Opinion: Lucy Watson asks, ‘Is The Comic Strip still fit for purpose?’
The Comic Strip...
This year sees Channel 4 hit its thirty year anniversary. Free from the restraints of political neutrality forced upon the BBC, Channel 4 began life promising a platform not only for ‘youth and entertainment’, but for the youths themselves.
So in entered The Comic Strip Presents. Right on the launch night. And if the line up on the 2nd November 1982 was to set the tone for the channel’s reign, Channel 4 firmly marked itself out as the home of culturally anarchic independent film. During the thirty years which have lapsed since the channel’s launch, The Comic Strip team have channel hopped to the BBC and back again, had some serious hits and some equally serious misses (Space Virgins From the Planet Sex, anyone?) But what remained consistent throughout was their loyal fanbase. I wasn’t there from the start; I wasn’t even born; but Rik Mayall and co. certainly still defined my childhood.
The latest instalment, The Hunt for Tony Blair, pulled in approximately two million viewers – a distinct rise from the slot’s average figures. There’s no doubt that the series is still relevant, but the question of exactly who is watching still remains. Do the youth of today still want to ‘stick it to the man’? And if so, is comedy still the preferred avenue?
It might not make as great a statement as, say, burning down Topshop, but satire can still separate you from your elders, conservative society, and those of us whom consider the mockery of such British institutions as the Enid Bylton series to be sacrilegious. Who doesn’t want to be part of a collect force for change, for paving the way for inclusivity? Whilst it’s probably extreme to say that in its hayday The Comic Strip was a cultural revolution, there was certainly nothing else on television like it.
As it broke away from the so-called ‘Oxbridge axis’ of TV comedy in the form of Not the Nine O’Clock News etc., it brought with it the sense that comedy and television were no longer restricted to the educated elite. But in 2012, when any man and his dog can get on TV, is that still relevant? And when kids can drop actual grenades as opposed to metaphorical ones to blow apart everyone’s preconceived notions of pastiche, who really cares?
The Hunt for Tony Blair, whilst successful, did hark back to The Comic Strip’s more self-indulgent days. It was a treat for old fans, and most definitely the actors, but if it isn’t recruiting new fans and causing a stir amongst our youth, is it really the same show? Kids might not get excited over political satire anymore, but what they do like is a bit of controversy. So hitting GOLD as they hit Channel 4 thirty years ago, The Comic Strip is set to keep on going.
The new episode, provisionally set to be aired in the autumn, will be entitled Five Go to Rehab and revisits George, Julian, Dick and Anne, 29 years after we left them drugged up on acid. And it soon becomes clear that 1983 wasn’t the last time they got mixed up with mescaline. Perhaps drug addictions will prove a successful way to connect with a modern day audience.
Either way, The Comic Strip definitely intend to cause a stir. It’s even rumoured that director, writer and all-round ‘father’ of the series, Peter Richardson, will be crawling out of his hole to reprise his role of Julian. Now that is serious.
Maybe all our questions won’t be answered, and maybe they are just intending to target old-time fans. But I’m extremely excited. And you should be, too.
