Had to review this series. I'd completely forgotten its existence until a friend of mine reminded me and considering we hadn't watched it in 9 years or so it was amazing how many amazing scenes we managed to reminisce about! As has been said this series is the obvious precursor to the Office and arguably the first comedy mocumentary. Thats why i feel they added the laughter track, this series was so far ahead of the game that i think people might not have realised it was a comedy at first glance. to my knowledge no other program had tried what they had tried in a comedy context to i think the laughter track was added as a safety net
as for the series itself, amazing i couldn't recommend it enough. It can be quiet slow paced but often the jokes are building up to something, somebody might say something and you might not even notice what was said then 20 minutes later its all revealed in an elaborate set up! very well made TV show considering its 11 years old!
memorable episodes for me are when the royal family visits and beach kicks dog poo everywhere and smoke grenades the queen. The episode with inspector Terra Blanche (named after a famous south African racist which should give you an idea of his racial supremacy ideals!) who has them dressing up in less than politically correct outfits during community outreach programs. The episode set on the desert island that sends up the BBC programs of the day where beach goes insane and thinks he see's the dragon. my personal favourite has to be the Christmas extravaganza where they set up a BBC Christmas special in the vain of the old variety shows you used to get, finishing off with a musical number except they cant find any fake snow, so they use the cocaine from the recent drugs bust with hilarious results! (the faces of the gurning is just so amazing!)
all in all a classic that i can keep going back too it gets funnier and funnier. the accents wont be hard for Americans to deal with either and its well worth checking out
10/10
as for the series itself, amazing i couldn't recommend it enough. It can be quiet slow paced but often the jokes are building up to something, somebody might say something and you might not even notice what was said then 20 minutes later its all revealed in an elaborate set up! very well made TV show considering its 11 years old!
memorable episodes for me are when the royal family visits and beach kicks dog poo everywhere and smoke grenades the queen. The episode with inspector Terra Blanche (named after a famous south African racist which should give you an idea of his racial supremacy ideals!) who has them dressing up in less than politically correct outfits during community outreach programs. The episode set on the desert island that sends up the BBC programs of the day where beach goes insane and thinks he see's the dragon. my personal favourite has to be the Christmas extravaganza where they set up a BBC Christmas special in the vain of the old variety shows you used to get, finishing off with a musical number except they cant find any fake snow, so they use the cocaine from the recent drugs bust with hilarious results! (the faces of the gurning is just so amazing!)
all in all a classic that i can keep going back too it gets funnier and funnier. the accents wont be hard for Americans to deal with either and its well worth checking out
10/10