Taken from the book 'Didn't You Kill My Mother-In-Law?', this took several hours for me to type up, so I apologise if there are several spelling or grammatical errors!
Even while the Comic Strip stage show was still running at the Boulevard Theatre, Peter Richardson had hopes of getting team onto television in some from - preferably using film: "I was interested in getting into making films, I'd done some 8-mm stuff when I was younger, but I could never see how you could, I never saw myself becoming an assistant trainee director. It was a real chance thing that Channel Four started at that time and that Jeremy Isaacs came to see us, and we were a new name at that time; everything just coincided in a way that I couldn't have planned."
The six main members of the team - Richardson, Edmondson, Mayall, Planer, French and Saunders (though excluding Alexei Sayle) - had a meeting at which various ideas were thrown up, and then Richardson went with a list of suggested films to Isaacs - most of which were made in the first series. Peter Richardson: "The best way of using the Comic Strip was not in sketches, but as good character actors. I didn't want to get into Light Entertainment - I didn't see how the show could ever transfer to film."
Six films were planned for Channel Four's opening season in 1982. Five were shot earlier in the year - three directed by Bob Spiers and two by Sandy Johnson - the remaining one 'An Evening with Eddie Monsoon' was abandoned because of worries about its subject matter (written by several of them, it presented a chat show host of more than usual repellence, and seemed to Channel Four be rebellious in places).
Bob Spiers, an extremely experienced director of TV comedy, gave the films he did a strong mood and visual style, as did Sandy Johnson (whose two films in this series, however, were designed to rely less on atmosphere). Richardson worked closely on all stages of the production, learning the techniques as he went along and collaborating with Spiers to get the visual style suitable to each story. The choice of film as opposed to video would have been largely dictated by practicality - much of the filming was location work, and in 1982 film, though more expensive than video, was easier to handle away from studio facilities; but there is also something about the technical quality of film which gives a quite different look from video in the same situation.
The first film to be transmitted, 'Five Go Mad in Dorset', was chosen as one of the programmes for Channel Four's opening night on the 2nd November 1982. Written by Peter Richardson in collaboration with Pete Richens, it is a none-too-gentle spoof of Enid Blyton's 'Famous Five' books. The four children (the fifth of the 'Five' being the dog, Timmy) are played with the wide-eyed earnestness of an early Children's Film Foundation epic by Dawn French (as George, the girl who really wanted to be a boy), Jennifer Saunders (Anne: sugar and spice), Adrian Edmondson (Dick: introverted earnestness and the grace of a badly manipulated marionette) and Peter Richardson as Julian, the self-appointed leader (everyone keeps remarking how mature he is).
Like many Comic Strip films, 'Five Go Mad in Dorset' makes heavy use of external references, in this case the Blyton books; however, the world it presents is strongly enough constructed for it to be enjoyed by those lucky enough to have avoided the originals. Adrian Edmondson: "I'd never read the books, but when I read the script I thought, I know this world - it's the same world that's portrayed in Victorian children's melodramas, it's the same attitude... you can watch a thing with references and just by the pattern of the speech you can tell it's a joke, you laugh at the rhythm... you don't really need the references, you could just write a whole story that just had rhythmic noises in it!"
Dick: I say, this is a jolly wizard lunch, Anne. You really are going to make someone a great little housewife some day.
Julian: Ummm. My favourite. Ham and turkey sandwiches, heaps of tomatoes, fresh lettuce and lashings of ginger beer.
(In the background two large men are seen carrying a box across a field. They stop and start digging a pit)
Anne: This is just the kind of holiday I like, picnicky meals and not too much adventure.
Dick: Hah! Well don't speak to soon, old thing.
(A black car draws up. A black-gloved hand throws out a piece of meat)
Man's voice: Here, Fido.
(He drives off at speed, Timmy, the dog, gobbles the meat)
George: That's strange. Why on earth would someone want to feed Timmy?
Julian: Yes, that was rather odd.
Dick: Shh. I say, look over there.
(They notice the two men digging)
George: What a strange pair!
Julian: Yes, one's got a big nose and thick lips and the other one's got mean, clever little eyes.
Dick: And they're unshaven. Just look at the way they're slouching.
Anne: Ugh! Pooh! I hope they don't come anywhere near me. I feel as if I can smell them from here.
George: Shh. I can hear them talking.
First man: What about the sparkler, Punchy?
Second man: Don't you worry about them, I'll take care of that.
First man: Well, now that you're out of gaol you'd better lie low.
George: Do you think they're escaped convicts?
Dick: Yes, or traitors to our country.
Julian: We'd better call the police.
Anne: Look - Timmy's fallen over.
George: Oh crikey, he's been poisoned!
Julian: Never mind, George, we'll get another.
* More to come *
