Pompidou (TV series)

Pompidou is an experimental British television comedy series for BBC One created and written by comedian Matt Lucas, Julian Dutton and Ashley Blaker.^[1] It began airing on 1 March 2015 on BBC Two.

Produced by Lucas' own company John Stanley Productions^[2] for the BBC, Pompidou is the first all-visual, i.e. having no meaningful dialogue, half-hour mainstream TV sitcom since Bradley in the late 1980s. (Although there have been several visual comedies broadcast in the interim, none of these were half-hour sitcoms: Mr. Bean usually consisted of two or three sketches, Oddbods was a one-off, The Baldy Man consisted of two sketches per episode, and Uncle Max and Zzzap! were both 15-minute children's shows.)^[3]

A pilot was written in 2012, and 6 episodes were commissioned by Controller of BBC One Danny Cohen and Controller of Comedy Commissioning Shane Allen in Spring 2013. The series was written and filmed across 2013 and 2014. The first episode aired on BBC Two on 1 March 2015^[3]

Inspired by Charlie Chaplin, Laurel and Hardy, Buster Keaton, Jacques Tati and Marty Feldman, Pompidou aims to reinvent silent comedy for the twenty-first century, and create an international series for a global audience.^[4]

Cast

• Matt Lucas as Pompidou P Pompidou - Pompidou is a simple, dim-witted, penniless, but nice, lord of the manor. He is often attempting to overcome some kind of problem, or attempting something new. He frequently is a source of problems for his butler, and often is persistent in getting what he wants and keeping Hove loyal to him. While not speaking (he often mumbles or speaks in an unusual language of gibberish), he does have notable trademarks, including often greeting others with "Good afternoon", saying "No" when he's not satisfied with something, chastising another with "Naughty. Very naughty", (usually to Marion the dog), and acting childish and wailing when he is hurt, either by slap or being trodden on, in which he breaks the fourth wall and says "That hurt me. That really hurt me".
• Alex MacQueen as Hove - Hove is Pompidou's butler, and often has to deal with constant issues with his master. As such, he often bears the brunt of problems encountered, often getting the worst of it, but, grudgingly, stay loyal to him, but can sometimes be frustrated by issues he encounters (such as his master hoarding stuff).
• Marion - Pompidou's dog, an Afghan Hound who is often the sensible one of the three. Smart, very literate, and skilled, Marion is often told off for doing things any dog would attempt, while always having to put up with the issues that both Pompidou and Hove deal with.

Jane Asher starred in episode 3, Anita Dobson played the role of Sally in episode 4 and Beattie Edmondson appeared in episodes 1 and 6. Australian actress Rebel Wilson, Matt Lucas' roommate when they both lived in the U.S., makes an uncredited cameo as a Vicki Pollard lookalike from Little Britain in episode 5.

Episodes

Critical reception

Early reviews have been mixed but predominantly negative.^[5]

References

External links

• Pompidou at BBC Programmes
• Pompidou at the British Comedy Guide
• Pompidou at the Internet Movie Database