Citizen Smith (TV Series) Bigger Than Guy Fawkes (1980) User Reviews

Bigger Than Guy Fawkes

[Prismark10 · 7/10 · 19 August 2021]

The fourth series opens with Wolfie and the lads in an open prison.

That does not stop Speed trying to dig an escape tunnel.

However early release is on the horizon. Benny Saltzberg is the showbix impresario who is going to make Wolfie a star.

Before long Wolfie, Ken, Speed and Tucker are out of prison and into a swanky hotel suite.

All Wolfie has to do is sing the songs someone else has written. Let the ghost writer scribe his life story and memorise the anecdotes for press interviews.

Unfortunately Wolfie has his own idea. That does not mean being a Woody Guthrie type. He also comes across as a buffoon when giving interviews.

It was nice to see Wolfie adapt so well with the life of the bourgeoisie. Ken has to give £5 tips to all and sundry.

When Charlie leans just how much Wolfie might be earning, he offers to become their personal manager despite previously hating his horrible singing.

A good start to the final series. Once again Wolfie is the author of his own misfortune because he thinks he knows better.

I'm gonna make you a star!

[ShadeGrenade · 9/10 · 4 June 2010]

Following their failed attempt to take over the country, Wolfie and the rest of the T.P.F. are charged with treason and spend the next year in an open prison. Ken likes it there. They get a visit from Benny Saltzberg ( Arnold Diamond ), showbiz impresario, who wants to exploit Wolfie's notoriety by turning him into a celebrity. Wolfie jumps at the chance. On release, the lads move into a swank hotel. There is just one catch - Saltzburg does not want Wolfie actually singing his own songs, or writing his own books. The self-styled 'people's man' is in effect to become a puppet with capitalist Saltzburg pulling the strings...

'The Revolution Is Back!' says the slogan on Tucker's van in the opening credits of this fourth and final series. Indeed it was. This episode begins well with the lads in prison ( and Wolfie annoying the hell out of them by singing his awful protest songs ), but the later part in the hotel room drags a bit. We see little of Wolfie making his bid for stardom, apart from a brief clip of him being interviewed by Valerie Singleton ( presumably for 'Nationwide', which still would have been running then ). Charlie and Florence appear, the former offering to become Wolfie's manager despite openly despising him in the past. Interesting to see that people were worshipping the cult of 'celebrity' even thirty years ago.

Funniest moment - Wolfie unveiling his new hairstyle, which makes him look less like Karl Marx and more like Harpo ( needless to say, its gone by the time of the next episode ).