Saturday, December 17, 2011

Boom-Boom-Bang-Bang-Baby!


Horrible Histories has again taken the big one at the British Comedy Awards! Congratulations to the whole team, both on camera and off, who put this fabulous kids show together.

Never heard of it?  Don't worry; perhaps that means you're simply not in the orbit of a child...I came across it on ABC3 by mistake last year and have been hooked ever since.

Comedy Award 2010 for Best Sketch Show
Terry Deary's award winning books are the foundation of the programme and coupled with sheer writing talent, amazing musical and lyrical composition, solid historical context and an excellent cast, they have indeed made "the funniest historical comedy since Black Adder" as declared by the Daily Telegraph.

Writer Laurence Rickard has confessed to being just slightly influenced by his obvious love of Monty Python. I can see that, but the show is not purely derivative and deserves to be thought of more broadly, and with more intricacy and depth to it than the brilliant, abstract Python.








Bob Hale's War of the Roses Report (aka Laurence Rickard)

Who would think 5 years ago that my niece and nephew   (is there a collective noun for a niece and nephew? - they shall henceforth be referred to as the "Niephew") would be reeling off historical facts and asking about people of ancient Egypt, the Aztecs and details of the Wars of the Roses (above) and the Doomsday Book?  Wow.  Should they choose to pursue history they're well onto it.  If they don't, they have a better general knowledge for historical context than most grown ups currently do. Nice work.

Special mention must therefore be made of  the Accu-Rats who do the nit-picky research and ensure the historical detail is accountable, relevant and reflecting current thought.  This all ends up being the one, all encompassing tag line.  It is indeed "funny because it's true."  With libraries and research museums currently struggling, (particularly in the UK) the popularity of this show is heartening indeed.


Mat Baynton's swinging Stone Age Song

Still on my soap box, a doff of the cap last, but not at all least, to composer Ritchie Webb and lyricist Dave Cohen.  I expect they're included in the general writing team of course, but the HH songs are so funny, punny, clever, memorable, musical, and a good in-joke for the big kids. Check out  William Wallace meets Billy Idol  and Roman Emperors do Michael Jackson.  It's really the savvy songs that make the great characters stick in the brain.  ...Sometimes for days....!   My niephew know the complete oeuvre, and on our 7 hour journey to a summer holiday coming up, I expect we'll be singing all of them for hours (deep breath).

So what is the relevance of all this stuff to contemporary Australia? Well, it's world history and we're in a global village, people. It's relevant. Get over the cringe, colonial or otherwise and join in the fun. (I'll skip the MA thesis on cultural cringe).

King Charles II (Mat Baynton) and the Blingettes
So before they get too complacent I'd like to set the challenge to the HH team to reach into more dangerous waters the history of the British Empire, having embarked on "Awesome USA" and "Fabulous French".

Larry or Mat reading this? I really think you guys can address those years of empire (and yes, you've touched on it - nice one Bobsy!) without getting bogged down in complexity, political correctness or getting too fraught.  Perhaps "Crazy Convicts",  "Meanacing Maori", "Ingenious Indians", "Affable Africans" sets the nerves going a bit much, but I lay down the mediaeval gauntlet to you.    Thanks for the best show of the year.


2 comments:

Musical Lottie said...

It's really nice to read some thoughtful, grown-up love for HH - fangirling I guess has its place somewhere but it doesn't make anyone take the programme seriously!

I loved the books when I was younger - I remember devouring them many times over - but I'm useless at visualising things if I have nothing to which I can relate them, so I never actually understood history from a human point of view (especially as my childhood was really quite sheltered.) Horrible Histories the TV series has really helped with that; although I know not to take it all as gospel*, it goes a very long way to putting some human context around the facts for me.

(*I know all the facts are correct but one cannot expect scrupulous accuracy with costumes / locations / etc.)

So for the above alone I love the programme. It's also side-splittingly funny, the comic references (and the odd bit of sarcasm) for the adult audience are brilliant; the songs are perfect for sneakily educating kids and getting them singing (a BIG thumbs-up from me) and Bob's Reports are just fantastic.

I'm glad the cast got the opportunity to read your post - I'm sure they see plenty of fangirling but it must be heart-warming for them to read some sensible, adult love for their work :)

The Editrix said...

Amen!

Thank you for this post. Nice to see I'm not the only Australian older than about 14 who loves this show.

Cheers,
Elise