Absolutely (TV series)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
|
|---|---|
| Genre | Comedy |
| Running time | 30/60 minutes |
| Starring | Peter Baikie, Morwenna Banks, Jack Docherty, Moray Hunter, Gordon Kennedy, John Sparkes |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original channel | Channel Four |
| Original run | 1989–1993 |
| No. of episodes | 28 |
Absolutely was a British television comedy sketch show shown on Channel 4 from 1989 to 1993.
Contents |
[edit] Cast
The cast and crew were mainly Scottish and the principal writers and performers were Moray Hunter, Morwenna Banks, Jack Docherty, Peter Baikie, Gordon Kennedy, and John Sparkes. It was directed by Phil Chilvers, Alan Nixon, Alistair Clark, and Graham C Williams. It was produced by Alan Nixon, and David Tyler.
Characters included Don and George, later to star in their own spin-off series; the celebrated Stoneybridge Town Council, a small village council with delusions of grandeur; the anorak-wearing Callum Gilhooley, the world's biggest bore (based in part on Sparkes's character Siadwell in Naked Video); Frank Hovis, who delivered monologues from the toilet; the beige-cardiganned Nice Family; and the Little Girl, played by Morwenna Banks sitting on a giant desk, who would explain aspects of society such as hospitals and schools with the overexcited bluster of a child.
[edit] Frank Hovis
Frank Hovis is a character played by John Sparkes. Frank Hovis first appeared in the Absolutely sketch show, which he self-titled as "On the Lavatory with Frank Hovis". These were shown in a dirty toilet cubicle with no toilet paper, where Frank would draw upon his own personal experiences that involved often disgusting toilet humour. Outside of Absolutely, Frank Hovis has featured in his own panel-game entitled Pub Quiz. Still as rude and filthy as ever, Frank Hovis hosted Pub Quiz inside various pubs around the UK, while having a drink himself.
Frank Hovis later inspired John Sparkes to create the character of Gwyn, another drunkard with a twitch, though Gwyn was less rude than his predecessor. Hovis' crass attitude was later applied to Mr. Ffff, another character on Barry Welsh is Coming.
Frank Hovis is considered to be the stereotype of an English drunkard. The character appears to be an Englishman, but his drinking habits are not displayed until later appearances. He is also the only character played by John Sparkes to appear outside of Absolutely.
[edit] MacGlashan
Rabid Scottish nationalist MacGlashan (played by Jack Docherty) parodied common anti-English sentiments amongst the Scots. In one sketch he invades a national TV weather forecast, pushes away the presenter, takes all the rain cloud stickers off Scotland and puts them all down in England, moving the sun icons up north; in another he cycles to the Scotland-England border, steps across and shouts "POOFS!", before cycling away in disgust.
The character of MacGlashan may have been inspired in part by the ultra-nationalist Siol nan Gaidheal group that was expelled from the Scottish National Party during the 1980s for their strident anti-English vocabulary and belief in all manner of conspiracy theories against the English.
[edit] Gwynedd & Denzil
Gwynedd & Denzil were hopeless Welsh DIY enthusiasts in the spirit of Kenny Everett's Reginald Prescott, who later reappeared post-Absolutely in Barry Welsh is Coming. The sketches partly sent up the array of essentially second rate "ethnic Celtic language" programmes produced during the period (it even had Welsh subtitles) that British broadcasters produced reluctantly in order to comply with new regulations on non-English language broadcasting provisions. Both looked dishevelled with rotting teeth, and would wear such strange items as "chicken skin slippers", insulting one another as "Aberystwyth features", & declaring "what in SWANSEA is going on here!". In one moment, Denzil fights his brother for the love of Gwynedd in "Welsh Unarmed Hitting" - which involved literally bumping repeatedly into other another whilst gibbering in Welsh. Denzil would also frequent Clwb Sboncyn for "a nice pint of cheese water".
Home of the classic line :
Gwynedd, Dr. Willseeyounow says that you are what you eat... and you have obviously eaten something very stupid!
[edit] History
Absolutely ran for four seasons, with a total of 28 episodes:
- Season 1: Six episodes transmitted between 23 May 1989 and 27 June 1989
- Season 2: Eight episodes transmitted between 22 August 1990 and 10 October 1990
- Season 3: Eight episodes transmitted between 17 May 1991 and 5 July 1991
- Season 4: Six episodes transmitted between 22 January 1993 and 26 February 1993
The group disbanded in 1993 when Gordon Kennedy was chosen to be the host of the weekly National Lottery show.
In 1993, the characters of Don and George had their own series Mr. Don and Mr. George, which ran for six episodes.
In 1995, a pilot was shown on BBC2 for a series called "Mac", a sitcom based around MacGlashan and his long-suffering brother Finley (played by Gordon Kennedy). Finley ran a small shop selling the sort of stereotypical Scottish kitsch for tourists that inflamed Mac's senses, his assistant Aileen (played by Elaine Collins of "City Lights") acted as Mac's love interest, while Nick Hancock played his Londoner love rival Van Webster.
