The New Statesman

The New Statesman and Black Adder.

Two brilliant pieces of work everybody should see.

(Btw. Rik Mayall stars in both of those series. He's Lord Flashheart in Bladders)

New Statesman sometimes seems to me as if it is Black Adder 5: Present Politics... (or something like that)

It's distinguished, utterly funny and just GOOD.

Go, buy it, see it.

Been a fan of Riks for years. But this tops the lot. The character Alan Beresford B'stard and Rik Mayall go hand in hand. They were meant for each other. Such a refreshingly original comedy series, with so much scope for political satire, plots, characters, you name it. An excellent supporting cast with characters Piers, Sarah, Sir Stephen Baxter, Sir Greville, Geof Diquead and many more.

Each series has its own uniqueness. The first series entrenched with 80s Thatcherism, we all remember those days. The nineties comes in with the faceless John Major, and Europe with all trimmings. Alan B'stard as MEP for Obersaxon in Germany is quite brilliant. This is especially good as it gives him the chance to lay into Europe and take the mickey out of our European neighbours, especially the Germans, or the krauts as he would say.

I suggest anybody who loves British comedy and political satire at its very best should watch it. It just a pity it has ceased production. Would have loved to see Alan tackle Labour and Tony Blair, knowing him he probably would have defected!

I watched this when i was a kid, i didn't really like politics but i liked this and Spitting Image. One of the reasons i think i watched this was because it was on on a sunday night and my mum let me stay up to watch it. I found it hilarious though and still do. I recently watched Series 1 and it dawned upon me that Alan B'Stard is infact a more evil version of Blackadder which is probably why i liked The New Statesman so much. I get more of the political jokes now but they are out of date and redundant but there's more to it than that. Will never be considered a classic due to it being about British politics but was one of the few great comedy sitcoms that appeared on ITV because most of the greats appeared on the BBC. I'd like to see it repeated so i hope some ITV or Sky executive reads this and sorts it out.

This is a hilarious political-cum comedy, this series reminds me instantly of the political bits in Little Britain.

Rik mayall at his best, TNS has more of an intellectual side than his usual fast witted comedies boyish humour and innuendo's aplenty, which is quite political correct in this respect! :p

A sheer classic, lots of fun and humor to be had, just don't watch it in front of your inlaws, unless they like the show of course! Beg borrow but don't steal a copy! watch it, laugh it and you're gonna really enjoy it!

In fact, all this talk has got those memories flooding back again, i'm gonna order the DVD set now! ;) 10/10

When I first sat down to view my first helping of "The new statesman" I was of course expecting a programme with a fantastic mix of Rik Mayall's wonderful wit and charm, his comic acting genius and the creative talent of Maurice Gran and Laurence Marks. I'll be honest... I was not disappointed! It had all of these along with bag fulls of beautiful political corruption thrown in at every opportunity. A treat from beginning to end, while Rik's character, (suitably named "Alan B'stard) managed week in week out to be the most cruel, obnoxious and all round disturbingly corrupt um, "B'stard" on TV, yet still came away with the audience loving him. The only warning that I will give is that if you're looking for another "Bottom" then this is not the place! In fact the ideal viewer for this show would be a half-crazed political mess who adores Rik Mayall's wiley wit and charm... Oh, and it would help if you're a bit left wing, and if you're right wing... Have a laugh at yourself!