The Dominator reviews

Distributed by
VCI Video

Cert: 12/15

Released: 4th August 1997

Sound: Stereo

Price: £9.99 each

Extras : None

Director:

Martin Dennis

Producers:

Beryl Virtue

Screenplay:

Simon Nye

Music:

Alan Lisk

Tapes available :

• Series 1 (complete series) : 135 mins, 1991, cat.no. TV8223
• Series 2 Part 1 : 69 mins, 1992, cat.no. TV8220
• Series 2 Part 2 : 69 mins, 1992, cat.no. TV8221
• Series 3 Part 1 : 86 mins, 1994, cat.no. TV8217
• Series 3 Part 2 : 86 mins, 1994, cat.no. TV8218
• Series 4 Part 1 : 85 mins, 1995, cat.no. TV8215
• Series 4 Part 2 : 116 mins, 1995, cat.no. TV8216
• Series 5 Part 1 : 87 mins, 1996, cat.no. TV8244
• Series 5 Part 2 : 116 mins, 1996, cat.no. TV8245

Cast:

Gary : Martin Clunes (Staggered, An Evening With Gary Lineker (TV))
Tony : Neil Morrissey (Boon (TV), I Bought a Vampire Motorcycle)
Dermot : Harry Enfield (Harry Enfield and Chums (TV), Young Indiana Jones Chronicles)
Leslie Ash : Deborah (Quadrophenia, Curse of the Pink Panther, CATS Eyes (TV))
Caroline Quentin : Dorothy (An Evening With Gary Lineker (TV), Party Party)

Men Behaving Badly began life on ITV in 1991 with Harry Enfield and Martin Clunes as Dermot and Gary, two flatmates whose destiny in life is the three 'B's : booze, babes and more booze. Gary's found the love of his life in the long-suffering Dorothy (Caroline Quentin, who recently separated from comedian Paul Merton), although he's always after more, and Dermot's always on the lookout for his next love...and it always seems to be with Deborah (Leslie Ash).

From series 2 onwards, Neil Morrissey, aka Tony, replaced Harry Enfield as Gary's flatmate always vying for Deborah's affections, and since then the programme has gone from strength to strength, moving from ITV to BBC1 from series 3, with new series being screened at the rate of one per year with series 6 due soon, as well as talk of the Simon Nye's creation being turned into a major feature film.

So what's it all about? Gary and Tony are two flatmates whose aim in life is to drink as much as they can, be as crude as they can, and chat up as many women as they can, although in 99% of all cases, they only manage to fulfil the first two criteria. Dorothy still lives with her parents, but spends most time with Gary, whether he likes it or not, and Deborah owns the flat upstairs. Tony would like to spend all of his time up there, but Deborah would not want that whether Tony likes it or not...

Personally, I find this to be one of the funniest comedies on television today. Clunes and Morrissey bond perfectly as our two heroes, so much so that they appeared together on the same team on BBC2's Have I Got News For You. On the back of MBB's success, Martin Clunes went on to make his directorial debut with 1994's Staggered.

As a matter of interest, the series has also been shipped overseas with a new cast for the American version including Justine Bateman (Family Ties). Rob Schneider (Judge Dredd, Demolition Man) and Ron Eldard (fireman Shep in series 2 of E.R.). Whether the format has translated successfully is a matter of personal taste of course...

Picture quality of the review tapes I viewed (Series 3 Part 2, and Series 4 Part 2) is good, and the stereo sound is mainly used for the theme tune and directional effects.

There are six episodes in each of the first three series, seven episodes in the rest, and each one is a classic whether it's Tony returning from holiday with his new 'face-furniture', Tony and Gary making a home-made sauna with two girls from next door, the one that Gary succeeds with being Neil's real-life girlfriend, Liz Carling, or Dorothy having her appendix taken out, resulting first in Gary using it for a moustache and seeing how it tastes, followed by Tony trying out contact lenses, and ending up mistaking it for a pickled chilli!

In summary, with each tape available at just under a tenner, and only for a limited time only, you have no excuse other than to rush out and complete your collection now to catch up on the antics of the Men Behaving Badly before Series 6 begins on BBC1 soon.

Review copyright © Dominic Robinson, 1997.