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Post by pulphack on Jul 16, 2013 6:10:16 GMT
Anyone seen this on BBC2? The adventures of an ex-variety entertainer who is either in the throes of dementia or an idiot savant (maybe just an idiot), it's come from radio and is maybe of peripheral interest to the Vault if at all. Except...
In the last episode, one of Arthur's little money-making schemes is running Jack the Ripper Tours from an ice cream van. You need the van to get away from the real Ripper tour guides as they're a vicious lot when you encroach on their turf. It's an ice cream van because Arthur's mate owns one, and apparently their top speed depends on how fast the music can play. Anyway, what you do is go to Balham and collect stray tourists, selling them a £15 tour instead of a a 99 or Mivi. Balham? Well, it's where he did the murders, wasn't it? Hearing Arthur deliver a mangled version of Ripper events to a confused bunch of tourists was a joy. I could not do it justice. If you have BBC iplayer, then watch it, do - never mind that bloke in Whitechapel, THIS is what Ripper guides should be like...
Er, who are you calling a count?
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Post by ripper on Jul 16, 2013 8:57:13 GMT
I haven't caught any of the TV shows, but have been a fan of the Count Arthur Strong Radio Show for years. I am not usually a fan of present-day radio or TV comedy, but Count Arthur is an exception that I find extremely funny. I will try to watch the missed TV episodes on the internet. I hope that all the radio show characters are featured such as Sally, Gerry, and Arthur's favourite watering hole, the Shoulder of Mutton. Also, Barry Cryer has guest-starred several times on the radio version over the years; I hope he will turn up in the TV series at some time.
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Post by pulphack on Jul 16, 2013 11:16:57 GMT
Some different characters and centres more around Bulent's cafe (Bulent does a nice line in exasperated) and with Rory Kinnear as the son of Arthur's old comedy partner who is writing a biography of his father and is sucked into Arthur's strange world... Barry Cryer did turn up in last week's first episode, though., and ended up being electrocuted by a didgy footspa sold to him by the Count... I didn't think they could get stuff this daft comissioned on TV anymore. Most TV comedy is either a bit self-conscious and hip, or aims at some kind of imagined mainstream. Exceptions being Watson and Oliver and Miranda., neither of whom are that great but seem to have a bizarre desire to channel BBC1 circa 1973!
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Post by ripper on Jul 16, 2013 13:44:12 GMT
In the radio version the main settings are Gerry's cafe, the pub, butcher's shop and community hall. There's a character called Malcolm, who appeared in a few of the shows, and he received acting lessons from Count Arthur, and is perhaps similar in some respects to the Michael character in the TV version from what I have gathered. Good to hear that Barry Cryer has been given a role...interesting to see how many episodes he stars in; in the radio version it was only occasional.
I don't often watch TV nowadays. In fact, I didn't know Count Arthur had moved to TV until after the first episode had been broadcast. Perhaps I am getting old but TV seems to have gone down in quality alarmingly over the past decade or two. I am not sure how to describe it but actors in modern TV dramas and films seem to have a kind of "breathy" style (not sure I can describe it properly) that I just can't take seriously; it just soumds so false to me. I much prefer to trawl Youtube and find an old programme from the 60s, 70s or 80s to watch. Last night I watched an episode of Doomwatch from 1970 and one from World in Action circa 1975. Does anyone understand what I am trying to say about this new style of acting or perhaps can describe it better than I have done.
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Post by valdemar on Jul 17, 2013 0:26:07 GMT
I have enjoyed listening to Count Arthur Strong on the radio. His absurdist humour appeals greatly to me. He used to be a regular guest on Mark Radcliffe's now defunct BBC Radio 2 show. I enjoy his bumbling, confused and 'Spooneristic' style of speech - reminiscent of the late, great Stanley Unwin [deep joy]. This speech generated one of my brother and I's favourite phrases - Mark Radcliffe asked Count Arthur Strong if he knew first aid, and the Count replied that he was a member of his local branch of the 'Saint Am's Johnbliance'. Genius.
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Post by pulphack on Jul 17, 2013 14:06:19 GMT
Superb! In Monday's show he went on line and became power-crazed with the joys of the ilfracombe...
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Post by ripper on Jul 19, 2013 9:40:12 GMT
I caught up with the first two episodes yesterday. Both very good, I thought, though quite a few changes to the radio series. Jack the Ripper tours from an ice-cream van lol. Hope the TV series does not mean that no more radio shows will be made.
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