Ruddy Hell! It's Harry and Paul

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Ruddy Hell! It's Harry and Paul

Series title card
Format Sketch comedy
Created by Harry Enfield
Paul Whitehouse
Starring Harry Enfield
Paul Whitehouse
Morwenna Banks
Laura Solon
Country of origin Flag of the United Kingdom United Kingdom
Production
Running time 30 mins
Broadcast
Original channel BBC One
Original airing 13 April 2007 - 18 May 2007

Ruddy Hell! It's Harry and Paul is a British sketch show starring Harry Enfield and Paul Whitehouse. It was first broadcast on BBC One on 13 April 2007.

The show is a result of the channel's attempt to re-unite the pair, who had success with Harry Enfield's Television Programme.[1]

Contents

[edit] Title Sequence

The show's opening sequence is a parody of a skin care advertisement and copies the YouTube hit spoof "Slob Evolution".[1], and shows The two main female cast members (Morwenna Banks and Laura Solon) being given a pint of lager, before the footage speeds rapidly as the women have make-up removed, hair cut, given cigarettes and hamburgers, followed by noodles and more cigarettes. As the makeup and hair is removed, it is then clear that the two women were in fact Harry Enfield and Paul Whitehouse, possibly intending for viewers to exclaim "Ruddy Hell! It's Harry and Paul!". If one looks closely, the viewer can see that when the woman on the left ( Laura Solon) is being fed noodles, her head widens, then grows taller, clearly identifying the facial features of Harry, before given a shave, and showing Harry clearly. As for the woman on the right (Morwenna Banks), a crew member runs past. Once he clears the screen, the woman's facial features dramatically change, looking like Paul.

[edit] Recurring Characters

Character Description
Nelson Mandela Adverts featuring Nelson Mandela (Harry) selling various narcotics (such as "Nelson Mandela's Crackabis") and alcohol (such as "Nelson Mandela's Alcopops"). He has also promoted shoplifting with the introduction of "Nelson Mandela's Thieving Coat". He also promotes absinthe (a blinding alcohol), smack n' crack party pack (mixture of smack and crack in a happy meal type box), ecstasy tablets, "fighting beer" (a drink which causes the consumer to become violent) and a website with "dirty grannies". Was voted the favourite character of the show.
José Arrogantio Self-obsessed football manager, a parody of ex-Chelsea F.C. manager José Mourinho (Paul), who defends the actions of player Didier Peskovitch (Harry), a parody of Didier Drogba. Often, he's so busy posing for the camera that he misses Peskovitch's unorthodox tactics such as stabbing another player in the groin with a corner flag or shooting another player with a bazooka.
The Leccy Spongers A parody of Waking the Dead, where four police officers are shown investigating a crime scene, but end up forgetting about the task and instead search for nearby plug sockets in order to recharge their portable electronic devices, such as iPods, TomToms and Game Boys. Played by all four of the main cast.
Bono and The Edge Bono (Harry) and The Edge (Paul) from U2 sit in their flat talking about each others' humorous names and catching up with the latest things that Bono has been making history. Bono will often shout a question beginning "what in the naaaaaaame of love...?" in a reference to the song Pride (In the Name of Love). There is usually a joke revolving around what The Edge has under his skullcap (that the real Edge seldom takes off). In one case he is growing cress under it. Both speak with stereotypical Irish accents.
Madonna and Guy Ritchie Madonna (Morwenna Banks) and Guy Ritchie (Harry) having a discussion about their day with Ritchie ending most of his sentences with "Don'cha know? Don'cha know? For facks sake.", before getting into a fight at the dinner table ending in Ritchie getting a kick in the groin. The joke of these sketches seems to focus on the awkward balance between the often explicit and, occasionally offensive, nature of the Ritchies' respective works and their apparent desire to enjoy the trappings of an upper-class and highly civilised private life at the same time.
Pam and Ronald Eccentric American tourists from Padiddlyboing, Ada County, Idaho. They invite everyone they meet to visit and always have their photo albums on them to show. Played by Harry and Morwenna.
Bill Gates and Steve Jobs Computer tycoons Bill Gates (Paul) and Steve Jobs (Harry) give each other orgasms by describing their respective technology (while unaware that their trophy wives are also having affairs).
I Saw You Coming A Notting Hill antiques shop salesman (Harry) sells junk to gullible wealthy women (usually portrayed by Morwenna Banks) for extortionately large quantities of money.
Posh Scaffolders Builders (Harry and Paul) who converse on a range of highbrow subjects such as theatre only stopping to barrage young women with stereotypical builder sexist and vulgar verbal abuse.
Clive the Geordie A posh family delight in showing their friends their pet Geordie, Clive (Paul). Much like the Loadsamoney and Buggerallmoney characters of the 1980's, the character lampoons the disdain and derision displayed by Southerners towards Northerners.
Jamie and Oliver Two obese teens (Harry and Paul) who eat unfeasible and downright large quantities of junk food wherever they go. A dig at celebrity chef Jamie Oliver.
Polish café servers A seemingly normal man (Harry) orders a cappuccino while the women at the counter (Morwenna Banks and Laura Solon) talk to each other in Polish, usually mocking him or fighting each other.
Roman Abramovich The chairman of Chelsea FC (Paul) is portrayed as a super-rich man, who thinks he can buy anything and everything he likes, such as a young Chelsea fan, the White House, without thinking the President will need it, and even Liverpool's UEFA Champions League wins.
Barbican Man A Geordie man (Harry) walks into a newsagent accompanied by the song Tiger Feet by Mud and asks the shopkeeper for fictional versions of various day-to-day items. His dialogue always consists of: "How there man, have you got any barbican (somethings), they're like the normal (somethings), but with all the (something) taken out." For example, "Barbican Mars bars", which are just like normal Mars bars, but with all the chocolate and nougat taken out. It is based on an unsuccessful 1970s product, Barbican lager, which was non-alcoholic.
Pik The South African He (Harry) is an ex rugby player who had to have his face rebuilt and a few extra bolts put in his body, he says it's not done him any lasting damage even though he laughs like a stupid and gormless person. He is always talking about his last night out, and how he had a sexual encounter and also how he was "suk" (sick) after drinking excessive amounts of alcohol.
The Consultant surgeons, Charles and Sheridan Work at high speed on patients whilst cracking jokes and telling stories giving themselves more time to follow their other pursuits or attend medical conferences. During internal examinations often ask each other "Who does that remind you of?". "You may feel a little discombobulation." Played by Harry and Paul
The Clean Chavs Ashley (Paul)'s wife (Morwenna) is pregnant and paranoid about germs, infections and meningitis. She is spoilt by her dad (Harry) who buys her whatever she wants. In one instance he buys her a special pram which Ashley wheels in from the car, she claims he has brought germs, bacteria and Dust Mice (meaning to say Dust mites) into the house. After this her dad says to Ashley "Wheeled it? You should have carried it you Numpty". Ashley's wife and her dad have a hug after he promises to dismantle the house brick by brick. Quotes in this sketch include "'ands, Ashley" "You want me to lose this baby don't cha?" and "End of the day, Dad, you're the best dad in the world, Dad, end of".
The Chocolatier A man (Paul) able to render women powerless by revealing a large selection of chocolate, for example in a job interview and in a restaurant.
Jasper Hazelnut A thinly-disguised parody of Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall (Harry). Jasper is a chef so enthuastic about cooking unusual dishes that he fails to notice that his wife has left him, that his country house is to be demolished to make way for a bypass and that his mother has fallen down the stairs.
Kenny Layton A boxer constantly saying things like 'jab, hook, work that body Kenny' whilst practising his boxing skills on television presenters and unsuspecting citizens. Played by Paul.
A couple watching television The husband (Paul) becomes amused while describing in detail the actions of "The Greek Mr Bean" (whose murmurs are audible in the background), including the predictable near future events; essentially stating the obvious. His wife (Morwenna) laughs and is equally entertained although she doesn't speak. They have also been shown watching a semi-egotistical rant by Ricky Gervais, which they question the popularity of. The sketches spoof mainstream audiences' attitudes to comedy writing.
Can't Back Down A man (Harry) unable to back down from any argument, usually over the pronunciation of a proper noun. After the other man (Paul) concedes defeat, Can't Back Down calms down and tells the other man's son that he was lucky he didn't assault the boy's father. He then makes a similar mistake but having learnt his lesson, the other man doesn't try to correct him again.
Divorcing Couple A couple going through a divorce, who begin to connect again whenever they meet up. As the wife (Morwenna) begins to suggest cancelling the divorce, the husband (Harry) is distracted by things such as text messaging or trying to watch Big Brother. His lack of attention leads to an argument, ending with the wife intending to see the divorce through.

[edit] Trivia

  • At the end of the final episode of series 1, The Scousers returned talking about football.

[edit] DVD Release

The series was released on DVD by 2entertain on 26th November 2007. No extras were included.

[edit] Critical Reaction

Reaction to the show was mixed. Many of the sketches, such as Nelson Mandela or Barbican, relied on repetition in order to become funny, and many felt[citation needed] that the more subtle humour of these sketches required viewers to invest more than they were prepared to. Although generally agreed[citation needed] to be rather hit-and-miss, the series did have its champions who felt it showed a more mature style from the duo, and proved relatively popular in terms of viewership.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Bid to reunite Enfield and chum

[edit] External links