Episode #4.6 (8 Mar. 1982)

Director:

Geoff Posner

Writers:

Laurie Rowley, Richard Curtis,

Stars:

Rowan Atkinson, Mel Smith, Griff Rhys Jones

Cast

Episode credited cast:
Rowan Atkinson	...	Various Roles
Mel Smith	...	Various Roles
Griff Rhys Jones	...	Various Roles
Pamela Stephenson	...	Various Roles
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Richard Davies	...	Clive Jenkins

Storyline

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Genres:

Comedy

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Details

Release Date:

8 March 1982 (UK)

Company Credits

Did You Know?

Quotes

Man: [abusing a man with glasses] Oi! You must have pretty good eyesight to see through those glasses
Spectacle man: What's it to you?
Man: Well, you won't be needing them anymore, will you?
[takes off the man's glasses and throws them to the ground, crunching them underfoot]
Spectacle man: You shouldn't have done that
Man: Oh yeah? Why's that?
Spectacle man: You're not wearing any shoes

User Reviews

Time's Up For 'Not The Nine O'Clock News'

Following a gap year, 'Not The Nine O'Clock News' returned in 1982 for a fourth and final series. Unfortunately, as happened with 'Monty Python', it lost its edge completely, and disappointed the fans.

Knowing fully well there was unlikely to be a fifth season, the team decided to go for broke with their very last show. It managed to be more offensive than the earlier editions combined, containing just about every dirty joke imaginable.

Following filmed shots ( presumably taken from a wildlife programme ) of animals copulating, we were treated to the sight of Mel Smith and Griff Rhys Jones as 'The Two Ninnies', obviously based on 'The Two Ronnies'. This was no affectionate send-up; genuine hatred for the Barker and Corbett show was on display here. The opening mock news item was guyed, as was the closing song. Dressed as beefeaters, the Ninnies sang a crass ditty that included references to female genitalia. It now seems ironic that Smith and Jones once sneered at other comics for sticking to tried and tested routines, as they did the same thing when they resurrected their famous head-to-head skits in 2006's 'The Smith & Jones Sketchbook'. Ronnie Barker was allegedly upset by the item, and it is not surprising. Aside from being unfair, it was not particularly original ( Jasper Carrott did a much better spoof on 'Carrott's Lib', called 'The Two Normans' ) or funny.

Next up was a pub sketch in which Mel Smith orders a salad and is shocked to find a caterpillar amongst the lettuce. When he complains to landlord Griff Rhys Jones, he gets the reply: "Well, you did order the pub grub!". That kind of joke is funny only after a few beers.

Worse was to come. The series bowed out with a song allegedly entitled 'Kinda Lingers', but you did not need to be a lip reader to see that what they were actually singing was 'cunnilingus'. Shocking stuff at the time. Afterwards, a light was switched off, and the 'Not The Nine O'Clock News' universe was plunged into eternal darkness.

There was outrage when this first went out. Not just because of the smutty humour, but that desperation was all-too evident, as though the producers were openly admitting the rest of the fourth series had been a failure. Compare this to the finale of the first season of 'Spitting Image' ( it concluded with the superb 'Every Job You Take' ), and you will see the difference.

As a fan of this series, I felt that this was not the best way for it to end. It was as though they had gathered together all the rejected ideas from the earlier shows and stuffed them in one programme.

Fortunately, the end of 'Not' left the cast free to do other ( better ) things, namely 'Alas Smith & Jones' and 'The Black Adder'.