Revisiting "The Smoking Room"

[15percentfaster]

I remember this being good at the time and the missus bought the DVD for a fiver the other day so we could see if it held up. 

It's really well written and performed, and I can't think that I've seen anything anywhere nearly as good recently.  Despite winning a BAFTA and having Robert Webb, it's not something that is mentioned much these days.  Anyone care to venture an opinion why?

[neveragain]

Never captured the public imagination I suppose. Don't know why either, it's of a very high quality most of the time. Occasionally went a bit too broad I seem to recall but that's no reason for it to reside in time's dustbin. The curse of BBC3?

At least the one who played Barry has those prostate cancer adverts.

[Noodle Lizard]

It's not something I think I've heard anyone mention out loud before.  It used to be on Comedy Central (I think) at the fuck-knows hours, so I'd sometimes see it by chance during midnight chilli con carne.  I remember liking it well enough.  Good enough to eat midnight chilli con carne to, at the very least.

[Hemulen]

I've not watched it since it was first broadcast, but I remember thinking at the time that it had obviously been written with a studio audience in mind, but the producers had decided to shoot it without one at the last minute to make it seem more like The Office. Pure baseless speculation on my part, of course, but there's a weird emptiness to it - broad gags and shennanigans accompanied by awkward hollow silences.

[pancreas]

I really liked it. Started my slight crush on Robert Webb which lasted until several series into Peep Show. It's so low key that it barely registers, so I don't think it was ever going to be a massive hit, but for me that was the attraction. The opposite of try-hard. Characters well drawn, distinct and well-acted. Conversations just bifurcate completely naturally and madly into a wonderful panoply of nonsense. A great format really. I think I'll rewatch this.

[DrGreggles]

Really liked TSR when it was on, and still on the occasions that I've caught the repeats.
Amazing that it was on BBC Three really. Seemed far too un-Tittybangbang for them to have commissioned.

I have the DVDs somewhere, so I'll have to dig them out.

I think Len was my favourite character on it, but that's because swearing is big and clever.

[Ignatius_S]

.... Despite winning a BAFTA and having Robert Webb, it's not something that is mentioned much these days.  Anyone care to venture an opinion why?

It was shown on BBC Three only before iPlayer – this limited the amount of people that watched it in the first place to begin with. Since the original broadcast, I don't think it was really repeated – if it was, only slightly. If something isn't regularly repeated, then it fades from the public consciousness.

Although I wouldn't say that The Brittas Empire or 2.4 Children are 'forgotten' sitcoms, neither are they ones that get mentioned much. Admittedly, those shows are older than The Smoking Room, but they had huge audiences but after they finished, that was that. One Foot in the Grave, on the other hand, was shown roughly the same time and audience figures were in the same ballpark but that one is far more remembered and continues to be broadcast. With Gordon Brittas, there was a similar cultural impact as Victor Mildew – for a good amount of time, a photo of Brittas accompanied many article about awful bosses (as there later was with David Brent).

With The Smoking Room, I was surprised that there wasn't a third series – going from memory, but my impression was that its reputation was growing and it was a concept that was relatable to a fair few. With hindsight, they should have repeated it on BBC 2 – not doing that was going to limit its impact. *edit* Just checked BBC Genome and it did go get shown on BBC 2.

[neveragain]

Victor Mildew

I don't believe you.

[purlieu]

2point4 Children is the strangest one of the lot, regularly grabbing more than ten million viewers in its heyday and can't even get a DVD release beyond series three.

The Smoking Room was great, I remember quite a few people watching it when I was in sixth form, and it still pops back into my memory from time to time. Might see about getting some DVDs of it at some point. It takes strong writing to make half an hour of people just sat talking so watchable.

[DrGreggles]

Wasn't it always done in 'real time' too?
It's been a while, but I think it was anyway.

[15percentfaster]

It's an obvious point, but for something made only 11 years ago, it's like from another planet.  Apart from the now insane concept of a smoking room, pre smartphones everyone just sits there staring into space.

There are many things to love: an imperious Siobhan Redmond with her enormous cigarettes, Paula Wilcox, a non mugging Robert Webb and the incredible discipline to never broaden the cast of characters or venture outside the room (although we see hints of the outside rooms). 

In a genre where most efforts are woeful misfires, it really stands out.

[15percentfaster]

Although I wouldn't say that The Brittas Empire or 2.4 Children are 'forgotten' sitcoms, neither are they ones that get mentioned much. Admittedly, those shows are older With Gordon Brittas, there was a similar cultural impact as Victor Mildew – for a good amount of time, a photo of Brittas accompanied many article about awful bosses (as there later was with David Brent).

Very much this.  Brittas was absolutely huge.

[Dannyhood91]

I liked this show a lot. Felt like a stage play to me.

Robins one of those characters I want to punch in the face and give a big hug to simultaneously.

[Kelvin]

It just didn't really stand out in any way, at the time - especially in a landscape so heavily influenced by The Office.

The show itself was decent enough. But it's wasn't exceptionally funny, the characters weren't particularly deep or well acted, it wasn't an original concept, and it didn't have any really memorable plots or ideas. It was just one of those shows that's impossible to hate, impossible to love; an "also-ran" as certain people on here used to say.

I think the biggest problem, out of all of those, was the fact that it felt like one of so many shows produced in reaction to The Office. Grey, naturalistic, focused on the mundane, lots of long silences and awkward interactions. For several years, it felt like one of only two types of comedy being made, along with edgy "dark" comedy, so even better examples, like The Smoking Room, got lost in a sea of imitations.

[pancreas]

I think the biggest problem, out of all of those, was the fact that it felt like one of so many shows produced in reaction to The Office.

Not sure that's fair. It's certainly not a mockumentary, nor was the Office the first time anything had ever been set in an office. It doesn't derive so much material from cringe. It doesn't have shaky camera shots. The main reason it's different, almost unique, is the number of people involved in each scene, with their conversations intermingling and bouncing off each other, though without anyone actually talking over anyone else. Of course, you did say 'in reaction to' and 'felt like', but that could mean anything.

[Jockice]

Yeah, I liked it. Dunno how realistic or not it was though, as despite being an occasional smoker, I never set foot in the smoking room at work in all the many years I was there.

[Shaky]

Yeah, I liked it. Dunno how realistic or not it was though, as despite being an occasional smoker, I never set foot in the smoking room at work in all the many years I was there.

This, bizarrely, was more or less my issue with the show. As a man who smoked like a fucker at the time, the whole concept struck me as "unnatural".

Bit of a silly reason to dismiss a series, but there we go.

[Jockice]

This, bizarrely, was more or less my issue with the show. As a man who smoked like a fucker at the time, the whole concept struck me as "unnatural".

Bit of a silly reason to dismiss a series, but there we go.

It's strange how things change though. When I started work as a local newspaper journalist in the mid-80s there was actually a cigarette machine in the office and I'd say about half the staff were smokers. It was seen as perfectly normal and reasonable to smoke in the office. There was only one editorial staff member who really objected to people smoking there (fake coughing, throwing windows open etc. He once nearly had a scrap with someone who lit up near him) and he turned out to be a former 40-a-day man.

By the time I left five years ago, I think there were only three or four smokers in the whole editorial department and as you were no longer allowed to smoke anywhere in the building , there was usually a knot of advertising types having a fag outside. All the glamorous girls from advertising seemed to smoke and although any smoking I did by then was outside office hours (in fact, apart from a few people I used to socialise with in the evenings very few of the staff at that time knew I'd ever smoked) I was often severely tempted to start again just to get a chance to talk to them. "Hey babe, have you got a light?' etc.

[great_badir]

2point4 Children is the strangest one of the lot, regularly grabbing more than ten million viewers in its heyday and can't even get a DVD release beyond series three.

It's one of those ones that would probably cost a lot more to release than it would make.  Usual BBC and rights issues, and the reason why so many BBC shows are cut or different when (if) they make it to DVD. 

[Kelvin]

Not sure that's fair. It's certainly not a mockumentary, nor was the Office the first time anything had ever been set in an office. It doesn't derive so much material from cringe. It doesn't have shaky camera shots. The main reason it's different, almost unique, is the number of people involved in each scene, with their conversations intermingling and bouncing off each other, though without anyone actually talking over anyone else. Of course, you did say 'in reaction to' and 'felt like', but that could mean anything.

Firstly, no, obviously the Office was not the first show to do anything. But it was the show that really made an impact on audiences and critics and for several years defined nearly all comedy that followed. The fact that other shows used the same ideas, themes and techniques before The Office, and some might say, to better effect, does not change the fact that the sudden glut of shows that adopted those techniques were clear reactions to The Office's success, not what came before.

On the more specific point about The Smoking Room; I'm not saying that the show did things exactly the same as The Office. I'm saying that it "felt" similar. No laugh track (which was a fairly recent change at the time), the same grey, humdrum aesthetic, the same workplace setting, the same types of social interaction (co-workers who don't know or like each other very much), the same focus on the mundane, the same focus on characters, rather than carefully structured plots. The show might not have been a carbon copy - the writing was far more gag led, for example - but, nonetheless, the show's lineage was clear.

Even if this was entirely coincidental and wasn't in reaction to the office (which was three years before it), that doesn't change the fact that it felt like one of the many, many shows that, for better or worse, drew heavy influence from The Office.     

[Vodka Margarine]

I know she's divisive round these parts but Emma Kennedy's vile character was my favourite. I've noticed that passive aggressive, cutesy/nasty thing so much ever since.

[Pepotamo1985]

IIRC, this show didn't go down massively well here contemporaneously, precisely because it was felt it was an Office clone, or cash in. I may well be misremembering.

Anyway, I liked this at the time - a lot, in fact - and I'd completely forgotten about it. It had a Waiting For Godot vibe, and dialogue driven stuff is always lovely. It was particularly refreshing at the time, i seem to recall, as everything was either a mockumentary or 'dark'.

[neveragain]

I definitely think it was picked up because of the success of The Office (hence the aesthetic), even if the writing itself was of a different style.

[Vodka Margarine]

Anyway, I liked this at the time - a lot, in fact - and I'd completely forgotten about it. It had a Waiting For Godot vibe, and dialogue driven stuff is always lovely. It was particularly refreshing at the time, i seem to recall, as everything was either a mockumentary or 'dark'.

You're right, it definitely has more of a play type feel, without wishing to sound too grandiose. I'd say the sitcom it feels closest to is Early Doors, even though I think that's in a much higher league.

[Crabwalk]

I can't recall any specific jokes, plots or scenes from the show, but flicking through the character/cast list, I remember them all quite clearly and with some fondness. I enjoy low-stakes comedy, and this was a very well-performed show more than anything, I think.

Leslie Schofield is always great, isn't he? He's only been in one episode of Midsomer Murders (2006) since The Smoking Room, which is a shame. I wonder if he retired, or the work just dried up? I wonder if he goes to Star Wars conventions? Or Jonny Briggs ones?

[neveragain]

Things I remember:
* "Annie, are you okay?" "Are you okay?" "Are you okay, Annie?"
* Robert Webb's unrequited love for the unseen... Ben?
* Nervy manager woman
* Paintballing poster with amusing spelling mistake
* A few cast members who looked right but were stilted in delivery
* Err..  Struggling now but was always enjoyable

[Jockice]

I went to see a theatrical version of Stuart: A Life Backwards two or three years ago. I vaguely recognised the actor who played Stuart but wasn't sure where from. Turns out he was Fraser Ayres, who played Clint in The Smoking Room. He crips up very well.

[Jockice]

I found The Smoking Room on youtube yesterday so watched the first episode. And then the second, third etc. I ended up doing the entire first series and will probably have seen the second by the end of today.  I think it may be addictive.