Watching through the new Likely Lads DVD, which includes the mini-episode made for A Christmas Night With The Stars, which they didn't bother to put on the last two releases. I'd seen it before, because it's on YouTube, but watching it in sequence is interesting. youtu.be/J9-I1pHcaOE?... - ThreadSky

eddierobson.bsky.social • 64 days ago

Watching through the new Likely Lads DVD, which includes the mini-episode made for A Christmas Night With The Stars, which they didn't bother to put on the last two releases. I'd seen it before, because it's on YouTube, but watching it in sequence is interesting. https://youtu.be/J9-I1pHcaOE?si=Rxx9BClR0nT4RxMf

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simonjellis.bsky.social•64 days ago

Really good dvd release and pleasantly surprised to hear @tobyhadoke.bsky.social moderating the commentaries.

chipperhay.bsky.social•55 days ago

LL and WHTTLL were both guilty like many other sitcoms, of using generic ‘northern’ accents. 60’s LLads wasn’t specifically Tyneside where WHTTLL was. Yes, Bolam was Sunderland Bewes WestYorks (a showbiz Chelsea fan) Genuine Geordie accents/actors were rare in those days.
Still fab though but….

rallen78.bsky.social•64 days ago

Great post thanks. I have the last box and was pondering if this was worth getting, is the picture quality any different?

eddierobson.bsky.social•64 days ago

I've been meaning to get the old DVD out and check, as it's a long time since I've watched it. The new one isn't pristine but I think it is better. I'll let you know.

rallen78.bsky.social•64 days ago

That’s I appreciate it, i can’t really afford to double dip but it’s my favourite tv series! So would value your thoughts! This release caught me by suprise

eddierobson.bsky.social•64 days ago

Yeah, when I learned about it I'd literally texted a friend a week earlier saying "Man I wish they'd do a decent DVD of The Likely Lads with all the episodes in the right order but I guess the moment has passed"

rallen78.bsky.social•64 days ago

I wonder if they plan to re-release any other classic series ? I’ve just bought a load for christmas! Eek

eddierobson.bsky.social•64 days ago

As noted by host Jack Warner, The Likely Lads was still very new (the second episode only aired two days previously) and it was on BBC2, which still wasn't available in most of the country - including, ironically, the north, where The Likely Lads is generically set (they don't name the location).

eddierobson.bsky.social•64 days ago

Christmas Night With The Stars aired on BBC1, making this would be most viewers' first encounter with The Likely Lads. Clement and La Frenais made the most of this opportunity. Though it's only eight minutes long, it's funnier than the two "proper" episodes so far.

eddierobson.bsky.social•64 days ago

And it turns into an argument about something from their childhoods - introducing the wistfulness and sense of time passing that would define WHTTLL?, but isn't at all a feature of the early episodes of TLL, which are about two modern young lads drinking and going on the pull.

jonnymorris.bsky.social•64 days ago

Isn't it where we learn that Bob won't miss an episode of Doctor Who? Or is that in a proper episode?

eddierobson.bsky.social•64 days ago

It's Terry's dad, in episode one.

eddierobson.bsky.social•64 days ago

I find it really interesting their first exposure to a wider audience touches on those themes. It's very light - Bob frustrates Terry with his immaculate memory of the contents of old Rupert The Bear annuals - but it's instantly reminiscent of Storm In A Tea Chest from WHTTLL?

petercampbell13001.bsky.social•64 days ago

I watched it on Xmas night. It's very light. Rides on its charm. Benny Hill, the next act on, is genuinely brilliant.

jonathancoe.bsky.social•64 days ago

This hadn’t occurred to me before but it’s a great observation. Tucking it away for when I write my book-length study of nostalgia in WHTTLL? (my retirement project).

drmatthewsweet.bsky.social•64 days ago

I hadn’t understood this was a sketch. Thought it was a clip from a longer show. Now I know why this was the Likely Lads bit my parents and their friends always mentioned.

eddierobson.bsky.social•64 days ago

NB - when I said the location is generic, I was referring to The Likely Lads, not Whatever Happened To The Likely Lads?, where the location becomes specifically Newcastle. I don't think they ever pin it down in the original series, though I might have missed a reference somewhere.

mrtrellis.bsky.social•63 days ago

It's generic 'North.' Bolam is a Mackem and Bewes was from West Yorkshire and each uses his own accent. Bewes is noticeably much more Tyneside (he starts using Geordie expressions such as 'pet lamb') in the explicitly Newcastle-based revival.

davidbrunt.bsky.social•64 days ago

Isn't the cycling race to Whitley Bay and back?

lowfeller.bsky.social•64 days ago

Although the opening footage is Newcastle, particularly Cruddas Park & Elswick

eddierobson.bsky.social•64 days ago

That's in Whatever Happened To The Likely Lads?, where the location does become specific. I don't think they ever pin it down in the original series.

lowfeller.bsky.social•64 days ago

Ooh, yes. I stand corrected

davidbrunt.bsky.social•64 days ago

It was Edward Trunk.

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