BBC looks to the movies

[Ignatius_S]

Yum, I'm laughing already.

Taken from BBC News:

BBC eyes spin-off comedy movies
Stars of top BBC comedies could find themselves starring in feature films after a deal was struck between the BBC's comedy and movie-making arms.

Kenton Allen, producer of Oscar-winning short Six Shooter and creative head of BBC Comedy Talent, heads the scheme.

"Many of the talent we work with want to paint on a bigger canvas," he said. "This relationship with BBC Films means we can offer them that opportunity."

Recent BBC comedy hits include sketch show Little Britain and Extras.

Allen will work with the comedy team to build on existing brands and develop features with established writers and performers.

"BBC Comedy has a fine tradition of developing iconic comic voices," he said. "I'm confident this will lead to some truly original film-making."

'Target area'

BBC Films' recent comedy titles include wedding movie Confetti and A Cock and Bull Story starring Steve Coogan.

"Comedy is very much a target area for us at the moment, with several interesting projects in development," said David Thompson, head of the BBC's feature film arm.

Film versions of BBC sitcoms were commonplace in the 1970s, with Porridge, Dad's Army and Are You Being Served all receiving the big-screen treatment.

In recent years Harry Enfield, Ali G creator Sacha Baron Cohen and the Smack the Pony team have tried their hands at feature-length comedies.

[LeboviciAB84]

the Smack the Pony team have tried their hands at feature-length comedies.

They have?

[Catalogue Trousers]

Well, Doon McKichan's probably cameod in something or other.

Jaysus. As if the world needed a Catherine Tate Show movie. To be called Bovver, Actually, no fucking doubt.

[Ignatius_S]

Yup, Gladiatress.

[benthalo]

Gladiatress, which never even got distributed over here. I picked up a "Russian DVD" of it on eBay.

[LeboviciAB84]

I predict a laughter-riot!

[Ignatius_S]

Fiona Allen also starred in the hugely (no pun intended) successful 'Fat Slags'

[benthalo]

I read in Sight & Sound that Fat Slags got two screenings in the whole of the UK. It might be the unique case of S&S giving the full cast/credits/synopsis/review treatment upon its DVD release because they were unable to catch it any sooner.

The cast list for Fat Slags is genuinely shocking.

[Ignatius_S]

The cast list for Fat Slags is genuinely shocking.

One of the most eclectic line-ups for a while... but let's see what Auntie does.

Not too long ago, I think I posted in in another thread, Little Britain was being mooted as a film and of course, there's meant to be an Alan Partridge film.

I reckon what the BBC wants to do with this initiative is to have films that do well in America. What will happen is some bland mid-Atlantic film fodder will be made with little success. As Film Four learnt to its cost, if you make a movie with the main aim of having a big hit when the product isn't that great and - more importantly - don't have the money for a massive publicity campaign, you're doomed to failure.

[clareQuilty]

Gladiatress went straight to rental here. We had several copies when I used to work in a video strore, none of which ever got rented. They ended up going straight into previously viewed and kept getting marked down in price until they were all pratically given away.
It was one of the few films of that type I didn't even bother watching out of morbid curiousity, unlike 'Frankenfish' which I can heartilly recommend.

[Jack Shaftoe]

That 'Smack the Pony team' only applies to the three female leads, by the way. No-one else (as in writers, producers etc) was even slightly involved.

edit: weirdly enough, 'Gladiatress' was produced by Mel Gibson's company, which makes me wonder if it was some kind of dry run for Passion of the Christ


'Well we've got the roman army costumes, may as well do something else with them. Hmm... which classic text has loads of centurions and is out of copyright?...'

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

Wasn't that how all the costumed Carry On films got made?

[Jack Shaftoe]

I'm sure Cleo was made from bits of your actual Cleopatra, which is what I was thinking of, ten points.

In the Gilliam on Gilliam book, there's all this stuff about Jabberwocky being made from bits of set salvaged from a Ridley Scott shoot (Legend possibly?), until in the end, Scott got so pissed off, he ordered all the sets to be burned the minute they didn't need them any more. Lots of stuff about re-using the same ten-foot bit of castle wall for about twenty scenes, just with different bits nailed onto it.

I love stuff like that.

[Catalogue Trousers]

Pedant alert - the Scott film definitely wasn't Legend, since that didn't come out until the mid-80s. It seems likely that the film in question was The Duellists, which -  for all of its Napoleonic setting - has a load of old castle-type stuff that would've been great for Jabberwocky - and both films were in production at roughly the same time.

[Ignatius_S]

I'm sure Cleo was made from bits of your actual Cleopatra, which is what I was thinking of, ten points.I love stuff like that.

They also used the same sets and just for good measure produced a promtional poster for Carry on Cleo that parodied the one for Cleopatra - they knew they couldn't get away with it but knew the ensuing court case would provide lots of press coverage.

[Catalogue Trousers]

On a related note (though still off-topic), the cover for Asterix & Cleopatra - original book, not the film - is also a deliberate and rather splendid parody of the whole "cast of thousands" bumf on the Cleopatra publicity...

[Jack Shaftoe]

Thanks CT - even as I typed, I thought Legend was just a bit  too far away in timescale...

I think I might start buying Asterix again -  got back into Tintin recently, and they're bloody gorgeous, it  turns  out.

When the Spice Girls film was first mooted, there was some talk of them  doing a St. Trinians movie - and at first I thought 'christ, what a stupid idea'. And then I thought 'you know what,  that could genuinely be a really good idea, if  it was done properly.' But of course it wouldn't have been, it would have been shit. And so will the little britain film that will be the inevitable first movie out of the new BBC gate.

grump grump cynical cynical. True though.

[Robot Devil]

I don't want to start a new thread for this, and since the words "Smack The Pony" were mentioned in this thread, I will ask my question here.

In an old XFM show I was listening to today, Stephen Merchant mentioned being cast in and acting in a pilot, written by Sally Phillips, in which he played a man who was training for a "Tallest Man In The World" competition. However, it isn't on either's IMDB page as far as I can see. Anyone have any details, pweese?

[Catalogue Trousers]

When the Spice Girls film was first mooted, there was some talk of them doing a St. Trinians movie

Bloody hell, JS, I didn't know that - but come on, it would have been dreadful. No doubts. For one: no Joyce Grenfell. For two: no Alistair Sim. For three: the Spices would've made the least sexy "sexy schoolgirls" ever, so even the pervs would have no reason to watch. For four: the narrative would have to grind to a halt every five minutes for a song. For five: they would be Spice Girls songs. For six: Ronald Searle would probably have died of shame.

And for seven: IT WOULD HAVE BEEN A SPICE GIRLS ST TRINIAN'S MOVIE, for fuck's sake. All of the necessary arguments against the idea are implicit in that phrase.

And yeah (but no but yeah but no but ho fucking ho), the idea of a Little Britain film is every bit as appealing.

[Emergency Lalla Ward Ten]

I read in Sight & Sound that Fat Slags got two screenings in the whole of the UK.

That can't be true, surely? It got TV "spots" and everything.

If it was true, I was at one of them - 21/10/04 at Wardour Street Odeon. I never realised it was such a rare opportunity. There were only about seven people there.

The DVD is impressively bleak (my friend bought it for a pound, OK?) - the entire press pack is included, with everyone desperately trying to scrape together positive commnets about the project. James Dreyfuss' segment is both mute and in the wrong aspect ratio, but no one has noticed or cared.

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

If so then the other one was Ster Century in Leeds. I didn't go because I'd rather eat a strychnine sandwich, but they definately showed it.

That's the trivia done then!

Stars of top BBC comedies could find themselves starring in feature films

Recent BBC comedy hits include sketch show Little Britain and Extras.

Oh No.

[Jack Shaftoe]

CT - yes, I know, but it's the same thing as the new Carry On movie. It could be great, but of course it won't be, as it won't be made by anyone with a real love for at least some of the original films.

I just reckon a Spice Girls St Trinians movie was such a perfect idea for a really enjoyable hour and a half if done properly that I can't quite let the idea go. And it's not the uniforms - at least not the way they (the spice girls) look these days.

But it does raise a bigger point: why aren't we plundering the back catalogue of british pop culture and making a Noggin the Nog Movie, or a Leopard From Lime Street movie, or a Warhammer 40K film, or a Bagpuss film? Or a Captain Britain movie? Because everyone in the industry (I mean british people in the film industry) thinks our popular culture is shit, whereas they think American stuff is shiny and great.

Shaun Of The Dead may not have been a perfect movie by any standards, but it was well-crafted, genuinely witty, and treated its pop-culture origins with the appropriate amount of respect. And it had reasonable aims as well: only had to do reasonably well in the UK to break even, then make a profit from DVD sales.


I forgot, there was a Magic Roundabout movie wasn't there? It looked rubbish as well. Ho hum.

EDIT: (30 secs later) ok, the leopard from lime street movie was pushing it...

[Mr. Analytical]

Bear in mind that Alan Moore's comics count as "British popular culture".

I'd really like to see a new St. Trinians movie.  I always enjoy them whenever they're on.

[Jack Shaftoe]

Not much chance of a 'Lost Girls' movie though, which is probably for the best.

I'd have loved a really serious BBC 'League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen'. And somewhere in an alternate universe is Ridley Scott's 'Thunderbirds', which was all grimy and resue-workery... I'm drifting away from comedy though, sorry.

'Nicholas Craig - the movie'? You could make it for a tenner, it would be aces.

[Catalogue Trousers]

ok. the leopard from lime street movie was pushing it...

Why?

http://www.internationalhero.co.uk/l/leoplime.htm

What's not to like! Look out Spiderman, here comes William "Billy" Farmer!

[Jack Shaftoe]

I loved his catchphrase: ""Catch me if you can...hunt me if you dare!"

Excellent stuff.

[Brutus Beefcake]

or a Warhammer 40K film,

I'm sure I heard about that a few years ago, I wonder what happened.

[uncle_rico]

I'm sure Cleo was made from bits of your actual Cleopatra, which is what I was thinking of, ten points.

In the Gilliam on Gilliam book, there's all this stuff about Jabberwocky being made from bits of set salvaged from a Ridley Scott shoot (Legend possibly?), until in the end, Scott got so pissed off, he ordered all the sets to be burned the minute they didn't need them any more. Lots of stuff about re-using the same ten-foot bit of castle wall for about twenty scenes, just with different bits nailed onto it.

I love stuff like that.

Sorry to be such a geek, but it wasn't Ridley Scott, it was Blake Edwards. One of the Pink Panther's(Strikes Again, I think)

[Jack Shaftoe]

Oh really? Annoyingly, I couldn't find the book to check before I wrote. So I only got the director AND the film wrong then? Arse. This is why I'm shit at pub quizzes...

Possibly making more trouble for myself, but a secret mole at Games Workshop told me that the company kept scuppering potential 40K movies by demanding 1)  at least 20 million for the rights to the background, and 2) full creative control. But that could be wrong as well.