The new documentary (Almost the Truth) is a wonder — I’ve seen a ton of Python doc material, read the oral history, read various histories of other sorts…. but this is bliss, full of anecdotes and footage that concisely reiterates yet also breaks new ground. Even with a bit too much Russell Brand, I fell in love.
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I’m not sure it isn’t amazing. Dayna and I loved it, though we saw it a long time ago (2, maybe 3 years?) and I have a hard time remembering why I loved it so. Part of it had to do with the style of humor: It refused to take the easy shots. Mags is heavy, but there are not fat jokes. That’s one example, but I remember it held through the whole thing. Tommy is a decent guy. While I did not laugh as hard as often as “I’m Alan Partridge” (the mere thought of the owl sanctuary makes me laugh) It’s a more subtle and more rewarding series. I think it’s as good as anything Coogan’s done, and I’m sorry it didn’t keep going with a third series.
I think the whole show is summed up by its opening credits — Tommy cruising in his big fucking yellow car, rock and roll playing loudly, a big smug happy look on his face. It seems at first like an arch send-up, but no: it’s a portrait of unfettered pleasure. It’s that appreciation of Tommy’s delight that makes the endless obstacles thereto both very funny and somewhat suprisingly tinged by sadness. I love that Saxondale’s desires are so minimal–not mindless, not really mocked, but minor–Tommy doesn’t want fame, or fortune, he just wants to remember many glancing impressions of fame, and get an audience to listen to his tales, and have a pint or hang out with Mags. He reminded me of W.C. Fields–a poetry built on ineffectual rage and a generally amiable selfishness. (I was a huge fan of Tommy’s nemesis Vicky, too.)
Frears is an intriguing connection–perhaps especially the Frears who adapted Roddy Doyle so well, or perhaps it’s a reminder of the complex, well-meaning, thoughtful pub-loving men of a certain age in Doyle’s north Dublin. (Oh–and I briefly noted liking this show a while back, but in a post where I was complaining about Guy Ritchie, who idealizes a slick vicious version of “comic working-class” England, which Coogan makes look even more terrible in comparison.)
I’m glad to hear you guys like this series. I imagine I’ll like it more and more as it goes on.
I was speaking with the Head of Humanities and Cultural Industries at Bath Spa University, UK, and he told me that the British television industry has taken a serious hit the past few years. Shows like “Saxondale” are getting harder and harder to produce. Nowadays, only big concept game shows seem to get the money. Sad.
I’m for some reason reminded of an exchange Tommy has with someone who asks about his days as a roadie. Tommy rattles off a list of bands he toured with–the Tull, Deep Purple, 10cc–with such pride. And the guy he’s talking to asks him, “Led Zeppelin?” And Tommy stops, his face falls, and he quietly says “no.”