"Whoops Apocalypse" (1982) TV series

User Rating:

7.5/10   

Seasons:

1

Release Date:

14 March 1982 (UK)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

Wear your mushroom with pride.

Plot:

A light-hearted look at the final week before doomsday. American President Johnny Cyclops is trying...

Plot Keywords:

Terrorist | Election | Superman | Religious Fanatic | SAS

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Barry Morse	...	President Johnny Cyclops (5 episodes, 1982)
John Barron	...	The Deacon (5 episodes, 1982)
Ed Bishop	...	Jay Garrick (5 episodes, 1982)
Alexei Sayle	...	Commisar Solzhenitsyn (4 episodes, 1982)
Bruce Montague	...	Shah Mashiq Rassim (4 episodes, 1982)
Geoffrey Palmer	...	Foreign Secretary (3 episodes, 1982)
Richard Davies	...	Chancellor of the Exchecquer (3 episodes, 1982)
Peter Jones	...	Kevin Pork (3 episodes, 1982)
John Barrard	...	Jonathon Hopper (2 episodes, 1982)
George Claydon	...	Admiral Blinsky / ... (2 episodes, 1982)
Frank Duncan	...	Dripfeed, Politburo Member / ... (2 episodes, 1982)
Nellie Hanham	...	Martha Hopper (2 episodes, 1982)
Lou Hirsch	...	Jed Grodd (2 episodes, 1982)
Gabor Vernon	...	Politburo Member / ... (2 episodes, 1982)
Sarah Whitlock	...	Dubienkin's Secretary (2 episodes, 1982)

Runtime:

30 min (6 episodes)

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Mono

Company:

London Weekend Television (LWT)

Quotes:

Jay Garrick: I'm Jay Garrick, but for how much longer?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Comedy Connections: One Foot in the Grave (#5.1)" (2007)

"If the Lord had meant us not to panic, he wouldn't have given us clean trousers!"

This is a real rarity from the early eighties when the 'alternative' comedy boom still had a strong satirical element and had yet to degenerate into juvenile playground humour. Andrew Marshall and David Renwick, the authors of this brilliant series, were obviously both very interested in - and experts at - the fine art of subverting television from within, and WHOOPS is rooted in the tradition of their early work with Spike Milligan and the little-known ITV series END OF PART ONE in that it contains beautifully observed and often startling spoofs on all aspects of television presentation (the inane underwear commercial that pops up in the middle of a serious news bulletin is my favourite, but the topless newsreader is equally hard to forget) that are all the more memorable for being placed within the context of an essentially 'serious' sitcom. The series is a manic, frantically surreal, extremely anarchic and very busy black satire on international politics, presenting a world not far removed from reality in which the President is a former B-movie actor, the British PM is insane, the Russian premier keeps dying and being replaced by lookalikes, international terrorists create ingenious havoc wherever they roam and diplomatic incidents threaten global unity apparently every ten seconds. It's also a world where a malfunctioning Space Invaders machine can trigger a nuclear alert, so that should give you some idea of just how wacked-out and deranged the satire we're discussing here really is.

Although obviously quickly made on a very tight budget and decades ahead of its time (television still hasn't really caught up with the breakneck pace of this show), WHOOPS is a memorable experience that really deserves a DVD release and a long overdue critical reappraisal. The crowning jewel of the series is undoubtedly the brilliant casting, as it's full of instantly recognizable faces, such as Geoffrey Palmer, the "I didn't get where I am today" boss from the REGINALD PERRIN series, Mr Price from PLEASE SIR, Mr O'Rielly from FAWLTY TOWERS, Alexei Sayle (in a startling wig), Richard Griffiths of WITHNAIL AND I fame, Leonard from BUTTERFLIES and countless others. This is very hard to find, but a couple of videotapes exist, so good luck in tracking them down! A feature film version was made in 1986 that's also worth checking out, even if it's a pale imitation of the lunatic heights scaled by the original series.