Set during Christmas 1988, Lol is haunted by the devastating events that took place two and a half years before. She and Woody both find themselves struggling to cope with their lives without each other after he leaves the gang. Lol is carrying the burden of her guilt, whilst Woody is trying to build a domestic life with a new girlfriend and a potential promotion at work. Shaun has started drama college and, although still in a relationship with Smell, he has grown close to a girl performing in his Christmas play.
The main story is set in a British Military Intelligence Office in Whitehall during 1956, where a small group of foreign affairs analysts find their quiet existence disrupted by the Suez Crisis. Ewan McGregor plays Mick Hopper, who is doing his national service as an interpreter of Russian documents. Bored with his job, Hopper spends his days creating fantasy daydreams that involve his work colleagues breaking into contemporary hit songs. Louise Germaine plays Sylvia Berry, the blonde wife of the violent Corporal Pete Berry (Douglas Henshall). Sylvia is an object of desire for Mick's fellow clerk Private Francis Francis and a middle-aged pipe-organist named Harold Atterbow (Roy Hudd). Unlike the street-wise Hopper, Francis is a clumsy Welsh intellectual whose academic career has been interrupted by his army call up. The appearance of the bookish niece of a seconded American officer enables the two conscripts to pair off with suitable partners, after initial mismatching. Some of the side themes include the influence of American rock and roll on English society, the gulf between the senior analysts, who are regular army officers, and the conscripted other ranks, the work of Russian playwright Chekhov, and the appreciation of opulent theatre pipe organs. The unusual context — a military culture transplanted into a civil service style office environment — reflects Potter's own national service during the 1950s. While this piece has the form of a romantic comedy, unlike the less conventional works of Dennis Potter's middle period, it is not without graphic sex and violence, as well as Potter's characteristic flashes of dreamlike imagery. The centrepiece of this production is the surreal musical sequence set to the song In a Persian Market.
A Bit of Fry & Laurie was a British television sketch comedy show, starring and written by Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie, broadcast by the BBC between 1989 and 1995. Running for four series, it totalled 26 episodes (including a 35 minute special in 1987).
Series four (1995)
[edit]Episode 1
Guests: John Bird, Jane Booker
Sketches:
Grey and Hopeless
Guests Introduction
Blame
Charter
Jane's Poem (NOTE: Script appeared in first script book as Stephen's Poem, but the poem is the same, except the line about his wife dying is changed to Jane's grandfather being murdered.)
Smell
All We Gotta' Do (song; Laurie performed this song when he hosted "Saturday Night Live" in 2006)
Channel Changer
Wonderful Life
Cocktail Ending: Golden Meteorite
[edit]Episode 2
Guests: Fiona Gillies, Kevin McNally
Sketches:
Dog Hamper
Hugh's Bandage
Child Abuse
Guests Introduction
Going for Gold
I'm in love with Steffi Graf (song)
Lovers' Helper
Fascion
Avenger
Operational Criteria
Cocktail Ending: Long, Confident Suck
[edit]Episode 3
Guests: Imelda Staunton, Clive Mantle
Sketches:
Vox Pops
Guests Introduction
Barman
Interruptus
Little Girl (song)
Making Tea
For Some Reason Angry
Don't Be Dirty
Cocktail Ending: South Seas Vulvic Wart
[edit]Episode 4
Guests: Caroline Quentin, Patrick Barlow
Sketches:
Good Evening
Guests Introduction
Soccer School
Dalliard: Models
Hugh Interviewing Guests
The polite rap (song)
Head Gardener
Gelliant Gutfright("Flowers For Wendy")
Cocktail Ending: A Quick One With You, Stephen
[edit]Episode 5
Guests: Phyllida Law, Stephen Moore
Sketches:
Oprah Winfrey
Guests Introduction
Grand Prix
Tribunal
Red and Shiny
Pooch
Disgusting
Wasps
Cocktail Ending: Swinging Ballsack
[edit]Episode 6
Guests: None
Sketches:
Stolen Money
Young Tory of the Year
Variety
Gossiping Heads
Death Threat
What I Mind (Misunderstood) (Song)
Honda
The Duke of Northampton
Cocktail Ending: Silver Prostate
[edit]Episode 7
Guests: Janine Duvitski, Robert Daws
Sketches:
Guests Introduction
Religianto
Consent
Sophisticated Song (song)
Fast Monologue
Telephone Alert
Truancy
Cocktail Ending: A Modern Britai
When Timothy is called into his father's study for a word, it is revealed to him that he is the chosen one and he must set out to kill Pewnack the Destroyer, the Dark One, the Beast - who lives in Saffron Walden. The show closes with Hugh providing accompaniment on the piano as Stephen mixes up a 'Whisky Thunder'.
The first of a new experimental series in which Stephen Fry will be played by Hugh Laurie and Hugh Laurie will be played by Stephen Fry. The part of 'A Bit' will be played by And, and the part of 'Of' will be played by Paddy Ashdown. The BBC takes no responsibility for articles of clothing removed on the premises.