Frankie Howerd: Rather You Than Me (TV 2008)

In the 1950s Frankie Howerd, the famous radio and film comedian, meets a young waiter Dennis Heymer, who,like himself,is a closet homosexual. Their relationship blossoms into a partnership,... See full summary »

Director:

John Alexander

Writer:

Peter Harness

Stars:

David Walliams, Rafe Spall, Peter Sandys-Clarke

1 win.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
David Walliams	...	Frankie Howerd
Rafe Spall	...	Dennis Heymer
Peter Sandys-Clarke	...	Sheridan
Sally Leonard	...	Jane
Paul Anderson	...	Roger
Benedict Martin	...	Gunman
Melanie Hill	...	Ruth
Dilys Laye	...	Edith Howerd
Jeffrey S. Perry	...	Director (as Jeffrey Perry)
Chris New	...	Rent Boy
Peter Harness	...	Promoter
Paul Courtenay Hyu	...	Dr. Ling (as Paul Courtenay-Hyu)
Jake Maskall	...	Don
David Reed	...	Peter Cook
Tom Allen	...	Lighting Technician

Storyline

In the 1950s Frankie Howerd, the famous radio and film comedian, meets a young waiter Dennis Heymer, who,like himself,is a closet homosexual. Their relationship blossoms into a partnership, rather than a purely sexual one, and Dennis becomes Frankie's manager. By the early 1960s however things are looking bleak for Frankie. He has lost popularity with mainstream audiences and suffered a nervous breakdown.He is full of self hatred about his appearance - he wears a wig - and his homosexuality, putting huge stress on his relationship with Dennis. Matters are not helped by the death of Frankie's mother Edith. However, Frankie is able to reinvent himself as a satirical comedian, with a gig at Peter Cook's Establishment Club and his fortunes soar,with successful television comedies and a well-publicised appearance at the Oxford Union.

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Plot Keywords:

wig | homosexual | chat up line | oxford university | childhood sexual abuse | 

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Genres:

Biography

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Details

Official Sites:

BBC [uk] BBC Four [uk]

Country:

UK

Release Date:

9 April 2008 (UK)

Filming Locations:

London, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

BBC Drama Group

Technical Specs

Runtime:

60 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Made as one of a four-part season "The Curse of Comedy" on BBC Four, though not billed on-screen with this series title. The other three films in the series were The Curse of Steptoe, Hancock & Joan and Hughie Green, Most Sincerely.

User Reviews

Disappointing

This programme only serves as a kick in the backside to the memory of Frankie Howerd. In this he's portrayed as the most boring person to ever walk the face of the planet, albeit via a pretty decent impression by David Walliams. Good actor, crap script.

If you want to see an inaccurate story (I use the term story very loosely) of a comedy legend interlaced with a load of pointless homo-erotic scenes and watch a pretty good impression of Frankie Howard but doing the worlds unfunniest stand up routines then this is for you. Personally I think its an insult to Mr Howerds memory. He may have been a depressive and he may have been homosexual but if you're going to devote an entire show to Just those two aspects of him and exaggerate them massively, at least have the decency to have some sort of story to it.

It starts , plods along and ends. I finished watching it not two minutes ago and couldn't tell you what it was about! Shame really, because Walliams voice and demeanour were perfect, Rafe Spall's acting was excellent, everything else about the film was not.