Britcom Goes To The Movies

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.

Episode two of BritPOP Goes to the Movies sees Guy and Rob joined by Catrin Lowe to discuss Spice World: The Movie. Kim Fuller, brother of the mogul behind the Spice Girls, Simon Fuller, wanted to make a genuine homage to our previous film A Hard Day's Night, and to do that he wanted to make this just as cynical and rich with meta-textual, self-referential craziness. Cramming in celebrity cameos (too many for his script editor) and musical set-pieces.
Spice World certainly had that and a whole lot more. The film was put in motion before the five-piece had properly blown up worldwide, but by the time shooting had wrapped, they were truly a worldwide sensation. This movie broke all kinds of box-office records; despite being critically panned, it now sits as the most financially successful film about a real pop group ever.
To believe the critics' initial reaction would do this subversive, bonkers and surprisingly well-acted film a disservice. Yes, there's the odd "what the hell were you thinking?!" moment, but for every Michael Barrymore and Gary Glitter (yes, Gary Glitter!) there's an Alan Cumming and Bob Hoskins.
Sit back and listen to the gang wax lyrical and get all nostalgic about the era of Spice. With clear dividing lines about what the Spice Girls meant to their teenage girl and teenage boy fan clubs! There's even a little inside scoop from a familiar voice who appeared in the movie. So Stop! Say you’ll be there with us for a cracking episode that hopefully you won’t find Too Much…
…..Goodbye!
Spice Girls - Wannabe
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJLIiF15wjQ
Spice Girls - Say You'll Be There
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ro0FW9Qt-4
Spice Girls - Too Much on Top of the Pops
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1iyQBxSbvqg
Spice World - Teaser Trailer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1Ne8oBpQQY
Spice World - American Trailer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BmSBtOHzGPM
Spice World Aliens
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yzxxc5KnBOE
Spice World - Boy in coma
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_8fYanJk88
Peter Sissons on Ann Robinson
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7PuKPiTT_4
Geri - A Film By Molly Dineen
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8bnx0YcFBo
Spice World - Gary Glitter deleted scene
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jYRHoQP75-g
Loaded: Lads, Mags and Mayhem
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PbAWc_pQDjk
All Spice Girls Adverts
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zw54uEniaZg
Waynes World - Sponsor
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KjB6r-HDDI0

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.

To round off our BritPop Goes to the Movies mini-series, we jump to 2006, a simpler time when fledgling British pop-rockers McFly and their management could force themselves on an unsuspecting Hollywood. Lindsay Lohan (at the height of her fame) and Chris Pine (who Rob would argue is the best of the Chrises) on the come-up, star in an all-American, by-the-numbers romcom, which was sold in this country largely based on the already successful McFly's appearance. However, in America, Tom, Dougie, Harry and Danny were complete unknowns, and this was their only shot to crack the US market.
This film differs in many ways from the previous two in the series, not least because it is a fully American production, but also because the band is very much the B-plot to a high-concept convolution in which Lohan and Pine continue to switch luck and status. There's still plenty of British pop music in it, though. Lots of McFly tracks but a lot of repetition of Five Colours in Her Hair.
Joining Guy and Rob is fellow Film Stories Podcast Network host Dev Elson of Chucky Vision and At The Movies in the Noughties. He did more than his fair share of superfluous research by listening to every McFly album. Is this film as bad as we are making it sound, though? Well, you’ll just have to finish the trilogy to find out.
Five Colours In Her Hair - McFly
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h76uVRSJ5bc
Obviously - McFly
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JiyF3K7hFqM
Harry Judd Wins Strictly
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wb_s2RHVBdY
Chris Pine in Smokin' Aces
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-tGV96ceBM&t=148s
Chris Pine - The Otley Run
https://x.com/CapitalOfficial/status/1641409178387324934
Just My Luck Trailer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ClDQ4SLDDOw
Just My Luck - Central Park Scene
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZz6l8MCFFY

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.