Year of the Rabbit (Matt Berry sitcom)

[Ballad of Ballard Berkley]

This starts on Channel 4 on Monday 10th June.

Berry stars as a tough, maverick Victorian cop patrolling the mean streets of London's East End. I've seen episode one.

Pros: decent production values and a good supporting cast which includes Alun Armstrong and Paul Kaye.

Cons: everything else.

It's just awful. Boring, strained, witless toss. Berry is his usual one-note self - a terrible actor, he can't even affect a passable cockney accent - and the script relies on unfunny swearing for laughs. It's trying to be a knowingly silly parody of grotesque Victorian melodramas and cop show cliches, but lacks the inspiration to pull that off.

Berry is fine in small doses, his shtick can be quite amusing when used sparingly, but he can't carry a starring vehicle. Even Toast of London, which had its moments, was ultimately marred by his dead-eyed, semi-professional performance. He's a niche turn elevated far beyond his station.

I don't hate the guy or anything, but he's made very little go an inexplicably long way.

[McChesney Duntz]

Yeah, I noticed that C4* put the first ten minutes of the first episode onto YT, which I'm betting will serve the opposite of its intended function; I know for my part that it instills no desire whatsoever to seek out what follows. And I'm a pretty devout Matt Berry fanboy, too.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8-2oiBOkq4

* Appropriate abbreviation for something so loaded with bombs, eh wot?

[alan nagsworth]

bruv

Literally fucked that off as soon as the title card came up. That cockney accent is abysmal and I could not bear to sit through another moment of it.

[a duncandisorderly]

I've come late to the matt berry phenomenon, first encountering him as an annoying cliched peripheral character in 'house of fools' which was itself quite weak; turns out a few of my FB friends are musical associates of his, & so now my FB thread is pock-marked with either his own or their attempts to sell his kitsch tv theme reworkings & so on.

I don't get it. I don't get why kaye has nothing better to do after GoT finishing either.

[Ballad of Ballard Berkley]

Kaye is an understandably in-demand character actor, he's great, and this is just another gig. In an ideal world he'd be starring in a brilliant tailor-made vehicle instead of playing second banana to Matt Berry, but I doubt he really gives a fuck. It's not as if the man is starved for work.

[Howj Begg]

Kaye is an understandably in-demand character actor, he's great, and this is just another gig. In an ideal world he'd be starring in a brilliant tailor-made vehicle instead of playing second banana to Matt Berry, but I doubt he really gives a fuck. It's not as if the man is starved for work.

In a perfect world, one might say.

[a duncandisorderly]

In a perfect world, one might say.

beat me to it.

[Danger Man]

It's like Kevin Cecil and his mate looked at Joel Morris and his mate's Angstrom and thought 'we can do that in Victorian England' but they couldn't.

If Matthew Holness replaced Matt Berry would this be better?

[Ballad of Ballard Berkley]

beat me to it.

Have I made some sort of semantic error, or is this a reference to a funny comedy thing I'm unaware of?

If Matthew Holness replaced Matt Berry would this be better?

No. At least Holness realised, quite early on, that he's not much of a performer. His film, Possum, is pretty good. It's more interesting - striking, even - than anything Ayoade and Berry have ever done.

[St_Eddie]

Have I made some sort of semantic error, or is this a reference to a funny comedy thing I'm unaware of?

Perfect World.

[BlodwynPig]

Nothing there at all.

[Ballad of Ballard Berkley]

Perfect World.

Ah! Of course! Silly me.

[Dr Rock]

turns out a few of my FB friends are musical associates of his

Initials C.B. any of them?

[a duncandisorderly]

Initials C.B. any of them?

CD, GS...

[gilbertharding]

Heard him interviewed on Radio 4 about this last week.

It was interesting to hear his normal speaking voice, which I might describe as a Reverse Boycie (ie his off-duty accent is noticably more demotic than the on he uses professionally. The inverse of John Challis).

[Ballad of Ballard Berkley]

Heard him interviewed on Radio 4 about this last week.

It was interesting to hear his normal speaking voice, which I might describe as a Reverse Boycie (ie his off-duty accent is noticably more demotic than the on he uses professionally. The inverse of John Challis).

Hearing Matt Berry's actual voice is a more interesting prospect than watching anything he's in. Also, he has a surprisingly reedy singing voice - you'd assume he'd sing like Elvis in his Vegas pomp.

Anyway. Imagine if one of your friends suddenly unleashed a rich, fruity, thespian voice. You'd laugh yourself silly. That's presumably what happened in the pub one night with Holness and Ayoade. 20 years later, that funny mate has somehow carved a career out of it.

[gilbertharding]

"You and he were... buddies weren't you?"

[iamcoop]

To be fair to Berry though I don't think he's under any illusions about his comedic talent and subsequent career. Whenever I've heard him being interviewed (he was quite good on the Adam Buxton podcast for example) he's always been keen to stress his entry into comedy was a complete accident and not something he'd ever wanted or really worked for. I get the impression he knows he's a bit of a one trick pony in that regard but if people keep offering him work what's he supposed to do, turn it down and become a plumber?

[dr_christian_troy]

In a perfect world, one might say.

Fingers crossed for that delayed DVD release to come through one day. Loved that series.

[Bad Ambassador]

It was passable until the Luvvie John Merrick appeared, and then I wanted to kill everyone involved.

[PlanktonSideburns]

what's he supposed to do, turn it down and become a plumber?

Yes please

[Phil_A]

Hearing Matt Berry's actual voice is a more interesting prospect than watching anything he's in. Also, he has a surprisingly reedy singing voice - you'd assume he'd sing like Elvis in his Vegas pomp.

Anyway. Imagine if one of your friends suddenly unleashed a rich, fruity, thespian voice. You'd laugh yourself silly. That's presumably what happened in the pub one night with Holness and Ayoade. 20 years later, that funny mate has somehow carved a career out of it.

Interestingly, a clip of him presenting on some shit nineties games show turned up a while back, no trace of actorly eh-nun-cee-ay-shun whatsoever.

https://youtu.be/8Y6SP-yeKk4?t=328

With those glasses he looks bizarrely like David Cross.

[Clownbaby]

I'm sick of stuff like this

[VelourSpirit]

Why are so many TV shows now going for that 2:1 aspect ratio shit and looking all soft and smudgy? It's like they're going 'ah we're like those netflix streaming things, isn't tv so cinematic now' but it's always been offputting to me. THEY ALL LOOK THE SAME.

[Virgo76]

The inevitable Matt Berry backlash begins..

Doesn't Matt Berry have a cockney accent anyway?
When he's speaking normally, I mean, rather than projecting it in his usual way.

Who was playing the Elephant Man here?

Matt Berry looks a bit like the husband on Killing Eve. Just me?

[Clownbaby]

I like Matt Berry in the new What We Do InThe Shadows

[TheDHolford]

Watched it, didn't think much either way really. I didn't like Matt Berry as his role in this, and I'm a bit of a defender of his, at times. Probably won't watch again. Something seemed off, there was some really weird editing choices, really quick back and forth between the characters using editing to show the shocked faces of a woman swearing.

I do also really like Matt Berry in What We Do in the Shadows, he's either more toned down in that show, or all the other characters are amped up, so you can't tell he's doing his usual shtick quite as much.

[Beagle 2]

Yeah what a shame with the talent involved, I'm not going to join a good old CaB Matt Berry pile on, it's so 2004, but this does look dreadful. Well actually it looks fantastic, but the swearing is so jarring. With this and Upstart Crow it's like they've overthought how much fun they can wring out of the language side. Why not write some jokes and funny situations and not worry too much about how hilarious old words are or how funny it would be to have swearing in an authentic period piece.

[Bazooka]

I know its not a popular opinion here but I loved Darkplace, watched all again recently, and it holds up.

[Pancake]

Not popular opinion? Darkplace is/was great, cooked and bombd are idiots fuck off idiots!!!