by Allan Fish
(UK 2004 352m) DVD2
The Las Vegas of the North
p Kate Lewis d Coky Giedroyc, Julie Anne Robinson w Peter Bowker ph Lukas Strebel ed Anthony Combes, David Rees m Robert Lane art Grenville Horner
David Morrissey (Ripley Holden), Sarah Parish (Natalie Holden), David Tennant (DCI Peter Carlisle), Thomas Morrison (Danny Holden), Georgia Taylor (Shyanne Holden), Steve Pemberton, David Bradley, Bryan Dick, Kevin Doyle, Emily Aston,
We feared the worst when we heard the premise of Blackpool. The idea of characters bursting into lip-synched song had been patented by Dennis Potter all those years ago, and one had to ask who could really aim to do it as well, let alone better. Lars Von Trier’s Dancer in the Dark took it a step further by having a star in Björk who didn’t have to lip-synch, but Blackpool would revert to formula. In actual fact, though, it wasn’t quite the same as Potter, for in Blackpool the actors do sing the songs, it’s just that they sing them low and are deliberately heard behind the original song (listen very carefully and you can tell). It’s a showy show, a gaudy show, but also a dark tale of love and death on the Golden Mile. It was the big unexpected hit of 2004.
Ripley Holden is a fortyish proprietor of an amusement arcade on the promenade who dreams of a casino hotel to rake in the punters, wanting to bring a touch of Las Vegas to Blackpool. Problem is that he’s doing it on the never-never with the help of a shady accountant. To complicate matters, just as planning permission is about to be granted, a body is found on his premises. Normally his close friendship with one of the police chiefs would paper over that crack, but an outsider – a Scottish detective based in Kendal – is called in and he instantly sees Ripley as the guilty party. If that wasn’t complicated enough, Ripley’s wife meets said detective, and they fall in love. Oh, and then there’s Ripley’s two kids…
It’s a fantasy soap opera, and it could so easily be an absolute disaster. It’s a credit to the director, cast, editors and writer that it doesn’t. Ripley Holden is one of the great creations of modern television, a braggart, a womaniser, a bigot in many ways, but a caring father and, deep down, possessing a great fear of failure. David Morrissey’s performance is, quite simply, a knockout, whether pulling cocky faces and asides, strutting his stuff singing the songs – heavy on the Elvis, naturally – or delivering some of the greatest lines written in recent times. His is not the only great performance, however; his scenes with David Bradley recall Our Mutual Friend, while his scenes with Tennant have a wonderful stand-off quality. This is where the Tennant bandwagon really got kick-started (Casanova and the Timelord from Gallifrey were just around the corner), and he’s superb, whether offering sarcastic quips to witnesses, winding up and taunting Morrissey or courting, with genuine feeling, Parish’s neglected wife. She’s never been better either, her scenes with Tennant carrying a real romantic quality that borders on tacky, but has a wonderful depth of feeling. Starting with a rendezvous outside Funny Girls of all places, Blackpool’s answer to the cantina at Mos Eisley, and taking in a stroll along the pier and a slow, romantic dance in the Tower Ballroom. All the songs are delightfully incorporated into proceedings, but it’s two almost identically titled tracks that stay with you; Tennant singing Gabrielle’s ‘Should I Stay, Should I Go’ to Parish, and kicking off The Clash’s anthem ‘Should I Stay or Should I Go’ when issuing a search warrant on Holden. And amongst dozens of Ripley Holdenisms, Tennant probably had the best throwaway line, discussing a day of absolute bliss in his past and murmuring “if Proust had drunk McEwans he’d have written about this.” It may be nonsense, it may be bizarre, and yes, it’s no The Singing Detective, but what is? It’s merely a wonderful trip into the heart of the town with the “cheap, cheery soul” and where “you can live a thousand lives…and still have room for a full English breakfast.” All this, and then there’s the realisation of what was to come a year later; Emily Aston makes an appearance here as if to signpost it. If you thought Blackpool was dark, Funland was just on the horizon…
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Sounds interesting. I will look forward to it.
Allan, I saw this on BBC America a couple of years ago and loved it. I unequivocally second your enthusiasm. I also had reservations about the wisdom of working in a genre which has already found its ultimate expression in “The Singing Detective.” The result isn’t quite equal to that, one of the three or four best things TV productions I’ve ever seen, but it’s awfully close. Morrissey (David, not the king of mope-rock) is a revelation. I remembered him as the teenaged handyman who got an obsessive crush on Helen Mirren in “Cause Celebre” (which was shown in the U.S. on “Mystery” in the late 80’s) and dispatched her elderly husband, also as the similarly warped character who gets obsessive over Anna Friels in “Our Mutual Friend” (shown on BBC America about ten years ago). But the character he created in this, which on BBC America was called “Viva Blackpool!” (an allusion to the Elvis Presley movie “Viva Las Vegas!”–another song used in the show), was unbelievable. I still don’t understand how he failed to get the BAFTA TV award for this performance. And Sarah Parish…how could anyone watch this and not develop an instant crush? Of course, I’ve since seen both in other things, but I don’t think either has ever topped this.
Have you seen the shorter sequel, where Ripley Holden, fallen, comes back from Vegas as a born-again fundamentalist minister? It is, of course, not the same (and doesn’t have Parish), but it is pretty good. For the record, the song I couldn’t get out of my head after watching this was “Cupid” by Sam Cooke. Trivia note: did you know that an American version of this with Welsh actor Lloyd Owen and “presented” by Hugh Jackman, called “Viva Laughlin!” was tried in the states a couple of years ago and was a dismal failure?
R.D: I am looking forward to Allan’s response to you, but suffice to say now, I am extremely impressed (yet again) of your knowledge and insights into landmark television shows. Allan sent me over the DVD set of “Blackpool”, and I will watch it as soon as I get a chance. I am of course a HUGE fan of “The Singing Detective” and “Pennies From Heaven” (and they are definitely two of the greatest shows ever aired on television) and I worship Mr. Potter. “Blue Remembered Hills” is another I have the highest regard for.
What you discuss in your second paragraph I’ll admit I am unfamiliar with, though.
Really glad you enjoyed it, Finchy. Yes, I knew of the American version. I think the only American version of a British original that didn’t insult the original was All in the Family, though even that paled besides Till Death us do Part. Even Archie Bunker, hailed as a bigot extremis, was a pale shadow of the one and only Alf Garnett.
I sent Sam the DVD of Blackpool donkey’s months ago, but getting him to watch anything is the 13th labour of Hercules.
Viva Blackpool the sequel was forgettable, though I have it in the R2 DVD set. Tennant and Parish were sorely missed, but Morrissey was still good. Ripley Holden was arguably his finest hour, but he was also superb in Our Mutual Friend as Bradley Headstone (as you allude to above), State of Play, which I will discuss later this week, along with his most recent work in TV masterpiece Red Riding (coming to US cinemas later this year). He also reunited with Tennant in the recent Doctor Who Xmas Special.
For now, come back tomorrow, where the other side of the coin, there truly surreal Funland will follow it onto the site.
“I sent Sam the DVD of Blackpool donkey’s months ago, but getting him to watch anything is the 13th labour of Hercules.”
I explained to you that I would have time during the Easter break to watch this and a number of other things, but with a full-time job, the kid’s softball season beginning, extensive writing and blogging, vociferous movie going, concert-going and theatre-going, it has been impossible to sit in front of the plasma.
Allan, I love the British sitcoms that used to be a staple of public TV in the U.S. and which used to be shown on BBC America, which has now become a clone of American TV. I guess they feel Americans won’t watch anything that is too “British.” Of course, I’ve only seen what was available to us on the air, but some of my very favorites are: “Fawlty Towers,” “One Foot in the Grave,” all the “Blackadder” series (even the first one), “Ab Fab,” “The Royle Family,” and “To the Manor Born.” I also enjoyed an obscurity called “The Smoking Room.” And “Spaced” and “Red Dwarf” were both so weird that they were compellingly watchable. I also love the sketch shows (nobody does this like the Brits): “Monty Python” of course, “Harry Enfield,” “Little Britain,” “Brlliant!” aka. “The Fast Show.” “Catherine Tate” is inconsistent can can be quite funny. I’ll probably think of others later.
It may be heresy, but I actually prefer the American version of “The Office” to the British. (I trust you’re not thinking of the character “Finchy,” David Brent’s abominable best friend and idol when you call me that!) In the British version, David Brent seemed blissfully unaware of his own mediocrity and insufferability. In the American version, Michael Scott does seem award of this and desperately fighting to keep up appearances. It makes the character somehow more pathetic and therefore more difficult to dislike. I have to admit, though, that nobody can build a sitcom around an unlikeable character that everyone else has to tolerate the way the Brits do. The Americans ruined “All in the Family” when they tried to make Archie Bunker lovable. At least they let Ralph Kramden in “The Honeymooners” alone. Did you ever see a show called “People Like Us”? It preceded “The Office” and was built on the same premise. I liked it better.
No, the British The Office was far superior because it got over exactly the malaise of office life, and the very fact that he was unaware of how unpopular he really was that made it all the more cringemakingly brilliant.
Among British comedy shows, Fawlty Towers, Blackadder and The Office are the absolute pinnacle, and only The Honeymooners of American comedies comes close to them. Spaced is a cult classic, though very much a generation thing, Father Ted was generally brilliant (though series 2 was inferior to 1 and 3), and Steptoe and Son the greatest tragi-comedy of them all, almost Shakespearean in dimension. Then we go back to Hancock, one of the geniuses of the 50s.
For sketch shows Python stands tall because, with Not the Nine O’Clock News only excepted, they had original sketches. Little Britain and The Fast Show were very good of their type, but by just putting the same characters in little situations they were getting laughs before the thing had even been played, they were thus making laughs from previous success – lazy comedy to these eyes. Python continually pushed the envelope, and when it fell apart in 1974, they called it quits.
Mind you, for all that, someone should release the Harry Enfield Old Gits sketches, because they’re mini-masterpieces of curmudgeonly nastiness.
And no, you have nothing in common with Chris Finch, I promise.
What about The Good Life, Yes Minister, Minder, Dad’s Army, Rumpole, The Norman Conquests, and Hazel – just off the top of my head?
Fawlty Towers IS the pinnacle of sit-coms and Not the Nine O’Clock News for sketches.
Tony, some of these I know, some I don’t. I love “Rumpole.” Even though it’s comic, I don’t consider it a sitcom per se. In fact, I love everything the late, great John Mortimer ever wrote–his teleplay for “Brideshead Revisited,” his novels (especially “Paradise Postponed” and “Summer’s Lease,” both of which were wonderful mini-series), and his autobiographical volumes, especially “Clinging to the Wreckage.”
Allan, I never warmed up to “Father Ted.” Perhaps if you’re Catholic or Irish it resonates more. I do, however, recall one episode, where the alcoholic old priest drank the furniture polish and everyone thought he was dead–hilarious. But I do like Lineham’s “Hippies” (one episode was obviously based on the Oz obscenity trial that Mortimer participated in for the defense), “Black Books,” and “The IT Crowd,” which IFC recently showed in the States. I missed the third season, but they’ve started rerunning it, so I should be able to pick it up again soon. Didn’t he create the Ralph and Ted characters from “The Fast Show”? It seems I heard this in an interview with Charlie Higson and Paul Whitehead.
Fair comment RD re Rumpole, and I am sure Allan will take me to task on some of the the others, and I am drawing a long bow, but it is the comedic sit-com element of these shows that have nostalgia value for me.
Dad’s Army was a model, and Yes Minister brilliant in many ways, but just short of the absolute masterpieces, in the very strong second rank, both of them.
Another good call, I bumped into the series on BBC Prime when I lived in Warsaw and liked it very much. And yes, Morrissey is a beaut.
This was a great series. Both Morrissey and Tennant were fantastic – I also enjoyed it when they had a mini-Blackpool reunion in an episode of Doctor Who later, as you mentioned, Allan. And it was nice to see Parish doing something more than soap opera and proving she had more scope than she had been given up to then. As well as the Morrissey performances which have been mentioned so far, he was also great in the BBC/Andrew Davies ‘Sense and Sensibility’ and ‘South Riding’… the latter was far too short as an adaptation of the novel, but he was still excellent.
Yes, he was, Judy. A great actor and he’s Northumberland in The Hollow Crown on Saturday, too. Can’t wait.