Chelmsford 123 - The Complete Series One and Two [DVD]

Having failed to flatter the Emperor sufficiently, Aulus Paulinus (Jimmy Mulville) is rewarded with the worst job imaginable - Governor of Britain. Here he is faced by terrible weather, awful food and worst of all, the native Celts under the leadership of Badvoc (Rory McGrath).
Issued on DVD after more than twenty years, this is simply one of the best comedies from the late 80's. Intelligently written, funny and memorable, few other comedies would have taken the risk of filming its first episode in Latin with subtitles. Sadly, Chelmsford only ran for two series but it's better to leave people wanting more than to risk outlasting its creative peak.
This two disc set contains both series, amounting to thirteen episodes but has no extras apart from a photo gallery. Nevertheless, it's a long anticipated and worthwhile addition to any collection of great British comedy.

This was Hat Trick's first venture when Jimmy Mulville, Denise O'Donoghue and Rory McGrath assembled a sitcom based in Roman Britain. There are some very clever adaptations where the Romans are getting to terms with the English language, and the fist series of six episodes shows promise. Hoever, the second series settles into an excellent routine where Blag has flash forwards, and Mungo adapts his character to the situation.
"They call me Mungo the Evasive"
"Why is that?"
"Have you seen the price of pigs lately?"
Philip Pope is excellent as the creepy sidekick - it's a shame he is not in comedy more often, but see how many of the theme tunes he has written for various shows.
The episode 'Bird Trouble' is superb farce and worthy of full marks (a complete hoot) - the DVD is worth buying just for this, although all the other episodes come very close.
It is a shame the show only ran for two series, and that it has taken so long for the recordings to be rediscovered and published, but well worth the wait. You can see why Hat Trick are doing so well now, with such noble roots.

Wahey! At last, after many years of waiting this little gem has finally been released on DVD!

Written by and starring Jimmy Mulville and Rory McGrath, the series is set in Roman occupied Britain in the year 123. Sent to be the governor of Britain as a punishment by the Emperor Hadrian, Aulus Paulinus (Mulville) finds himself struggling to adapt to life in the uncivilised and rather muddy province. Badvoc (McGrath) is the uncivilised leader of the local tribe, who has no time for the trappings of civilisation and just wants to be left alone to get on with his uncomplicated life of loot and pillage. He is a schemer, and along with his lieutenants Mungo and Blag enjoys making a few denarii out of the Romans while sticking two fingers at them.

A decent mixture of the erudite and stupid (the first episode is conducted largely in Latin, with some hilarious subtitles) and with quite a lot of attention paid to historical detail, these are well constructed with lots of clever one liners and situations. The characters are a little one dimensional, but it works so well you don't really notice.

Added to which is the roster of actors appearing here, many of them would go on to greater things, and it is packed with faces still familiar today. Neil Pearson (Drop the Dead Donkey, Between the Lines), Andy Hamilton (Drop the Dead Donkey, Old Harry's Game), Philip Pope (Old Harry's Game), Geoffrey Whitehead (Z Cars), Geoffrrey McGivern (Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Lab Rats) Mark Wing-Davey (Hitch Hiker's Guide To the Galaxy) and Chris Langham (The Thick of It) all make appearances. The wealth of good actors here ensures that this is a superior comedy, easily up there with, if not better then, Blackadder, it's main rival at the time.

This set contains all 13 episodes, 6 from series 1, 7 from series 2. In all a highly recommended buy! 5 stars.