February 23, 2012

Fast Show episode six is best yet

If you’ve been following our advice and checking out the brand new series of 90s comedy The Fast Show online at Fosters.co.uk, you surely won’t have been disappointed.

The show’s old characters are back with the same old catchphrases and attitudes, but in situations relevant to today of course.

Anyway, all the episodes so far have been truly excellent; these are some seriously funny videos, but number six was the best yet for me.

Good old pub bore Billy Bleach is back, engaging a woman in unwelcome conversations (and dominating it!) as she tries to make sense of her new smart phone.

Arthur Atkinson, faux music hall legend, also puts in a welcome appearance in black and white as ever, with the worst comedy you’ve ever heard and the most nonsensical catchphrases. But it never fails to appeal to Arthur’s post-war audience who’ll laugh at anything – just as we laugh at them! And the person it seems to appeal to  most is, as ever, the great man himself – Arthur is always deeply amused by his own jokes.

Meanwhile, Ron Manager looks like landing himself in hot water with his sexist comments when caught off camera with his two equally chauvinistic co-hosts. Ron’s a little out of his depth, though, as he struggles to maintain his sexist coherence and, as usual, loses it completely at one point.

And let’s not forget the legendary Lord of the Manor Ralph and the object of his strange obsession Ted the groundsman. This time, the pair are discussing Ted’s use of the internet and specifically of Facebook and Twitter. The best line goes to Ralph who says to Ted “Do you Tweet”.

“Marvellous isn’t it hmm?” as Ron Manager might comment.

Check out great comedy at the click of a mouse!

The Fast Show, Harry Enfield and Chums, The Catherine Tate Show, Little Britain – nobody does sketch shows quite like the British.

Now, the show which revolutionised sketch comedies in the mid-1990s is back online for a 12-episode online series which began on November 10. That is right – The Fast Show is back and its funny video clips available right now at the click of a mouse.

The Fast Show’s creators Paul Whitehouse and Charlie Higson struck on an idea while working with Harry Enfield for his show. They wanted to take Enfield’s concept and redefine it. So they did just that.

Whitehouse and Higson made a version which contained even more sketches, with a vast array of characters and catchphrases, such as “Suit you, sir!” and “Scorchio!” Little Britain and The Catherine Tate Show would later take The Fast Show’s lead.

A decade on from its last television appearance, The Fast Show has followed in the footsteps of fellow comedy acts Alan Partridge and Vic and Bob and reunited for an online-only series. Accessing funny videos has never been so easy.

The cast is back with fresh material and has picked up where it left off all those years ago. The likes of Whitehouse and Caroline Aherne have slipped back into their roles seamlessly. Swiss Toni, Ted and Ralph, Rowley Birkin QC – all these familiar characters are back and as funny as ever.

Little Britain and The Catherine Tate Show may have dominated the Noughties – with Lou and Andy, Joannie ‘Nan’ Taylor and Bubbles DeVere stealing the show – but The Fast Show set the standard in the 90s and is back to remind people why it was held in such high regard in the comedy industry.

Check out The Fast Show on the web

The new online series of The Fast Show launched on November 10th and the show has rolled back the years, delivering the same level of humour which made the show an instant success in the 1990s.

There are no new characters as Paul Whitehouse and Charlie Higson focus on the same household names and catchphrases which made the show a hit in the mid-90s. That isn’t to say the creators haven’t moved with the times. As well as joining the ever-growing internet revolution, the show focuses on current affairs in a typically witty manner.

Ted and Ralph, Ron Manager, Professor Denzil Dexter, the Chanel 9 team, all these instantly recognisable characters are back and it is as if they have never been away. Caroline Aherne is also back after missing the Last Fast Show Ever in 2000, but Mark Williams isn’t part of the cast and he is missed, particularly at The Suit You Tailors.

The actors have aged noticeably but it matters little. If anything, it adds to the appeal of characters like Rowley Birkin QC, who is as unintelligible as ever during the opening episode of the new series.

The web-based series will run for 12 episodes, with each one lasting approximately eight minutes. Watch the first two episodes now, simply by searching ‘YouTube Fast Show on the web.

The shows are significantly shorter and the clips within them longer than we are used to, meaning less airtime for our favourite characters. However, with so many characters at their disposal, Whitehouse and Higson have plenty of room to be creative and we can expect this new series to gather pace as the weeks go on.