Girls on Top

Four of the funniest comics around (Dawn French, Jennifer Saunders, Tracy Ullman and Ruby Wax) all together in one show? Hilarity abounds!

Girls on top has these four lasses playing four flatmates in a flat owned by Lady Carlton (Joan Greenwood).

Dawn French plays Amanda Ripley, hypocritical left-wing feminazi with a secret hobby of keeping pictures of penises in a box under her pillow.

Jennifer Saunders plays slow witted and childlike Jennifer Marsh who lives in a corner of the lounge room and is constantly victimized and bossed around by Amanda

Ruby Wax is failed American actress Shelly DuPont, who has a habit of being the annoying character that you wish would sometimes just tone it down a notch.

And Tracey Ullman plays (in the first series only) Bimbotic Candice Valentine.

Watching these four and Joan Greenwood in a show for which the script was edited by Ben Elton is certainly one of the funniest shows to grace television screens.

Come back GIRLS.

I hadn't seen this series since it was first shown in the eighties, so what an absolute joy it has been to rediscover it. Although recorded in the mid-80s, the humour hasn't dated one jot - there are few contemporary references which has helped the show stand the test of time remarkably well.

For me the star of the show was Tracey Ullman though. It wasn't long after this series that she defected to the US and it shows what a sad loss to British TV comedy she was.

Its also interesting to see Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders so early in their careers, although they seem to play "second fiddle" to Tracey Ullman and Ruby Wax in series one.

All in all, this show comes highly recommended.

This sitcom was a launching pad for Tracey Ullman, even Ruby Wax, Jennifer Saunders, and Dawn French in the cast as four unlikely roommates in a Chelsea flat with Lady Carlton (played by the wonderful Joan Greenwood). The series is mindless fun to watch and even thirty years later. Tracey Ullman has always been one of my favorite comics, a British Lucille Ball. She and the executive producer (her husband Allan McKeown) would move to America and produce her show. Tracey is still talented and funny even here. Ruby Wax OBE plays Shelly Dupont annoyingly but lovable too. She met her husband, Ed Bye (director) on the series. Jennifer Saunders and Dawn French's professional comedic partnership is first displayed here. French plays Amanda as a left wing feminist and funny. Saunders plays a moody roommate. Each roommate has a character developed to show their strengths. This series would not be one of British comedy's best but watchable and lovable all as well. You can't help but enjoy it.

Given the absolutely stellar cast - Jennifer Saunders, Dawn French, Ruby Wax and Tracy Ullman - I was surprised not to have heard of this show. It doesn't seem to be very well known (has it been repeated on TV?) but watching it, one can see why.

There are some funny moments, and it's definitely worth a watch if you're fans of any of the actors.

The main problem is Ruby Wax's character: just overly loud, shouty and grating. I kept wanting to turn the volume down whenever she had a scene.

Tracy Ullman's character is also a bit too much, but would work as the "ditsy clown" with just French and Saunders and their straighter characters. But with Ullman's constant squeaking and Wax's constant shouting, it's all too much.

I was reminded of Babes in the Wood (what an odd ensemble that was, with Jacko from Brushstrokes inexplicably hanging around three women half his age) but at least with that, there were just three girls including only one "clown" (the uber ditsy girl brilliantly played by . And it suffered in the second series when Samantha Janus left to be replaced with an over-the-top character rather than another straightman.

Anyway, give this a go if you come across a copy. It's fun for all the guest stars if nothing else: Hugh Laurie is particularly wonderful.

I can only say that I was very disappointed with Girls on Top. I recently watched the first DVD with the first three episodes and found it to be more annoying than watchable.

I expected a lot more, considering what a big French and Saunders fan I am, but even knowing that this series was created before their more-celebrated partnership began doesn't make this show any funnier. Dawn French has the only semi-likable character on the show ... with Tracy Ullman and Ruby Wax being completely over the top in their portrayals (Wax is an American, and I shudder to think what the British must really think of us).

Sure, I laughed a couple of times, but most of the time I just strived to try and understand what was being said. It was interesting to see Alan Rickman (one of my favorite actors) in a bit part in the first episode as well, but there really wasn't much to redeem this britcom.

If you like these actresses, check out their later work ... avoid wasting your time with Girls on Top.