Dr. Terrible's House of Horrible

Great stuff. The parodies are spot on, and with a class cast, this makes for a far more subtle vignette than can be seen at first glance. If you are an 'appreciater' of the late 60s, early 70s Hammer films (often with either Mr Lee or Mr Cushing), you should find much in this to enjoy. Of course Steve Coogan hams it up, but why else are you watching it? It's a little telling when you realise that it's no less ridiculous than the films it is sending up, and Dr Terrible is always a source of mirth.

I have not seen all the episodes, but the ones I have often encapsulate a whole sub-genre within the horror theme. There is only the one series, and it is a shame the BBC (once more) didn't have strength of character enough to commission more.

The title tells it all - and the series lives up to it admirably. It's the sort of thing you will like, if you like this sort of thing.

This show is so funny and well written.

The jokes are so obviously but the audiences don't actually expect them thus resulting in laughter once said, one that would stick with me is 'I kicked her head in...the fire'

This is one of Steve Coogans best bits.

Like many other TV shows however, it has its bad bits, but the hilarity of the show and the plots will let make you forget about that in no time soon!

At least give it a try, it's like one of those things which you need to watch, just to say you have seen a classic piece of comedy, especially because of Coogan in his prime!

When I first heard about Dr. Terrible's House of Horrible I remember being pretty excited. Not only was this the latest Steve Coogan vehicle but it also was basing itself around old British horror movies that I was very fond of. Unfortunately the idea was greater than the execution and the series didn't attract the predicted audience figures and was not recommissioned for a second season. It's a shame that the series wasn't better, as the potential in the idea is so obvious, while the cast used throughout is really very impressive. It also has pretty decent production values with some fine period detail in all the instalments. The biggest single issue is with the writing, as despite being a comedy it really isn't very funny too often and some of the story lines are handled in quite a clunky manner.

The three studios synonymous with British horror of the 60's and 70's are spoofed, namely Hammer, Amicus and Tigon. The entries focusing on the latter two are probably the best instalments in the whole series. 'And Now the Fearing' mimics the horror anthology series specialised by Amicus and unlike the others is set in more modern times in the early 1970's, so it really stands out from the other instalments on that basis alone. 'Scream Satan Scream' is the final episode and it parodies the 17th century-set Tigon horror films, most obviously Witchfinder General (1968). In it, Coogan plays probably his most well-conceived character - the sleazy Captain Tobias Slater, Witch Locator. The remaining episodes, however, aren't as good as these and overall are at best somewhat middling. Overall, I enjoyed the series up to a point, in that I like the concept of it and it is certainly good in places but its not essential stuff really and would probably have been more enjoyable if more care had been taken with the writing.

I've only seen the last episode of this series, "Scream Satan Scream!", but I have to say it was rather good. It wasn't laugh out loud funny, but neither was Alan Partridge. In fact, Captain Tobias Slater is one of the best characters I've seen Coogan play. He is a really nasty piece of work. As for Dr Terrible himself (or should that be itself?), it's hard to believe that is Coogan under all that. It would be a shame if there isn't another series of "Dr Terrible", since it would appear to be the best vehicle yet for Coogan's versatility.

I quite liked DHHT. I picks up motives from popular horror films and turns them into spoofs. So one has to bear in mind that it's a different concept from Allan Partridge and also a complete different kind of humour. It certainly beats Carry on Screaming. Anyway, the writers really have a very good knowledge of the classic English horror film and portray it very lovingly with a lot of detail. That clearly shows in the quality of the sets, the costumes etc. Although funny it's never disrespectful. The stories are absurd but they work quite well as opposed to being just a series of one liners. That's difficult to achieve with a genre parody. It's also quite comprehensive in taking on all aspects of the horror film. So if you're a Hammer fan you'll enjoy this. If you're looking for "typical" Coogan, forget it. BTW: Honor Blackmann still cuts a nice figure at well over 70.