt the connection was intentionally made, despite Baynham working on both. More a case of 'jobs for the gang' and Morris just has the right sort of authoratative bearing for the part. Thanks to his zoology degree, there's a strong vein of animal comedy running through most of his work.

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

What an odd thing to try and join up.

[ambigyouus]

You didn't hear the c-word in tv shows, really, certainly not comedies. I'll wager most folks in charge never even spotted it in Brass Eye. I'll bet some of you still haven't - god only knows what else is still in there to be discovered.

I'm assuming you don't mean the freezeframe one. I hadn't spotted it until I went searching - it's still in "Decline" though, right? I'm quite stunned by the chutzpah.

[Sexton Brackets Drugbust]

Aside from the freeze frame Cunt, Decline also opens with one of the cutouts saying something along the lines of, "Spunky little cunt".

[ambigyouus]

Cheers for confirming, my ears are all waxy and I've only got laptop speakers to tell on. There is of course a "David Qunt" interviewing later as well, and goodness knows what else sacrificial material that got overdubbed or cut off mid-sentence (such as before the titles).

While I'm on edits, does anyone have a copy of the broadcast version of any of the episodes, but especially "Decline"? The SOTCAA edit notes make it sound more butchered even than the copy we have now.

[neveragain]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4uTO_7cL1BM

Paul Daniels on the elephant. Kiss a tit.

[Ballad of Ballard Berkley]

I love the way he steadfastly refuses to concede he'd been made a fool of, even going so far as suggesting it ruined Morris' career, while he, Daniels, emerged with his dignity intact. Needless to say, he had the last laugh.[nb]In his mind[/nb]

[Sexton Brackets Drugbust]

I love the way he casually tosses off, "I wasn't really listening," as if it somehow means the joke's not on him and absolves him of any responsibility, when it's pretty much the crux of Brass Eye's point.

[olliebean]

And then goes on to accuse Chris Morris of not thinking it through, as if "I wasn't really listening, I just did that in 2 minutes and then was off to something else" isn't a prime example of not thinking it through.

[neveragain]

I also love the applause after the clip is shown; the audience laughing directly into his face.

Re: the DVD. I've heard some other people complain about this and it's happened to me so I wonder if it's Morris' little joke that was somehow engineered to kick in after a certain number of views. No matter which episode I choose, or even if I click 'Play All', the only episode it plays is the 2001 Special. It's dispiriting.