Excellent series satirising early-90s marketing and consumer culture. At times I felt I was watching a mirror of One Foot in the Grave: whereas Victor Meldrew rails against modernity, Richard Brier's character - through a whack to the head - comes to embrace it wholeheartedly. This results in him acting upon the advice and slogans of every piece of advertising he sees. This darkly absurdist approach is perfect for shining a comedic light on the superficiality of much of modern life.
Briers' character could easily become grating over the course of an episode, but is handled perfectly by the veteran actor and is instead a benign, sympathetic figure playing wonderfully against Adrian Edmonson's more caustic and jaded character.
There's a real ferocity behind the writing - a genuine anger and disgust at the depersonalizing effects of consumerism - that really spills out overtly in Edmonson's courtroom diatribe in the final episode. But the rest of the time it's there, a passive-aggressive sardonicism simmering away in nearly every line of dialogue.
Of course, it's all still relevant today - probably moreso - and this totally forgotten gem deserves far greater acknowledgement. Seek it out!
Briers' character could easily become grating over the course of an episode, but is handled perfectly by the veteran actor and is instead a benign, sympathetic figure playing wonderfully against Adrian Edmonson's more caustic and jaded character.
There's a real ferocity behind the writing - a genuine anger and disgust at the depersonalizing effects of consumerism - that really spills out overtly in Edmonson's courtroom diatribe in the final episode. But the rest of the time it's there, a passive-aggressive sardonicism simmering away in nearly every line of dialogue.
Of course, it's all still relevant today - probably moreso - and this totally forgotten gem deserves far greater acknowledgement. Seek it out!