I remember watching this with the whole family, when I was still very young. We would laugh our heads off - it's that funny.
The various adventures of Edgar Briggs tend to follow a strictly codified scheme. It goes like this : Briggs, who is self-absorbed, smug and stupid, succeeds in causing general chaos. He shows up at the wrong place or hour, messes up meetings, loses key documents, wrecks expensive hotel suites, insults inoffensive colleagues, angers monarchs and ambassadors, and so on. However, luck smiles upon him, meaning that his bumbling (or a happy coincidence) results in saving both his job and his reputation as an ace agent. Thus surrounded by undeserved credibility, he is ready for another round of grievous professional incompetence - and lather, rinse, repeat.
This could become annoying very soon. However, the gags and jokes (most of them good) follow each other hard and fast, and David Jason gives a superb lead performance. He is supported by a prize cast of actors, all of whom deserve immortal laurels for their ability to keep a straight face amidst the lunacy. The series gets even funnier if the viewer is familiar with the tropes and stereotypes used in movies about espionage, especially Cold War espionage, or about the tension between West- and East-Germany.
A potent antidote to worrying and moping.
The various adventures of Edgar Briggs tend to follow a strictly codified scheme. It goes like this : Briggs, who is self-absorbed, smug and stupid, succeeds in causing general chaos. He shows up at the wrong place or hour, messes up meetings, loses key documents, wrecks expensive hotel suites, insults inoffensive colleagues, angers monarchs and ambassadors, and so on. However, luck smiles upon him, meaning that his bumbling (or a happy coincidence) results in saving both his job and his reputation as an ace agent. Thus surrounded by undeserved credibility, he is ready for another round of grievous professional incompetence - and lather, rinse, repeat.
This could become annoying very soon. However, the gags and jokes (most of them good) follow each other hard and fast, and David Jason gives a superb lead performance. He is supported by a prize cast of actors, all of whom deserve immortal laurels for their ability to keep a straight face amidst the lunacy. The series gets even funnier if the viewer is familiar with the tropes and stereotypes used in movies about espionage, especially Cold War espionage, or about the tension between West- and East-Germany.
A potent antidote to worrying and moping.