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"Budgie" More at IMDbPro »

20 out of 20 people found the following review useful:
Probably the finest TV drama ever!, 22 September 2006

Author: lee nicholson (dolemite72) from middlesbrough, UK

Budgie (or 'The Loser', as it was originally intended to be called) was a big hit with audiences back in 1971/2. It gave 60's songster Adam Faith, another chance at stardom, and led him on an interesting career as an actor. The show highlighted a certain (jailbird/chancer/petty thief/lovable rogue) Ronald 'Budgie' Bird, and his frequent (yet never successful) attempts to make 'easy' money. His futile attempts are also thwarted, due to his connection with Glasweigan sex shop owner/crime boss Charlie Endell (played brilliantly by Iain Cuthbertson) who constantly hangs over Budgie, depriving him of any earnings, and always coming out on top. His henchman, Laughing Spam Fritter (great name) is also menacingly portrayed by John Rhys-Davies. Given Endells questionable background, yet his (seemingly) respectable 'public' facade, the series has a lot to say about class system (or at very least, the idea of a class system) than it does about petty crime in the seventies. Budgie is not without redeeming features, and the one good thing in his life, is (his ever put upon girl-fiend/mother of his child) Hazell (another great down to earth performance by Lynne Dalby.) She constantly stands by her man (even when he seemingly leaves her for other women) yet receives little or no thanks for her endeavours. The show (in it's 26 episode run, in 2 series) covers a lot of ground, and also features some great guest cameos (including: John Thaw, Gordon Jackson, Derek Jacobi and James Bolam, to name but a few) Some (if not most) times this show has a certain comedic flow to it, yet other times, it takes on a darker sinister edge (mostly due to the sometime psychotic rages of Charlie Endell) but all in all, it's not only a great seventies time capsule, but (still to this very day) a highly moving and involving television show, that was long overdue a repeat in the UK (it's last and only repeat, being on Channel 4 circa 1985) but it seems the great minds at Network DVD have put together a excellent release of series 1 & 2 (Series two, also has some great special features)

Highlights from series one are: Out, Grandee Hotel, Everybody Loves A Baby, Sunset Mansions.

Highlights from series two are: And The Lord Taketh Away, Do Me A Favour, Twenty-Four Thousand Ball Point Pens, King For A day, Brief Encounter, Run Rabbit, Run Rabbit, Run, Run, Run

All in all, a great series. Hopefully Network DVD can release the rarely seen 1979 spin off 'Charlie Endell Esq' in the near future?

10 out of 10 (and surprisingly, the first comment, on this great show)

4 out of 4 people found the following review useful:
"You've Stood For It Again, Budge.", 21 January 2007

Author: ShadeGrenade from Ambrosia

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

When 'Budgie' was repeated by Channel 4 in the mid-80's, a disgruntled viewer complained: "Blimey! They've copied 'Minder!". He was wrong, of course. 'Minder' debuted on I.T.V. in 1979, a good seven years after 'Budgie' ended. But it was easy to see why he made the mistake, as the two shows are very similar.

'Budgie' tells the story of Ronald 'Budgie' Bird, a small-time Cockney thief who dreams of making easy money without having to do anything drastic - such as working for a living. Most of his 'jobs' take him within the orbit of Charles Endell, a kind of Glaswegian Al Capone, with whom he has an uneasy relationship. Budgie lives with model Hazel Fletcher, and their son Howard. He uses her as a doormat most of the time, but she stands by him no matter what.

Each week, Budgie came up with what he thought was a surefire way of making 'readies', such as acquiring bootleg trading stamps, crates of ballpoint pens, and pornographic books, harbouring illegal immigrants, hijacking delivery vans, and even a prize greyhound called 'Glory Of Fulham'. But his schemes fail - either because he has trusted the wrong people, or not thought things through properly. For instance, his trading stamp scam collapses when Charlie points out a flaw that a twelve year old would have spotted.

Looking at 'Budgie' now its hard not to be reminded of not only 'Minder' but 'Only Fools & Horses'. Like Delboy Trotter, Budgie is an incorrigible rogue. Few people have written for television as well as Keith Waterhouse and Willis Hall ( although two episodes were penned by Douglas Livingstone ). Some of the stories may seem a little slow by modern standards, but this was how all shows were made then.

Adam Faith is simply brilliant as 'Budgie', oozing charisma and charm ( who says pop stars can't act? ) as is Iain Cuthbertson as 'Charlie' ( later to acquire a spin-off series of his own ). Lynn Dalby, whilst not the world's greatest actress, nevertheless evokes sympathy as Hazel, and guest-stars included Gordon Jackson, Alfie Bass, Kenneth Cranham, John Rhys-Davies, Jack Shepherd, John Thaw and Derek Jacobi. Georgina Hale is also impressive as Budgie's promiscuous wife Jean.

'Budgie' was a big hit, and could easily have run to another season, but Faith wanted to end it on a high. It did - the final episode is incredibly moving. He later revived the character on stage in the '80's, with Anita Dobson replacing Lynn Dalby as 'Hazel'.

Now that the series is out on D.V.D., I hope it attracts a new audience, if only to see what Britain in the '70's was really like. Forget 'Life On Mars' - this is the real thing.

By turns funny, dramatic, and tragic, 'Budgie' is British television at its best - it set a standard that wouldn't be matched until 1983 and the arrival of 'Auf Wiedershen, Pet'.

1 out of 1 people found the following review useful:
''There are two things I hate in this world, Budgie. You are both of them!'', 31 August 2011

Author: Bullet-91 from Edinburgh, Scotland

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

Lovable rogues on television have always proved popular down the years. We had Ronnie Barker's 'Norman Stanley Fletcher' in Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais' 'Porridge', David Jason's 'Del Boy Trotter' from John Sullivan's 'Only Fools & Horses', Peter Bowles' 'Howard Booth' from Eric Chappell's 'The Bounder' and of course, before any of those, we had Adam Faith's 'Ronald 'Budgie' Bird' in Keith Waterhouse and Willis Hall's wonderful LWT drama series 'Budgie'.

Faith was previously an established singer who had notched up various No. 1 hits such as 'What Do You Want If You Don't Want Money' ( my favourite ) and 'Someone Else's Baby'. When the likes of The Beatles ( a group I have never cared for ) came along, Adam found himself becoming less popular in music circles so later branched into acting. The door then opened for 'Budgie'.

The show kicks off with fly-by-night Cockney Ronald Bird being released from H.M.S prison. No sooner than he is released from Her Majesty's Pleasure he gets back up to his old tricks. As he is not the brightest ( if his brain were made of chocolate, it couldn't even fill a smartie ), his 'get rich quick' schemes inevitably go wrong and either he, or the unwitting dupe daft enough to embroil in his misdemeanours end up in serious trouble.

Budgie works for Glaswegian crook 'Charles Endell', owner of a huge business empire ( nightclubs, sex shops etc ). Endell is cleverer than Budgie by far and on quite a few occasions has displayed a rather humane, gentle side of his nature, such as helping Budgie out of financial problems. Though he also at times goes out of his way to make Budgie suffer.

Budgie, despite being married to 'Jean', lives mostly with his girlfriend 'Hazel Fletcher', who he has an illegitimate son with. Despite his shady treatment of her, Hazel stands by Budgie no matter what.

'Budgie' contained both moments of tragedy and comedy and for my money was one of the best television shows of the period, alongside 'Callan', 'Doomwatch' and 'On The Buses'. As the mean-spirited Budgie, Adam Faith was simply outstanding. Iain Cuthbertson proved so popular that his character was later given his own spin-off for Scottish Television entitled 'Charles Endell Esquire'. Particularly impressive is Lynn Dalby as Budgie's long suffering 'burd' Hazel. You often had to wonder why she never ditched Budgie and went off to find someone more responsible and caring, but there you go.

Two series were made. A third was planned but the project was dropped when Adam Faith suffered a severe injury courtesy of a car accident and by the time he recovered the powers-that-be decided not to renew the show again. In the late '80's, Faith revived the character on stage. The original cast were retained, save for Lynn Dalby, who was replaced by 'EastEnders' star Anita Dobson.

Brilliant show, certainly worthy of a 10/10. Let's just hope the remake brigade just do the decent thing and leave the show as it is.

Budgie Brilliance, 23 March 2012

Author: PosteLafayetteGav from Mauritius

Budgie is the greatest TV drama of all time. Brilliant scripts, brilliant characters, brilliant performances and all with so much charm. Adam Faith is wonderful as Budgie Bird, small time petty criminal, but a charmer too and there is a career best by Iain Cuthbertson as Charlie Endell, probably my favourite TV character of all time. Series 1 highlight is the Grandee Hotel with several guest stars including Peter Sallis while Series 2 is packed with great episodes. The very sexy Georgina Hale as Budgie's wife and the excellent Lynn Dalby as Budgie's lover add to the charm. Keith Waterhouse wrote some great stories to be played out here. It is a standout show and fully merits 10 out of 10.

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