Britcom Goes To The Movies

It’s time for the second instalment of our Morecambe and Wise trilogy. Don’t get too excited! You may remember from a couple of series ago how much we disliked The Intelligence Men, a real challenger for the bottom spot in our league table.

However, returning guest and M&W movie apologist A.J. Black, of the Film Stories church, has a lot of affection for Eric and Ernie’s second outing, That Riviera Touch (1966). So much so that he assured us last time out that we’d enjoy it, or at the very least, enjoy it more than The Intelligence Men, which, let’s face it, should be like shooting fish in a barrel.

We also wrap up our viewing of Morecambe and Wise’s ITV years in this episode. Two of a Kind became The Morecambe and Wise Show in 1966, and we begin to see a glimmer of what everyone regards as their superior BBC work, though not without some lazy, dated set pieces and borderline scandalous off-colour jokes. None of which is to say we didn’t have a ruddy good time recording this episode. It’s just a shame we couldn’t go to the south of France to do it like Eric and Ernie.

Morecambe and Wise - Two of a Kind series 5
https://youtu.be/PnoFNrveJMo?is=-gTgTn5h0CCQPQTW

That Riviera Touch - Trailer
https://youtu.be/6sdB_I6ZtzI?si=K1WcOz6xXl6hYxyR

That Riviera Touch - Now That You're Here
https://youtu.be/l_-6cFYI-7A?si=e5BQXOMJcfXPvGBr

That Riviera Touch - Full Film
https://youtu.be/Tg-5BcVXLU8?si=wVadrloD2BWbO8mz
Part of the Film Stories Podcast Network: https://filmstories.co.uk/film-stories-podcast-network-shows/
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In 1999, writer-director Justin Kerrigan took a meagre budget and a cast of relative unknowns and made a cult film for the turn of the millennium. Sure, slice-of-life comedies were nothing new, even ones with the kind of absurd flights of fancy Kerrigan employed, but very little on the big screen this side of the Atlantic had shone a light on late-’90s club culture the way this did.

Still endlessly memed today, Human Traffic gave big boosts to the careers of both John Simm and Danny Dyer, and as we’ll be looking at the latter in more depth later in the series (watch this space), we’ve made this episode all about Simm. His TV career had been steadily building, and he’d made his breakthrough in the BBC sitcom Men of the World, starring opposite David Threlfall, which is the paired TV show for this episode.

Joining Guy and Rob to discuss Human Traffic is writer, producer, podcaster and the man with the best Christopher Walken impression in the business, Dan Thomas. Will Dan’s memories of an enjoyable romp hold up, or has it aged like one of Moff’s dodgy disco biscuits?

Men of the World - series 1 episode 1
https://youtu.be/79TddcShAJ4?si=PKcXYQBMetPOFpYl

Comic Strip Presents... - The Yob
https://youtu.be/2-o9TV1AGdk?si=ZNMmCJ-WWq8zklU5

John Simm in Spaced
https://youtu.be/QBiXW-W_V1Y?si=8Ahp_ewQaSgG2gOM

Daniel Peacock’s Cavegirl
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1HL4cgoAcA

Bill Hicks on Waco
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2EqZ4-enx8

Human Traffic trailer
https://youtu.be/PqY6eAro1QY?si=yZDfSzuHD-lTPf3u

Human Traffic - Nice one Bruva
https://youtu.be/qksndNDMDOw?si=rQ4vtWGi1GM0wVre

Human Traffic - Got any Jungle?
https://youtu.be/h5hnbUcJKP4?si=CnZpeisCYZgSzj3l
Part of the Film Stories Podcast Network: https://filmstories.co.uk/film-stories-podcast-network-shows/
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Now, we’ve dealt with small budgets in our time, but our film for episode two would give Powder Room a run for its money. In 2006, former stand-up comic Jamie Mathieson put pen to paper on his first film: a time-travel rom-com with nods to Alan Moore, Terry Pratchett and Back to the Future. But it took another three years for Frequently Asked Questions About Time Travel to make it to the big screen, and you can find out all about that journey in this episode.

Going it alone this time, Rob and Guy link FAQ About Time Travel to mid-noughties cult sitcom The Smoking Room, as both share a director, Gareth Carrivick. The two are stylistically similar, with a bottle-episode feel. The Smoking Room ran for two series on BBC Three and featured some of the most lauded comic actors around, including Robert Webb and Jeremy Swift, as well as giving a fresh showcase to classic sitcom stars like Paula Wilcox.

So join us as we jump back a decade from Fighting with My Family and do a conga in the toilet to “Total Eclipse of the Heart”!

The League of Gentlemen's Apocalypse with Jeremy Dyson tickets
https://www.scienceandmediamuseum.org.uk/cinema/league-gentlemens-apocalypse-15-jeremy-dyson

Anna Faris in Just Friends
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOV48dDK0aw

Drop It Like Its Close to Me
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FsIVMAsQPL4

Dame Edna on Cilla Black (This was meant for this ep, but I put it on the last one!)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmLaIrjjS_I

Bjork - Bachelerotte
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JNJv-Ebi67I

Allstars - Land of Make Believe
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2rtK8gyhrs

The Smoking Room - SE1 Ep1
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL0F8A0065462CF0DB

The Smoking Room - Barry’s Crossword
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hF4k72uUf2k

Johnny Briggs Theme
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rq212jZi1yk

Frequently Asked Questions About Time Travel - Trailer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBV340x3GcA

Frequently Asked Questions About Time Travel - Morrissey
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOr28eNTw_Q
Part of the Film Stories Podcast Network: https://filmstories.co.uk/film-stories-podcast-network-shows/
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We’re into our SEVENTH SERIES! It is hard to believe we’ve made it this far, but just as well, really, given the number of films we're still yet to cover. We begin this series with the heartwarming tale of a family, some with dodgy pasts, but all with a lovable lust for life.

The fighting Knights from Norfolk were the subject of a 2011 Channel 4 documentary when son Zak and daughter Saraya were on the cusp of hitting the big time as wrestlers, hoping to join the promised land of WWE. One made it; the other did not.

This documentary inspired arguably the most famous wrestler of all time, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, to retell the tale. Armed with the clout of WWE backing, a cast of BritCom stars, up-and-coming acting starlets, and already-legendary TV comedy writer/director Stephen Merchant, he hoped to transfer this real-life story to the big screen.
The last time we heard from Merchant on this podcast, things were beginning to become considerably less rosy with longtime collaborator Ricky Gervais, after their venture into the coming-of-age com Cemetery Junction was met with the lukest of lukewarm receptions in 2010. We pick up their tale again with their last TV stand as a partnership: the Warwick Davis vehicle Life’s Too Short, also from 2011.

Joining Rob and Guy for this one, all the way from The House of Splain, is confessed wrestling fan and Gervais... anti-fan Ben Baker. He helps our hosts make a bit more sense of the wrestling aspect of Fighting with My Family, which is the first film ever to be covered on BritCom Goes to the Movies that was adapted from a documentary.

We’ve had plenty of fun dissecting Mindhorn and Smashie and Nicey with fellow ’Splainer Ricardo Autobahn, so it seemed only fair to give his podcasting other half a crack at the whip!

Gervais, Merchant and Davis as Gervais, Crouch and Rooney
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDH8RKhwCkc
Life’s Too Short - Bookcase slapstick
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8OJiB2BGaoc
Jack Lowden Irn Bru ad
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5ocaypgRHM
Dame Edna Cilla Black
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmLaIrjjS_I
The Wrestlers: Fighting With My Family - Full Documentary
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2dlO_e_HhU&t=20s
Fighting With My Family Trailer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WqF3VTv0cqU
Fighting With My Family - My Dream Too
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_PPRNXd5yk
Part of the Film Stories Podcast Network: https://filmstories.co.uk/film-stories-podcast-network-shows/
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Finding funny stuff on ITV since the turn of the century has been an arduous task. So it was quite the surprise to the 19-year-old Rob and Guy that late night on a Wednesday, one of the new darlings of British comedy, Rob Brydon, could be found as alter ego Peter De Lane performing fake director’s commentary on such classic Granada TV shows as Flambards, Only When I Laugh, and Mr and Mrs! As well as, for some reason, the classic US western TV show Bonanza, for which Brydon’s production company owned the rights to 32 episodes. This is a forgotten Brydon Classic. Shortly after the success of Marion and Geoff and Human Remains, the BBC turned down the opportunity for Brydon’s latest venture with collaborator Paul Duddridge, so their loss was Granada’s gain, and it would serve the dual purpose of giving ITV a comedy vehicle with the man everyone wanted a piece of as well as reminding audiences of some of their back catalogue.
So for our second Rob Brydon-related round table episode, we’ve enlisted the help of two of our favourite former guests to make up a classic De Lane Four. Alison Dennison and Nina Buckley returned to discuss their love (in one case) and disdain (in the other) for a show that neither had previously remembered.
Join the four of us for a deep dive into the world of Peter De Lane, Denny Hall and Lord Cheggers of Oddbins, and we’ll also discuss our favourite real-life director's commentaries and lots more to boot.
Thanks as always to our payingest Patreon, Andrew Greenwood!
Eurovision 1977 - Stewart Morris Talkback
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XTgCLfYdRo4
Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg, Jessica Hynes and Quentin Tarantino director’s commentary on Spaced
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KWOQH76BZbQ
Mike Scully calls John Schwartzwelder on the Simpsons commentary
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MAWE0Kjn8ac&t=1s
Director’s Commentary - The Duchess of Duke Street
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXVB_tW_KXQ
Director’s Commentary - Flambards
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_Df03uATMM
Grace Jones at the Golden Jubilee
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kIicwZrkEhY&list=RDkIicwZrkEhY&start_radio=1
The Staggering Stories of Ferdinand De Burgos
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v37TG6uG3c

Part of the Film Stories Podcast Network: https://filmstories.co.uk/film-stories-podcast-network-shows/
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.