This month on BBC America
A Very Peculiar Practice * Fawlty Towers * The High Life * House of Cards * Vicar of
Dibley (+ French and Saunders)
Changing Rooms *Ground Force * House Detectives
Battle of the Britcoms I
May is looking to be a terrific month on BBC America with the addition to the line up of some all-time classic telly programs.
Peter Davison (All Creatures Great and Small,Dr. Who) stars as Dr. Stephen Daker, an idealistic young medical man who finds life at the University Medical Practice to be a bit more competitive than he bargained for in 1986's satirical Comic drama A Very Peculiar Practice. Also appearing to fine effect are John Bird and David Troughton.Knowingly scribed by Andrew Davies (Consuming Passions,Middlemarch, Emma) and directed by David Tucker (Bramwell) A Very Peculiar Practice begins airing May 12
As our Battle of the Britcoms voting winds down it's no surprise that Fawlty
Towers maintains a strong lead over its competition. There's little doubt that
the John Cleese / Connie Booth comedy is one of the all time greats and
BBC America is dedicating the weekend of the 15th to showing the complete two season run.
If you've not seen the show, or have missed a few episodes, here's the perfect opportunity
to catch up with, arguably, the funniest TV series ever made.
*Weblink:Fawlty Towers
- Unofficial Guide
The High Life may be better described as a Scot-com, coming from the
land Pipers and Haggis as it does, but it's every bit as funny as its British
counterparts. Alan Cummings (Bernard and the Genie) stars as an Airline
steward in this very wacky, highly camp and extremely enjoyable series airing on BBC
America starting May 20th. Cummings has since evolved into one of the better actors of
his generation, most recently bringing the house down in the highly successful London and
Broadway revival of Cabaret.
*Weblink:Alan
Cummings
One of the most memorable series to come out of Britain in the '80s was Ken Riddington (prod.) and Paul Seed's (dir.) adaptation of Michael Dobbs' novel House of the Cards. Set in the all-too-near future, and originally airing as the Thatcher years came to a messy end, House of Cards tells the story of Machiavellian Tory Chief Whip Francis Urquhart (played with venomous precision by the always outstanding Ian Richardson), a man whose ambition knows no bounds and who is willing to do anything, and I do mean anything, in his obsessive quest to become Prime Minister. House of Cards is a deliciously malevolent political satire that twists and turns enough from established formulas to keep you riveted to the screen. Also highly recommended are
