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Fawlty Towers back on BBC One and vinyl box set

Started by Ignatius_S, March 15, 2021, 01:07:34 PM

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Captain Z

I seem to remember Sachs being far more calm and reflective when interviewed in the immediate aftermath (like, a few days later). Not that he wasn't upset, but more that he understood it was just something that got out of hand too quickly and that he was happy to accept their apologies and move on.

Edit: I think this was the one I was thinking of:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FSgKLooW1LM

idunnosomename

Sachs really was a great voice-over artist. you never really noticed it was him, more to his credit for getting you into the narrative. among loads of things, he did a cracking Kafka's Metamorphosis reading for radio in the mid 00s.

Jonathan Ross is a cunt. And Russell Brand's career as a social progressive also deserved to be sunk by that rotten display of cuntery towards him


and yeah I think he was a nice enough guy to forgive them, but it still hung over him in his final years, which is horrible really

Ballad of Ballard Berkley

Not to excuse Brand in any way whatsoever, but Sachs hits the nail on the head here with regards to Ross.

QuoteThe initial thing to note is that it is not Brand but Ross who first launches into abusive material and swearing.

This was exceptionally nasty and the text makes it obvious that Jonathan Ross could not bear to be uncool or seem middle-aged, though he was nearing 50 at the time. He wanted to act as if he were a young lad, when, of course, he was nothing of the sort.

The whole segment starts out as a bit of whimsical nonsense. The messages Brand leaves aren't particularly funny, but they're not actively unpleasant. It's Ross who drags the whole thing down to the level of harassing an elderly man with puerile comments about his granddaughter. Again, I'm not excusing Brand, he cackles along with it all, but Ross really does come across as an embarrassing middle-aged man trying to curry favour with an 'edgy' young comedian. It's pathetic.

I really felt for Sachs and his family during that whole sorry affair.

Bad Ambassador

Sachs made a half-hour radio play with no dialogue. Brand did a remake of Arthur.

St_Eddie

Quote from: Ballad of Ballard Berkley on March 16, 2021, 11:17:20 PM
The messages Brand leaves aren't particularly funny, but they're not actively unpleasant. It's Ross who drags the whole thing down to the level of harassing an elderly man with puerile comments about his granddaughter.

Hmm...

They're both as guilty as each other as far as I'm concerned.  Trying to decide who was worse is like trying to decide which of the two school bullies is the ringleader and which is the toadying lackey.  They're both bullies, so the distinction is irrelevant in my opinion.


Ballad of Ballard Berkley

Quote from: St_Eddie on March 16, 2021, 11:55:20 PM
Hmm...

They're both as guilty as each other as far as I'm concerned.  Trying to decide who was worse is like trying to decide which of the two school bullies is the ringleader and which is the toadying lackey.  They're both bullies, so the distinction is irrelevant in my opinion.

Well I agree, but I thought Sachs' analysis of the dynamic between Ross and Brand was accurate. That's why I singled out the quote from your post on the previous page. I'm obviously not saying that poor little impressionable Russell Brand woz innocent.

I like Brand, he's a very funny man, but he came across as an utter twat during that incident.

Jockice

I've been saying consistently since the 80s that Ross is a cunt. I was so happy to be irretrievably proved right.

Echo Valley 2-6809

Quote from: idunnosomename on March 16, 2021, 10:57:39 PM
Sachs really was a great voice-over artist. you never really noticed it was him, more to his credit for getting you into the narrative. among loads of things, he did a cracking Kafka's Metamorphosis reading for radio in the mid 00s.

I rewatched That Peter Kay Thing recently and his deadpan straight narration is a big part of what makes it so good.

petril

Quote from: Echo Valley 2-6809 on March 17, 2021, 03:12:49 PM
I rewatched That Peter Kay Thing recently and his deadpan straight narration is a big part of what makes it so good.

aye, he was just treating it like all the other jobs he was doing around that time. plus the "narrator says the next line" gag was still really fresh then


mjwilson

So the new box set is a repackaging of the original 4 albums, plus 2 newly created ones, and they all have narration by Sachs... does that mean he recorded new narration several years ago in preparation for this set? Or am I misreading something?

Ignatius_S

Quote from: mjwilson on March 17, 2021, 07:36:48 PM
So the new box set is a repackaging of the original 4 albums, plus 2 newly created ones, and they all have narration by Sachs... does that mean he recorded new narration several years ago in preparation for this set? Or am I misreading something?

The 'new' ones were originally released in CD (and sure cassette as well) and now are available digitally - it's the first time that these episodes have been released on vinyl.

Sebastian Cobb

Didn't even realise it was Sachs on That Peter Kay Thing.

Next you'll tell me it someone well known on Operation Good Guys.

jobotic

So did those two pricks ever comment on the phone calls?

Got a four year old Sachs fan here - she's been listening to his reading of Harry and the Dinosaurs every bloody night for a year. She was very happy to hear that the Mog the Cat CD I got her was narrated by the same person.

I don't think she's crying out for The Tiger Who Came to Tea narrated by Jonathan fucking Ross.

Ignatius_S

Quote from: jobotic on March 17, 2021, 09:24:20 PM
So did those two pricks ever comment on the phone calls?...

Yeah, they did/have expressing regret. Personally, I think Ross's have more of a genuine ring than Brand's. Baillie has said something along those lines as well, FWIW.

With Brand, there's tended to be always a 'but...' with his remarks - e.g. suggesting there was an anti-BBC agenda to the incident, such as when he was on Desert Island Discs (see https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-23383451 and god knows how many other articles). Personally, when I heard the episode, I can't say 'empathetic' was a word that sprang to my mind.

Quote from: jobotic on March 17, 2021, 09:24:20 PM...Got a four year old Sachs fan here - she's been listening to his reading of Harry and the Dinosaurs every bloody night for a year. She was very happy to hear that the Mog the Cat CD I got her was narrated by the same person.

I don't think she's crying out for The Tiger Who Came to Tea narrated by Jonathan fucking Ross.

That's lovely to hear. I would caution leaving it a few years, before allowing them to listen to Ross' narration for that book - it does get a bit near the knuckle at times, but all good clean fun, arguably.


idunnosomename

Another Sachs role that might fuck the hat of people of a certain age, is that Sachs was the voice of 'Horse' in Monkey, both in the 1979 dub and again in 2004.

Ignatius_S

Quote from: Glebe on March 25, 2021, 02:58:58 AM
Fawlty Towers – rare photos from the Radio Times Archive.

That's for posting that.  It's interesting to be able to see familiar scenes from different angles, getting glimpses of beyond the set.

Glebe

Quote from: Ignatius_S on March 25, 2021, 06:31:37 PMThat's for posting that.  It's interesting to be able to see familiar scenes from different angles, getting glimpses of beyond the set.

I like the BBC cameras closing in there, and the fake walls! Nice photo of Prunella Scales all smiles there too.

Brundle-Fly

To draw a line under 'Sachsgate'. Don't forget Jonathan Ross apologised again in 2013.

At the 51 minute mark.

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x7qyike

poodlefaker

Quote from: Jockice on March 16, 2021, 01:54:50 PM
I have a recollection of Ingrams once writing that Cleese had never made him laugh. Not even once. Which strikes me as a bit strange.And possibly a personal grudge type thing.

I'm pretty sure Ingrams' antipathy towards Python and everyone connected with it is down to Palin being a few years below him at school.

Ignatius_S

Quote from: Glebe on March 25, 2021, 06:36:17 PM
I like the BBC cameras closing in there, and the fake walls! Nice photo of Prunella Scales all smiles there too.

Yes, it's really interesting being able to see that. The first time I looked at the pictures, I was mainly focused on the seeing the actors in actions from different actions and it was only the second viewing that I really noticed such like the studio lights.

Pauline Walnuts

Quote from: turnstyle on March 15, 2021, 01:15:47 PM

Not quite sure the world needs a £90 vinyl box set of these, and I'm saying that as someone for whom these recordings were their introduction to Fawlty Towers.

They've sold out by the way.

Ignatius_S

Quote from: OnlyRegisteredSoICanRead on March 25, 2021, 08:35:30 PM
They've sold out by the way.

When I posted the story, I noticed that there were quite a few other places selling, including Rough Trade (who are selling it for £95). When I checked the other day, Rough Trade and another place (advertising it for £100) so if someone is sharpish, they can pick it that way - otherwise, there is always good old eBay (being listed by three sellers who are cutting their own throats).

Personally, I thought the £90 price tag was pretty good, considering it's six discs, never mind the signed print.

amateur

This is on Fawlty Towers now and the chef's pissed, superb.

Echo Valley 2-6809

Quote from: amateur on April 19, 2021, 08:47:22 PM
This is on Fawlty Towers now

Too meta for me.

Quoteand the chef's pissed, superb.

I wonder if the uncut version of Kurt puking over the fish will ever be seen. Comedy spews aren't uncommon now, and that edited version is jarring, especially when you can hear the disgusted audience reaction.
Seems a pity that we can't see the original groundbreaking one!

amateur

Sorry to say that due to the installation of bollards, you can no longer give your car a damn good thrashing on the spot Basil does.


amateur

This is back on BBC One.

Basil's just won some bunce on a horse!

Echo Valley 2-6809


I think that's the worst episode: anti-disablist (those deaf folk are just faking it).