Written by Reece Shearsmith And Steve Pemberton
Directed by Matt Lipsey
David: "I did a bad murder."
How do you follow up the cult success of a show like The League Of Gentlemen and especially when you lose half of your team? For Shearsmith and Pemberton, it's with this odd ball series that in some ways isn't dissimilar to their previous success but nor would it be a rip off.
Formatting it as a central mystery involving a blackmailer terrorising a group of eccentric characters all connected to each other was the way to go. On top of that, there's a great effort to get to know these characters as well, so I'm going to delve into them from favourite to least.
Starting off, there's mother and son duo Maureen (Shearsmith) and David Sowerbutts (Pemberton). They're obsessed with serial killers and even take to killing themselves when a misunderstanding about David's murder mystery job bring out their murderous impulses. In spite of that, there's a genuine sense of affection between the two.
Then there's Mr Jelly (Shearsmith) - a disfigured children's clown whom you wouldn't recommend to any party. When he's not beefing with everyone in sight, there's a nice team up with him and pensioner Claudia (Vilma Hollingbery) as well as a rivalry with more appealing clown Mr Jolly (Adrian Scarborough). To be fair, Jelly has good reason to resent Jolly.
Further down the line would be eccentric blind billionaire Oscar Lomax (Pemberton) and his assistant Tealeaf (Daniel Kuluuya). Oscar's mostly obsessed with getting a stuffed crocodile and there's an amusing rivalry between him and Siamese twins Kelly-Su (Alison Linott) and Chelsea (Debbie Chazen) in order to get it. When he's not being outsmarted by a seven year old.
As for dotty nurse Joy Aston (Dawn French). She's got a doll named Freddie that she treats like an actual baby, much to the exasperation of her husband George (Pemberton) and his mistress, Nicola (Elizabeth Berrington). There's an attempt on her life but Joy's too crazy to kill as Nicola learned the hard way.
The least favourite but still good storyline involved a panto production of Snow White And The Seven Dwarves. There was the much ridiculed Robert Greenspan (Jason Tompkins) was mocked by co-workers like Christopher Biggins and Brian McMillan (Shearsmith), fancied the vapid Debbie (Daisy Haggard) while also the object of fellow cast member's Kerry (Lisa Hammond) affections.
As for the main plot. It involved a locket, a sadistic head nurse named Edwina Kenchington (Eileen Atkins) and her eager too please son, Stuart (Scarborough). It led to our main characters back in the asylum they never really escaped from and an explosive ending. Fortunately this would be a cliffhanger that would be paid off.
- Episode titles were Black Mail, Lomax, Jelly, David And Maureen, Joy, Robert and Ravenhill.
- Mark Gatiss's appearance in the fourth episode was under his pseudonym Sam Kisgart. That episode also served as the basis for Inside No. 9.
- Robert was involved in dwarf porn, Joy and George lost a son, Stuart accidentally cut off Jelly's hand and Lomax hated a certain celebrity.
- A Halloween special followed up this series. I'll review it with the second series.
- There's a brilliant moment in the fifth episode where David is serenaded by infamous serial killers, including Jack the Ripper.
- Chronology: Several years passed between the characters time in Ravenhill and the current timeline.
This first series of Psychoville certainly delivered. A great follow up series, doing it's own thing and with slightly less problematic writing and acting but without the show attempting to be too politically correct either.
Rating: 8 out of 10
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