League of Gentleman

[alan nagsworth]

Chinnery is a one-joke character, I'll give you that, but those other characters are far more rounded than anything you'd find in Little Britain.

Yeah there's shitloads to enjoy with Harvey and Val. Off the top of my head, two less-than-grotesque bits that I adore from those characters are Harvey's insistence that Benjamin take off his shoes (and his overly anal positioning of the shoes in the hall - "that'll do!") and Val's sudden jolt of anguish when Benjamin furiously refuses to piss in the glass to drink it. Gatiss' face in that single moment is gloriously funny.

[mjwilson]

I didn't like S3 when it came out - I didn't mind the idea of changing the style, but I thought the execution was poor. Then I rewatched it last year and I have no idea what I had a problem with.

[Sony Walkman Prophecies]

Currently rewatching it on Netflix and I don't know how people can get through it.

Not because it's not funny, it bloody is, but its so fucking gross and disgusting and sinister. Every sketch leaves me either depressed, filled with such tension or a feeling of wrongness.

Good show

Also, are there any towns out there like Royston Vasey? I'd love to spend a day in one.

Any town in the Yorkshire Dales. Somewhere like Howarth or Keighley. Though both are quite picturesque on a bright sunny day, there's still something spendthrift and grim about them.

Actually, I just had a look around Keighley on Gmaps and found a fancy dress shop called Sequins, Looks like something straight out of LoG -  https://goo.gl/maps/cBvbKhbAE3k9PrJB9

But yeah. There are plenty of weird shops in those areas. I remember going into a costume jewellery shop with my gf to find it run by a bickering couple much like Les and Tina. I'll never forget overhearing the furiously whispered lines "ohhh, so you're a lesbian now are ya?" to the tart reply "might be."

[Sony Walkman Prophecies]

I used to hate series 3 but now it's my favourite. I got sick of Tubbs and Edward, plus a few of the other recurring things that got old hat by s2, so now s3's totally different tone feels the freshest to me, even though it does have some of the nastiest stuff in it.

The reunion shows got off on entirely the wrong foot with me, bottling it by bringing T&E back and reneging on what had been a very ballsy and necessary move. Not only that but using them as a pretext to crowbar in a load of tired shit about Brexit. LOG was never satirical in that way and that sort of self-conscious stuff was really jarring.

Anyway - S3. The debt collectors. Laurence Lywellyn Bowen. Alvin. Brilliant stuff

Agree with pretty much all of that. Though I never liked the debt collectors and the wannabe David Blaine character was pretty weak.

But yes, as a rule LoG should be as non-topical as possible. It's meant to be about the darker aspects of the human psyche, not the current government's foreign policy or the prevalence of mobile phones.

[holyzombiejesus]

Any town in the Yorkshire Dales. Somewhere like Howarth or Keighley.

Neither are in the Dales and Royston Vasey/ Hadfield is nothing like Howarth whatsoever. Howarth is picturesque, cutesy, Bronte parsonage stuff. Hanging baskets and Seasalt mums with Frugi-clad kids. No way would Geoff ever even set foot in the place, let alone live there.

[holyzombiejesus]

It's Geoff Tipps stop getting LOG wrong ;-)

You have to say Geoff Tibbs, just to annoy Serge.

[Sony Walkman Prophecies]

Pedant alert! Okay, both are on the periphery of the Dales, not literally in them. Though Howarth wasn't a great choice. In hindsight, I probably should have gone with Shipley.

[bgmnts]

Season 3 doesnt seem to be as good as the first two but fuck me that masseuse plotline is incredible. It's fucking mental.

[alan nagsworth]

THHHAATTSS THHE TTIICKKKEETTTT

[imitationleather]

I've not seen the film since I went to a screening with a Q&A from the lads after. I remember thinking it was tooooootal shiiiiiiite, but I may have been wrong. Seems unlikely, though.

[magval]

[bet i've said this on here before but] The hardest I can ever remember laughing is at Geoff asking "have ye seen me?" from behind a mask, hidden up on the roof, in the film.

Just finished the radio series today, first time, haven't much to say about it, they definitely didn't hit the ground running and the TV versions of everything on the radio are a lot better.

[JarrowMonkey]

Get yourself to the North East of England, places like Royston Vasey are ten a penny.


Ferryhill is a good example. It used to be part of my patch when I worked on the East Coast Mainline and our access point to the track would always involve a chat with some lads whose evenings out consisted of trapping rabbits and drinking cans of Tennants Extra. The whole town is just desolation.

When I worked at Black and Decker in the early 90s most of the residents of Ferryhill and Spennymoor go to place for a great night out was Bishop Auckland, says it all really

[garbed_attic]

It's an interesting aside that a show written by at least one liberal gay man has now become something of an example of comedy that is a bit un-PC and questionable but the TV show holds up for me.

See also: Kids in the Hall. On (spam) it tends to be Scott Thompson's sketches singled out as homophobic, despite him being the openly gay member of the troupe. Of course, internalised homophobia is a thing, but I think there's a broader question about the degree to which it is acceptable to make fun of an identity, orientation or sub-culture to which you belong... that said, the same excuse can't be made for blackface in either (though whether Lazarou is wearing blackface is a tricksy question, I suppose).

[garbed_attic]

The LoG DVDs have my favourite commentaries, I think - it's just a delight healing them all discuss the show and their influences.

Plus, they have my favourite outtake of all time of Reece being wonderfully terrifying:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DYthuMmOIGA&t=1m47s

[Bazooka]

Pop disowning Richie is possibly one of my favourite scenes from a comedy, it's perfectly filmed.

[SteveDave]

[bet i've said this on here before but] The hardest I can ever remember laughing is at Geoff asking "have ye seen me?" from behind a mask, hidden up on the roof, in the film.

Mine was "They put me in a box with me coat on! It was worse than it sounds!"

[Kryton]

I love it when Geoff's workmate Mike (?) comes to visit him at his weird little flat and Geoff gets him a cup of water and then unrolls some toilet roll and offers it to him as though it's a posh napkin. Just little details that makes Geoff such a wonderful, weird guy.

[Sexton Brackets Drugbust]

I love it when Geoff's workmate Mike (?) comes to visit him at his weird little flat and Geoff gets him a cup of water and then unrolls some toilet roll and offers it to him as though it's a posh napkin. Just little details that makes Geoff such a wonderful, weird guy.

"All nice and posh, look." Geoff, clearly utterly bewildered by his friend and colleague visiting him, but still genuinely trying to put on airs.

[Old Gold Tooth]

"All nice and posh, look." Geoff, clearly utterly bewildered by his friend and colleague visiting him, but still genuinely trying to put on airs.

Watched this one just last night. Shearsmith is so good as Geoff. Even a basic line like "What.... d'you want?" is perfectly delivered.

[holyzombiejesus]

Yeah, for all the deserved plaudits that the more outlandish characters get, Geoff's the true star. I'm laughing just thinking about him.

[Phoenix Lazarus]

I seem to recall a scene where someone was possessed with some spell that was making them out of control in their behaviour, and it was at night, near some open-air party or concert with that old trick of ominous background music playing over cheerful music that is being performed in the scene.  I thought that was done well.

[holyzombiejesus]

Was that the line dancing in the Christmas special?

[dr_christian_troy]

See also: Kids in the Hall. On (spam) it tends to be Scott Thompson's sketches singled out as homophobic, despite him being the openly gay member of the troupe. Of course, internalised homophobia is a thing, but I think there's a broader question about the degree to which it is acceptable to make fun of an identity, orientation or sub-culture to which you belong... that said, the same excuse can't be made for blackface in either (though whether Lazarou is wearing blackface is a tricksy question, I suppose).

Kids In The Hall's Death Comes To Town appears to be VERY influenced by LoG.

If you're a fan of the LoG commentaries on the series, track down the Arrow Video release of Theatre Of Blood.

[magval]

Yes, and Blood on Satan's Claw on DVD or Blu, which has three of them on commentary, also.

[garbed_attic]

Yes, and Blood on Satan's Claw on DVD or Blu, which has three of them on commentary, also.

Oooh dang thanks for the heads up you two!

[Brundle-Fly]

Oooh dang thanks for the heads up you two!

Have you ever heard this gouty? The League stay the night in a haunted inn.  Perfect for Halloween.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=keHEFsCgFWk

[purlieu]

I hated the third series when it came out, I immediately just thought "where's the comedy?" and "they're just trying too hard to shock". I approached it with some trepidation when I purchased the boxset, and was so happy to find I'd totally misjudged it. Although the first series is probably the out-and-out funniest (watching them back to back, you really notice the more subdued audience in the second series), the third is the bravest and probably best made all round.

Geoff, Les and the like are definitely the most rounded characters, although they really need the more grotesque and farcical stuff around them to work. The broad range of comedy is what makes it so special.

Barbara is a difficult one, as she's written as possibly the most well-rounded and 'normal' resident of the village, and the joke is clearly 'taxi drivers talk about themselves too much, so imagine they're talking about the intimate changes of the body of a trans woman', but at the same time it's definitely put together to have the audience laughing at her hairy legs and such. Not intended to be actually nasty, but thankfully not the sort of thing a new show would get away with now.

edit: I've fancied Reece Shearsmith as a woman on more than one occasion.

[garbed_attic]

edit: I've fancied Reece Shearsmith as a woman on more than one occasion.

And rightly so!

[Kryton]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XvUsI4eqqnY

Geoff Tibbs continuity.

Reece is terrifying as Geoff.

[drummersaredeaf]

As a younger man I near enough wrecked the first two series' VHS through overuse. I always recall favouring the second, but suppose I'd better rewatch the lot to reappraise.

I felt the third inferior at the time, but with some golden moments, and agree it's better years later. Going against a previous poster, I quite enjoyed the magician (Dean Taviner?). Living in Stoke I can relate to lots of LoG, and frequently find myself asking WHAT IS WRONG WITH PEOPLE ROUND HERE?

As for highlights, I think this is far and away my favourite bit:

https://youtu.be/LCwYnJYgtxU