Brass Eye at 20

[Petey Pate]

This Sunday sees the 20th anniversary of the first showing of Animals.

Anyone celebrating this landmark?

[Small Man Big Horse]

I remember being so excited about it starting, having discovered Morris via his Radio 1 shows, and I forced my four university housemates to watch it when they knew nothing about Morris. Which means it's now been twenty years since that first year at university. Christ, I'm so old. But it is about time I watched it again and the other half has only seen clips, so yeah, I probably will now you've mentioned it. Thank you!

[BlodwynPig]

I'm going to eat a big yellow birthday cake.

[Captain Z]

I'm going to throw a dog off a diving board 20 times.

[Crabwalk]

I remember being so excited about it starting, having discovered Morris via his Radio 1 shows, and I forced my four university housemates to watch it when they knew nothing about Morris. Which means it's now been twenty years since that first year at university. Christ, I'm so old. But it is about time I watched it again and the other half has only seen clips, so yeah, I probably will now you've mentioned it. Thank you!

I was in halls of residence and gathered my neighbours around our shared little TV in the kitchen. I remember being so excited and it being really thrilling to watch live. I can't really remember how the others, who were new to CM, reacted though. I don't think it 'converted' anyone, as such.

[Dr Rock]

Of all the people pranked, who still has a viable career/isn't dead? Watching it now you think 'oh yeah, their career was fucked soon after'. It is 20 years ago mind, would have happened to an extent anyway.

[thenoise]

Of all the people pranked, who still has a viable career/isn't dead? Watching it now you think 'oh yeah, their career was fucked soon after'. It is 20 years ago mind, would have happened to an extent anyway.

It's a strange feeling watching it now, difficult to remember that they were anything more than clowns/hasbeens (although many were even then).

Sir David Amess (MP) is still doing rather well for himself though.

[BlodwynPig]

I loved it when he pranked Donald Trump during the inauguration speech in the "Politics" episode. Really was a "The Time, The Place" moment. I think one of the FBI minders recognised Morris and had a word into his walkie talkie, but decided to ignore it due to contempt for Trump.

The Farage skit was great as well, not too obvious - nice to see the return of Fur Q for that one.

Really excited by the Banter-tiques Goadshow with Coogan, Marber and Felicity Kendall. A nice ensemble piece highlighting the rise of the Millennials. 

[Ian Drunken Smurf]

Of all the people pranked, who still has a viable career/isn't dead? Watching it now you think 'oh yeah, their career was fucked soon after'. It is 20 years ago mind, would have happened to an extent anyway.

Gary Lineker hasn't done too badly...

[Sgt. Duckie]

The suggestion that Shane Hufford would 'go round and clean up somebody's house' is a personal highlight.

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

I loved it when he pranked Donald Trump during the inauguration speech in the "Politics" episode. Really was a "The Time, The Place" moment. I think one of the FBI minders recognised Morris and had a word into his walkie talkie, but decided to ignore it due to contempt for Trump.

The Farage skit was great as well, not too obvious - nice to see the return of Fur Q for that one.

Really excited by the Banter-tiques Goadshow with Coogan, Marber and Felicity Kendall. A nice ensemble piece highlighting the rise of the Millennials. 

What's this? Is there a new episode or something?

[AtomicRust]

No thanks, I don't use the horse

[greenman]

Morris likely wouldn't pick a target as easy as Trump anyway, more likely he'd be pranking celebs with invented claims of his excesses.

[Depressed Beyond Tables]

I remember quoting it in school. Exciting times, although it was often quite hard to get C4 with our aerial.

[amnesiac]

Please sir, can we have a Guardian article

https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2017/jan/30/brass-eye-at-20-still-chris-morris-at-his-hysterical-gobsmacking-best

[Dirty Boy]

Been watching this again. Still fucking brilliant on the whole, not a line wasted. Haven't got to the special yet. I suppose Decline suffers a bit from being obviously offcuts from the rest of the series shoved into one episode. The last one runs a fair bit shorter too (as does Sex) even with the cut stuff reinserted. Has there ever been a list of missing scenes compiled or was it always intended to underrun? I know about Horrocaust, but was never convinced that was really meant to go to broadcast.

[Wet Blanket]

I hope one day Morris might accept that Brass Eye has become a cultural icon and allow himself to share some insights into its making. I'd love to see a BFI edition of the series, with cut scenes, interviews with the makers and victims and other contextual gubbins.

[Ian Drunken Smurf]

Watched the whole lot last night. Each rewatch I always notice something I hadn't seen before.

[Dirty Boy]

It's been a treat to see them again after such a long time. What's the verdict on best episode? I used to think it was Drugs, but i was nearly on the floor watching Crime again. So many incredible lines.

"They say a bored mind makes a great office for the devil. In Kerry Huffords case, it's fully air-conditioned with free typing".

"In 1995 Paul McCartney donated 100 top hats. Fat use"

"Sainsburgh would definitely be Costa Del Blowfly had the police not seen his body by chance while they were tracking a man who'd buggered a Heron"

"His reward is the canoe, this time he can sit in the canoe for up to an hour"

"When i was seven i got dressed up as a little city gent and walked into the bank of England shouting "fuck the pound".

A perfect 25 minutes.

Did i read somewhere that Vanessa was on coke for her bit? She seems a bit mental.

[Howj Begg]

My friends and I were big fans of Morris on Radio 1 (and The Day Today, of course), so we were very excited to read about this in the NME. When it aired I was unwell and not able to see the first episode. For some reason I was pessimistic about it, perhaps because of an idea that all popculture heroes lose their touch with the passing of time and eventually let you down. I read the review of Episode 1 in the Evening Standard. Guess who it was by: Victor Lewis Smith. I sort of trusted him because I'd like his tv shows. He said basically what I imagined, that BE was weak, flimsy, poorly thought out. I had no idea of their 'history' at the time. I told my mate who'd watched it, and he laughed at this idea, and said it was great. I watched the following weeks, and had to agree. I still couldn't shake off the feeling that Morris had 'gone too far', as Lewis Smith implied, and the lack of great collaborators like Baynham (in the R1 shows) or Iannucci, Coogan etc from TDT was a problem; there was something quite nihilistic about BE which I found troubling. I still do, and that's one of its strengths. What i have difficulty squaring, is my feeling that the celebrity-pranking aspect of BE is brilliant, well done, and on the whole deserved, and the reactions of people around me to it, generally that it's disgusting, or cruel. I've tried to understand those opinions, but I still don't get it.

[ArtParrott]

Of all the people pranked, who still has a viable career/isn't dead? Watching it now you think 'oh yeah, their career was fucked soon after'. It is 20 years ago mind, would have happened to an extent anyway.

Edmonds comes to mind. Whilst not as popular now as he was in the 90's he had big success with the "cosmic whats-in-the-box guessathon" that was Deal or No Deal [nb]Charlie Brooker / Screenwipe[/nb]

Feltz as well to a lesser extent, assuming she's still farting about on the radio somewhere.

[Ambient Sheep]

What i have difficulty squaring, is my feeling that the celebrity-pranking aspect of BE is brilliant, well done, and on the whole deserved, and the reactions of people around me to it, generally that it's disgusting, or cruel. I've tried to understand those opinions, but I still don't get it.

Although I haven't rewatched it recently, I struggled with those bits myself.  Some of them were funny, and indeed well-deserved, but many more were "watchfingers" moments, accompanied by low moans of "no... you can't... especially not to him/her..."

I don't say that what he did there was wrong, but for me personally it made it a far more difficult watch than TDT (although as mentioned here many times before, I struggle with the sobbing Jam Festival woman in the first episode of that too).

[manticore]

I had that feeling about the Claire Rayner interview, which I thought was puerile and stupid and not deserved. Morris occasionally indulged his thirteen year old self too much.

[Ambient Sheep]

Heh, well proving that I'm 52 going on 13 myself, I rather liked that one, partly because it was so good-humoured.  And she laughed like a drain about it afterwards, apparently.

The only cringey one I can think of right now (probably 'cos I've blocked most of them out) is the Darcus Howe one.  But there were many more.

EDIT: From what I can recall, I think it's mostly the interviews I had issue with, rather than the celebrity-pieces-to-camera.  They were mostly hilarious.

[Petey Pate]

I don't really like the Nicholas Parsons segment.  Not because it's cruel but because it explicitly acknowledges the stupidity of an elephant getting its trunk stuck up its arse, which takes away from the faux seriousness of the campaign.  The way the poem is re-edited is clever though.

[manticore]

Heh, well proving that I'm 52 going on 13 myself, I rather liked that one, partly because it was so good-humoured.  And she laughed like a drain about it afterwards, apparently.

The only cringey one I can think of right now (probably 'cos I've blocked most of them out) is the Darcus Howe one.  But there were many more.

Ha! That's funny because I love the Darcus Howe one - it's so absurd - this big man sitting stoically/impassively while being regaled with insults, then interrupting only when he doesn't understand one. Then Morris admits that he's got the wrong bloke. I think that worked out beautifully.

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

The Carla Lane interview doesn't particularly work. Other than "Prison's too good" - which she says of her own accord anyway - he doesn't really goad her into saying anything all that silly.

[Ambient Sheep]

Ha! That's funny because I love the Darcus Howe one - it's so absurd - this big man sitting stoically/impassively while being regaled with insults, then interrupting only when he doesn't understand one. Then Morris admits that he's got the wrong bloke. I think that worked out beautifully.

Yes, I agree it's funny, but oh-my-god I find it difficult to watch. :-)

[Howj Begg]

Ha! That's funny because I love the Darcus Howe one - it's so absurd - this big man sitting stoically/impassively while being regaled with insults, then interrupting only when he doesn't understand one. Then Morris admits that he's got the wrong bloke. I think that worked out beautifully.

Yes, although I find it unfortunate that Morris used that term, cos Howe clearly thought it was a racist insult, when CM was just being plain hompohobic that's all.

[MoonDust]

I don't say that what he did there was wrong, but for me personally it made it a far more difficult watch than TDT (although as mentioned here many times before, I struggle with the sobbing Jam Festival woman in the first episode of that too).

Sobbing Jam Festival woman is all acting though, right? Whereas Brass Eye pranks weren't.