Simon Callow opened tonight in a new 3-part exclusive TV drama for Gold about a cantankerous 70-year old 1960s mod who decides to exercise his right to rebel after the death of his wife.
The series is actually based on a cartoon strip by newspaper regular Andrew Birch done for The Oldie magazine. Think \’foul-mouthed Victor Meldrew on anphetamines\’ if you can, and you\’ll get the gist. This is all about telling modern PC society (and society PCs) to \”f**k off\”.
So far the first episode has only touched on his mod (and bi-sexual) past, but next week at 10pm, character Henry Palmer will be wheeling out a chromed Lambretta in order to start a beach-fight on Brighton seafront.
If all that sounds like a hideous cliche then don\’t be alarmed. Callow\’s performance, pleasing cinematography and a well-written script redeem what could have been a \’comedy mod\’ cringe-fest into a watchable mod comedy.
Learn more about The Rebel here.
A rebel without a cause!
Just terrible…
British (alleged) comedy featuring the antics of an old man and his family and friends that have to pick up the pieces…
The idea of a man in his 70s giving society the finger before he dies is a good one so (as an old man myself) I was looking forward to this.
I soldiered through this torture till the end and came away angry. First of all the characters are simply HORRIBLE.
A ‘pet therapist’ who hates animals, her effeminate Indian husband who simply says ‘Babes!’ all the time, a drunk old codger who laughs for no reason and the main character… a thoroughly unpleasant piece of dirt who likes to swear and rather than ‘rebel’ against anything, is just filling in his life with childish antics.
The casting is completely wrong. A middle aged frumpy woman is married to an effeminate Indian teenager. This must rate as the most mismatched couple on television ever. It’s painful to watch.
The ‘classic rock’ music soundtrack seems to have been selected directly from Rock FM by a child who thinks he knows what the music scene was all about half a century ago. In the context of this TV series, the songs are drab, cliche and annoying.
Even the wonderful Simon Callow can’t breathe any humanity or comedy into this stinker. The script seems to be penned by a teenage boy who has the idea that if old people swear enough then that counts as comedy.
The lack of depth comes from being based on a cartoon strip. Four frames per week isn’t much to base characters on, but IMHO Callow saves it from being dire. It’s certainly no Mighty Boosh though in terms of originality.
Having seen episode 2 I completely agree with you. Ashamed to have given anyone cause to watch it…
Just watched the first three episodes.
Its not that bad, its like an urban take on last of the summer wine.
Mildly amusing. One thing that bugged me was Bill Paterson’s Accent….American???
Then I remembered him as Ally Frazer, its just the way he speaks!
what else are actors ment to do when they get to “that” age?
Not to be taken seriously light hearted “Family” viewing.