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Ben Elton: The Man from Auntie (1990)
Ben Elton's Finest
First of all, put aside your pre-conceived notions about Ben Elton before viewing The Man from Auntie. The hatred people have for him personally is irrational, and even though he's not as funny these days, this series shows how incredible he was in his youth. I'm a youngish person in the United States, so I'm glad to have been able to finally see The Man from Auntie recently, which was impossible for me when it was first aired.
Looking back on Ben's material over the years, this series, in particular its first season, is among his best works, and likely his best solo work on TV period. He's funny, even making a foreigner laugh 20 years in the future. In this series, there's an exuberance in Ben's performance that we'll never see again; it's special, and not to be missed.
Despite Ben Elton's reputation, most of his comedy at this stage isn't very political. Much of it deals with the annoyances of daily life, which still resonates today. But age hasn't helped the more topical jokes, inevitably. The bits about specific politics are lost on me since I lived in neither the time nor the place of their context-- but it doesn't really matter, since that's not what this show is about. To his credit also, there's a sketch about judges blaming rape victims that would be bold even today.
By the mid-90s, the backlash against Ben was in full swing, and these days he's hated as a traitor to his former leftist ideals. But this is unfair, in that he wasn't really that kind of person in the first place, and this series proves that. It also proves that he was indeed funny at one time, at least.
Do Not Adjust Your Set (1967)
So much fun. Just so much fun!
Just gotta shout it: This show is AWESOME! I've just watched my DVD of "Do Not Adjust Your Set" and it's really, really good! I read about it in a book about Monty Python, and at that time, no copies were know to exist. I thought it was dead forever. Then one day I found out that some had been found and it was on DVD. I was expecting it to be pretty good, but no-- it's REALLY good! So much fun. This show is much more "Pythonic" and slightly less dated than John Cleese and Graham Chapman's show "At Last the 1948 Show." Since it was supposedly a kid's show (but not really), it gets wonderfully silly. The way Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin appear in this series, they sound just like they do in Flying Circus. Yet D.N.A.Y.S. is its own scene, and it's groovy, man! And it's got the Bonzo Dog Dooh Dah Band from The Beatles' Magical Mystery Tour playing weird, cool songs each episode. As if things couldn't get any better. And then they do-- Eric Idle occasionally plays and sings with them. Lovely! Whoever thought is was a good idea to erase this series deserves to be tarred and feathered. But he's probably dead by now anyway.
The Driven Man (1991)
As personal as Rowan gets (which still isn't much)
Is this a good car documentary? I don't know. It's way too dated to function in that sense unless as a time capsule (these new 1990 models look silly now). Much of what is discussed still applies today. But that's not what makes this film so important.
What really makes this special is that this may be the closest we'll ever get to Rowan Atkinson's private life. He's kept it sealed away for decades, but he allows us all a teeny, tiny peek in this film. I won't spill too much of the details, but there is much to learn about Rowan from his relationship with cars. It's not much, but it's something.
Anyone who is a fan of Rowan Atkinson as an actor and a person *must* see this film.