RUDDY HELL! IT'S HARRY & PAUL!
Back in the 80s Harry Enfield burst onto our screens as Stavros ('ello, peeps!") and Loadsamoney in alternative comedy benchmark Friday Night Live. He was the Sacha Baron Cohen of his day, leading to cult sketch show Harry Enfield's Television Programme, which had morphed into the more successful Harry Enfield & Chums by the mid-90s.
At that time, Harry Enfield was the Golden Boy of British comedy, appealing to wide audiences with his Dick Emery-meets-Viz characters. The naff Smashie & Nicie radio DJ pastiche led to Radio 1 axing half their staff, "Only Meeee!" irritated a generation of teachers and Kevin The Teenager became the figurehead of moaning adolescents.
Around the mid-90s, friend and co-writer/performer Paul Whitehouse flew the nest to form The Fast Show. Whitehouse's own project was faster, sharper and more incisive than Harry's comparatively cosy creations. So, while Enfield started the 90s as the king of the comedy castle... Whitehouse had assumed the crown by its close.
But in the new millennium, both performers have floundered. The Fast Show finished years back and Whitehouse has struggled to be taken seriously (Happiness) or find another comedy of equal quality since.
Meanwhile, British comedy got edgier (Ali G), political post-9/11, darker (League Of Gentlemen), satirical (Borat) or reality-based (The Office). The only Enfield-influenced comedy that worked was Little Britain, itself a world away from Harry's tone with its coarse language and sexual themes.
Then Enfield made the fatal error of signing his soul away to Sky. The result was the low-rated and critically-mauled Brand Spanking New Show. It featured new (unfunny) characters and a quicker pace (Fast Show-inspired), but the quality of the writing wasn't there. It seemed that Harry just wasn't Harry without Paul.
So rejoice, because the two friends have reunited for another sketch series, entitled Ruddy Hell! It's Harry & Paul and, for the first time, they share equal billing. Although Harry's name comes first, but I'm sure that alphabetical!
While Ruddy Hell adds nothing to the sketch show genre (a backwards step for Whitehouse, a comforting one for Enfield), it was more entertaining than I was expecting. Interestingly for fans, there were some notable changes in the show's style...
There didn't seem to be any catchphrases (the signature of both performers) and there was more emphasis on playing twisted versions of existing people (U2, Nelson Mandela, Bill Gates, etc.) Enfield cut his teeth as an impressionist on satirical 80s puppet show Spitting Image, but it was strange to be reminded he hasn't always created his own characters.
But yes, as with all sketch shows... it was hit-and-miss. Some of the targets were too obvious and overdone (Bill Gates and Steve Jobs "out-nerding" each other), others were obvious but amusing (working class builders mulling over highbrow topics), a few harked back to yesteryear (Laurel & Hardy make Brokeback Mountain), some were funny for the performance (Mandela selling alcopops), a few seemed only to exist for the make-up possibilities (Jamie and Oliver, two obese kids), but only a minority pushed into new territory (an unassuming man feeling belittled by foreign shopgirls, or dining toffs showing off a Geordie man like a pet dog.)
Still, it offered brief moments of fun and the quality of Whitehouse and Enfield as performers remains unquestionable. If the writing is there, Harry and Paul can get the job done, no question. Ruddy Hell was like welcoming back new friends, but friends whose best days are definitely behind them now.
I'm conflicted because, just like you don't like to tell your middle-aged uncle he's not funny once you hit your teens, I don't want to tell Harry and Paul their return was only sparodically amusing.
I used to love these guys. I still love these guys. So I'll keep watching, out of fondness mainly, but performers of their quality have earned some loyalty, I feel. For now.
