I don’t think it was the lack of Rik Mayall (understudy Mike Sherman doing a good job in his place), but the stage production doesn’t seem to have the sharpness of the original series, and it is not alone in demonstrating how most Blair-era satire is already showing its age, with tired references to “war for oil” and New-vs-Old Labour observations. The dialogue, though, had clearly been updated for this week’s events. Some of the humour was more slapstick, but it got plenty of laughs nonetheless. Laurence Marks and Maurice Gran have a well earned reputation in British comedy and drama, and one can’t be expected to like everything they’ve produced, so this is all merely IMHO.
Interesting, though, was something I read in the programme. Documenting Marks’ & Gran’s career, reference was made to their appearance at the MacTaggart lectures at the Edinburgh Television Festival in August 1997, where they laid into the BBC and “demolished the case for the licence fee”. I had missed the coverage at the time, but what they proposed was replacing the compulsory pay-up-or-go-to-prison licence fee with a voluntary subscription of £10 a month.
Bob Phillis, deputy director-general of the BBC, replied at the time, “just think of the millions who can’t afford a licence fee of £120 a year”. OK, I’m thinking … but bear in mind I’m not too worried about those who can’t afford the Sky subscription either (at least, not about their limited choice of TV channels). Remember, we’re not talking about access to A&E treatment or the Fire Brigade here.
The following week Marks’ & Gran’s BBC parking privileges were removed.
The good work of the people at Biased BBC hadn’t yet begun in 1997, but I’m sure they might have had something to say about it.
