I started watching it from Series One, Episode One, because it was one the then-new BBC3 and looked a bit 'naughty'. The first series is obviously made on a low budget and doesn't have great production values, but from the first scene with Jenny I knew I was hooked. It was difficult to work out exactly what it was, because although it was funny, well acted and with witty dialogue, it could also take dark turns - at times very dark.
Series Two arrived with a brighter look that made me feel as if I'd just had cataracts removed. The characters were now getting more roundly drawn and the in-jokes were already starting to flourish. Never has there been a sit-com (seems funny to call it that, but that's undoubtedly what it is) which could hold together such a surreal and adventurous plot with so many brilliant characters. Some of the story lines are as truly ingenious as they are outrageous. Few taboos go unbroken and some seriously bad taste is made incredibly funny. It is a credit to the cast how they manage to flit from high comedy to horror and tragedy in the blink of an eye. Somebody said it wasn't funny: there is an episode in Series Two which is the funniest thing I've ever seen on television in my entire life; you'll have to guess which one I'm talking about.
I bought Series One to Four as a DVD box set but missed some of the later ones due to an erratic DVD recorder (remember those?). I seem to remember one of the later series being not quite up to the same standard as the rest, but I don't think I'm giving too much away if I say it was possibly due to the shock of seeing a suddenly-slimline Johnny Vegas, who it has to be said is superb throughout. The entire cast (and you can play, 'Where the hell have I seen him/her before?) wanted another series but it was not to be. Perhaps somebody in the higher echelons of the BBC was getting worried about the popularity of such a wicked programme, but perhaps it's actually for the best for it to end on a high (no pun intended). It seems criminal that it has never been repeated, but with the appointment of the new government puppet of a Director General, the chances of that are slimmer than ever before. It seems that the only way of seeing it now is to buy a complete box set of all sever series for £25. Quite honestly, it will be the best £25 you'll ever spend.
