Noise to Signal

Login disabled.

Filthy Rich & Catflap

Fourth wall? What fourth wall?

Rik Mayall and Adrian Edmondson are somewhat unique in British comedy for having 'grown up' (if that's the correct phrase) through their comedy. They started as The Dangerous Brothers, using the persona of two violent teenagers, although the violence was only directed against each other, went through a fictional studenthood as Rik and Vyvyan Bastard, and ended up as middle-aged Richie Rich and Eddie Hitler, perhaps their longest-running characters.

Ralph Filthy. Ew.

But there is a little-known phase that has dropped from many people's memories, and often dismissed as a lower-rent Young Ones: Filthy Rich & Catflap, in which Richie Rich and Eddie Catflap try and earn a living as an actor and bodyguard respectively. Richie is twenty-something, a virgin, and an embarrassment to anyone working with him. Eddie is his permanently drunk bodyguard, who has little regard for Richie's safety, and even less for his own. They are not at all helped by Richie's agent, Ralph Filthy, perhaps the finest comic performance Nigel Planer has ever given. Ralph is Richie's agent, a manipulating, lying, drunk hypochondriac. Mark Lewisohn in The Radio Times Guide to TV Comedy has the ultimate description of Filthy in "..a feckless nonentity of colossal uselessness..." who sold off his granny a long time ago, and who heads a string of disreputable businesses. Not that he'd admit it, though: "Honestly, just because I run a string of discount brothels, everyone seems to think I'm a dirty old man!". When Eddie challenges him on this, he replies: "Eddie, my leisure establishments are totally allowable. And anyway, I get the kids off Youth Training Schemes. (addresses audience) The Iron Lady looks after small businessman like me.". This sets the tone for the whole series, which is full of jibes at the contemporary government, often addressed to the audience. There is no fourth wall, continuing the trend from The Young Ones, which often featured the characters addressing the audience.

Although there's lots of comedy violence, especially in the first episode, this isn't quite slapstick. Characters get hurt, and even killed, with the body count in the first episode reaching five. But then, they were mostly only milkmen. The violence in the series never reaches the heady heights of episode one again, but you can't really top a plot line which concludes with the police dumping the bodies of convicts in a river. Naturally this is excused by Rik and Ade, out of character, as lazy, and Rik ends by saying "...next time you get beaten up, try calling an alternative comedian!". Interestingly, this slapstick was carried over to Bottom, but never with quite the same malevolence.

Chris Barrie, channelling Peter Harris

For me, the peak of the series is in episode two, where Richie is booked to appear on Ooer, Sounds a Bit Rude, an obvious parody of Blankety Blank (this may have been an inspiration for the far darker Blankety Blank parody in the 2003 Comic Relief, written by Peter Serafinowicz and Robert Popper). There are some fantastic performances here, especially from Chris Barrie, who plays the apoplectic director, constantly shouting at Harry Enfield's floor manager and his cameramen. At Dimension Jump 2004, Chris Barrie told me that the director he based his performance on was Peter Harris, director of Spitting Image, amongst other fine productions. According to Chris, Mr Harris insisted on a vase of lupins with every job, and I can believe him.

In this episode, Richie tries desperately to be a celebrity, annoying everyone with his anecdotes: "My Dick was fantastic!", and driving the director towards an heart attack with his interruptions. Notable quotes from the director here (although, in my opinion, they're ALL notable) are "Julian! We're two minutes to air! Who's the ugly bastard doing all the chatting?", "Sit on him! Sack him, sack his people, bankrupt his company!","Close up on the pleb...I said close up on the pleb, not right up her nose, for god's sake! Ex-camera five, good luck at the job centre, my darling!".

Gareth Hale gives perhaps the finest performance of his career as 'Ivor Whopper', the host, saying to his audience: "Thank you, thank you, for giving me 'the clap'". Richie's answer to the question "I never impress the girls because I've only got a small....", "PENIS!", is a nice subversion of the humour, and this is carried on to its extreme, calumniating in a fight between the guests for the camera. Molly Slocombe, who saved the show from Richie by making pussy jokes, tells the audience: "When I say me pussy, I really mean me _!", before getting shoved out of view, and the comedy gay states: "I'm homosexual! Isn't it hilarious?!". But this isn't the end of the fun. Yet another of the reasons why episode two is so good is a rather impressive turn by none other than The Nolans, all of whom Richie fancies like mad. They find him in their dressing room after the recording, dressed in one of their costumes, and blackmail him by taking a picture and telling him they will give it back if they get a thousand pounds from him. At first, Richie and Eddie try and get the proceeds of Filthy's sale of one of his cleaner's paintings by killing him, but this simply results in a Benny Hill-esque chase around the flat, and the money being flushed down the toilet by mistake. Filthy is philosophical about it, despite planning to gamble with the money: "Hello, Nasty John's Cock and Dog fights?...Have you got any children fighting today?". The way Richie finally gets this money is the final reason why this is my favourite episode: Fry and Laurie play an art dealer and his associate, who buy all of Eddie's pathetic attempts at art, and display it, winning plaudits from art critics. They pay off the Nolans with the result of the dealer's experiment in just how sheep-like art buyers are, and the Nolans perform I'm in the Mood for Dancing in the flat at the end of the episode.

The third episode demonstrates the closeness of Richie and Eddie's relationship. They hate each other, yet depend on each other to bring some order to their lives. Their taunting of each other is very sibling-like, echoing the Dangerous Brothers and Rik and Vyvyan. Richie's dinner party, to which top celebs like Jimmy Tarbuck are invited, is a perfect opportunity for them to slag off the 'old school' comics, who were regularly presenting game shows at the time. However, the real innovation comes with Richie and Eddie paying their local newsagent a visit. They walk through a door to the next set, with the camera following them from the side. Eddie comments that the newsagent has got a lot closer ever since they moved studios, and Richie tells him off, telling him that he's 'spoiling the magic' for the audience. As part two of their desired magazine is free with part one, they simply steal part two and leave. When the woman behind the counter threatens to phone the police, Richie reminds her that it's the end of her scene and taunts her. Richie and Eddie's bizarre lifestyle is revealed in an exchange where Richie taunts Eddie for not going out with girls. Eddie retorts that he went out with one last week, and Richie replies "Eddie, that was your mother!". Eddie exclaims "I still got a snog! Well, it was more of a fight, really.". Their immersion in light entertainment hell is reinforced in the fifth episode, when Eddie is driven mad by Richie's burbling about Tom O'Connor, leading to Eddie's smashing of the television after Richie suggests watching Name That Tune on the video.

ARSES

More of Ralph Filthy's dubious character is revealed by his entrance in the fifth episode, with him declaring that "The front door was closed, so I picked the lock.". He then proceeds to let the bathroom out to a young couple with a baby, and calms Richie and Eddie's objections with the news that a couple of students are living in their bin. Much is made of Filthy's dodgy business interests and his exploitative nature, all of which is justified, but conversely, Richie admits in the third episode that he doesn't pay him, and Filthy not only manages to get Richie an appearance in Ooer, Sounds a Bit Rude, but also gets him a spot on TV-AM. This is another highlight of the series, with a fantastic performance from Anne Diamond. The prospect of getting up at 4.30am forces Richie and Eddie to try and spend a quiet night in. As the TV is broken, they attempt a game of Trivial Pursuit, at which Eddie catches Richie cheating in the mirror. This prompts a melancholic comment from Eddie: "The pathetic sight of the man who once did the continuity links on TVS reduced to grubby cheating to get the better of his half-drunk minder. This, if you don't mind me saying so, is the state of Thatcher's Britain.". Richie's ranting that Eddie's questions are too easy also provokes Eddie to turn to the audience and explain that the producer assures him that this is what it's like playing Trivial Pursuit, and therefore this is a brilliantly observed gag. Naturally, they end up in "...Lager Frenzy!", subsidised by Richie's impending TV spot, and turn up to the studios late, having gone on a club crawl via Liverpool and Southampton. Filthy is annoyed at their appearance, having hoped that his instructions would produce the opposite effect, as he is trying to get on air to plug his smutty book. As Anne Diamond tells him, his plan has failed. Filthy says: "You really are as sweet and innocent as you appear on the television, aren't you?". She replies: "Yes, I am. I'm lovely.", playing it perfectly. Richie is incapable of reviewing the newspapers, and ends up reading out gossip about himself. As the police arrive, Richie and Eddie both point their bottoms at the camera, and the caption 'continued next week' appears.

The series is firmly entrenched in the tacky end of British showbusiness, something which perhaps made it more of a cult than its predecessor. While almost anyone could find jokes about students amusing (although The Young Ones was always much more than that), it takes a particular type of person to appreciate jokes about Jimmy Tarbuck, Bruce Forsyth, Kenny Lynch and Freddie Starr. In fact, Spitting Image were doing the same sort of thing at the same time in their Komic Book, and of course that was aimed at the same sort of audience: politically aware types who didn't have that much time for the sort of comedians dominating mainstream comedy at the time. Although the series could be accused of self-indulgence, this is almost missing the point. It was written for the enjoyment of the writers, the cast, and whoever was willing to go along with them, giving the show a rather intimate and informal feel. The overall feeling of being party to a big in-joke is heightened by the abbreviations of unlikely words: 'trub' for trouble, or 'priz' for prison. My personal favourite is the phrase used by Eddie after he's discovered that Richie has accidentally killed the milkman: "Quick, let's get the bod in the cub before it starts to whiff!".

Richie Rich, being disturbing

Filthy Rich & Catflap is unusual in that the 'fourth wall' between the cast and the audience doesn't exist. The cast often make fun of the script to the audience, whilst still in character, something that was tentatively explored in The Young Ones, but which is an integral part of Filthy Rich & Catflap. Perhaps the best indicator that the show exists inside its own twisted universe turns up in the last episode. The series concludes with Richie and Eddie in court, where, despite Richie protesting that he's pregnant and perhaps because of Eddie's constant grinning to camera, they are sentenced to be shot. The judge is played by John Wells, who gives an ever-reliable performance. Fortunately, Filthy intervenes, meaning the sentences are commuted to conditional discharges (the condition being that Richie and Eddie should find jobs outside showbusiness), but manages to get himself sentenced to hang under the Criminal Evidence Anti-Terrorist the Police can do What they Bloody Well Like Bill. Little bit of politics there, ladies and gentlemen!

The world of Richie and Eddie continues with Richie comparing their situation with that of Oliver Twist, setting up a very laboured, but very funny joke: "Why, doctor...know ye not these two little urchins Eddie and Richie? Study on the portrait of my dead daughter: surely you will vouchsafe that their faces are just like Fanny's?". Very Carry On, with half the joy in the preparation. Still in his fantasy, Richie tries a pathetic attempt at practising pick pocketing on Eddie, noisily singing 'Consider Yourself' all the while. Eventually, they decide to visit Filthy, who greets them with "This morning, I coughed so hard, I blew my kidney out my backside.". He's on his usual form, if a little subdued, and offers the advice that they should become journalists, as they are talentless and revolting enough, in return for them bringing him a short piece of 1 inch steel piping. This is a nice excuse for a Murdoch parody; 'Dingo Wucker' played by John Bird in his usual manner. Thankfully, although he's a little jumpy at the mention of unions, he is impressed by Richie and Eddie's forged references, and instructs them to smear Sir Bob Geldof, lest Sir Bob should reveal that Third World debt is actually caused by the West. This was a full 13 years before Jubilee 2000, politics fans.

Midge Ure is the pop star Richie and Eddie are told to investigate, and he, like all the guests in the show, puts on a commendable performance. Richie and Eddie's threat of blackmail with sleazy photos of him in 'The Daily Bastard' falls flat when he gives his blessing, favouring the publicity. The absence of a fourth wall is apparent when Richie shouts at the audience to stop cheering Midge, and at Filthy's execution, which Richie and Eddie find themselves covering after their failed blackmail attempt. Eddie turns to the audience and says: "The Government would like us to warn children that hanging is extremely dangerous, even though more than half of them want to bring it back.". His warning is superfluous, however, as Filthy has put the pipe they brought him in his windpipe, because he's "...got to be in the next series.". When Eddie points out that the pipe is still in his cell, Filthy explains that his safety harness must have saved him, putting it clearly in shot. One of the most refreshing things about the series is the writers assumed that the audience had the same level of intelligence as themselves, and although this was a clear foundation of 'alternative humour', it is rarely shown in sitcom to this extent.

Richie Rich looking straight down the barrel of the lens. As fucking usual.

Back in the flat, it is decided that they must smear everyone else in showbusiness in order for Richie to be famous, and take the opportunity to recreate the famous Benny Hill chase around the flat, because, as they say, he is 'the governor', with 150 years in show biz, and still telling the same joke. They take their smears to Dingo Wucker, and before we know it, we see Richie sitting in front of the television, watching an evening of him on BBC 1. Richie shows off to the audience, while Eddie decides to destroy the set and any remnants of a possible division between the cast and the audience. Filthy, on the other hand, buggers off to Rio. Before the TV is destroyed, Richie turns to the camera and says with a beaming smile: "Made it!".

Although a second series would probably have been made if the programme had been successful, is it possible that those involved knew that was all they were going to get? After all, where could they go from there? Lewisohn doesn't think this is a classic, but rather "... a commendable and risky attempt at generating something a little different.". I presume he was talking in terms of the mainstream, as this was certainly not a programme that most people would talk about in the workplace, but this series wasn't written for that sort of person anyway. It was a series written by and for comedy obsessives, self-reverential, insular, and bloody marvellous for the lucky souls that understood where those involved were coming from. In this, it could be said that the existence of this series represented the calumniation of what many in the 'alternative comedy' movement wanted to achieve: the killing off of the domination of 'old school' entertainment, as it opened up the hypocrisy and falseness of it for all those who wanted to see it. As this was such a revolutionary piece of television, it is remarkable that for many people this is a chapter of 'alternative comedy' that doesn't exist.

5 Stars

About this entry


Comments

A superb series. In one sense, it has dated, as any series from 1987 has. But the emphasis on the ridiculousness of celebrity means it has echoes of today’s culture.

Nigel Planer is brilliant in this, but that’s because his character Ralph Filthy has almost all the best lines. Almost any line he has is quotable, from his anecdotes, to his put downs and weird propositions.

I’m glad it’s drifted into relative obscurity, curiously like so many late 80s series. It’s almost as if the hype of the 90s has somewhat obscured this part of TV history.

Let’s enjoy it and hope the Guardian don’t get wind of it…

You’re right about the first episode. The rest of the series doesn’t quite match up to the savagery of that first episode. I remember waiting for years for it to be repeated, which it never has on terrestial television, finally catching it on UK Gold in 1993. Four years on, but it seemed like an eternity!

By Nick H
June 19, 2009 @ 12:02 am

reply / #


It’s very much of its time, but then, if people only watched things where they understood all the references, then they’d never learn anything. Personally, I get sad when good stuff is forgotten, as I think broadening your frame of reference is always a good thing, and it could prevent people making rash statements about comedy. But that’s clearly my problem, and I’m learning to deal with it. I guess it really speaks to me because I have a great affection for old-school entertainment, which includes enjoying seeing it get debunked as well!

Tanya Jones's picture

By Tanya Jones
June 19, 2009 @ 8:28 am

reply / #


Seven quid says I’m getting the DVD right now.

Marleen's picture

By Marleen
June 21, 2009 @ 10:40 am

reply / #


WIN.

Tanya Jones's picture

By Tanya Jones
June 23, 2009 @ 7:52 am

reply / #


Actually, I only have 30 euro left in my bank account. HOW DID THAT HAPPEN?? No, don’t tell me. I think I may have gone a little ott with the Evil Dead merch. Ho hum.

Marleen's picture

By Marleen
June 23, 2009 @ 10:07 am

reply / #


This series has always been very special to me. I’m not sure why. I often used to introduce people to it, and they would almost always fail to find it funny once they’d got past the comedy violence. I think you needed to have had a proper interest in the differences between the ‘light ent’ and ‘alternative’ camps back then. I genuinely thought it was part of a wider revolution which would blow away all the cobwebs and bullshit of the mid-Thatch era, and leave us with a better society. But I was 15 years old, and knew absolutely nothing as most 15 year olds do/don’t. I certainly didn’t bank on those same ‘revolutionaries’ becoming the unavoidable and unwelcome Tarbys, Brucies, Lynchies and Tommy O’Connories of the 1990s and beyond. The sort of people depicted in the background during Mel Smith’s performance as Head Of Light Entertainment at the Bee Bee See, ‘Jumbo Whiffy’ at the contract signing in the BBC club, in fact.

I recently saw repeats on some satellite channel or other, and was absolutely disgusted at the amount of material cut. There’s no way anyone can get the full experience from the series from watching it in this way. Even the DVD suffers, mostly for PRS reasons and as such it’s the last episode which cops it the worst. My VHS tape of the only original screening is getting past its best, but I’d not swap it for anything, especially as it concludes with the continuity announcer assuring us there’d be ‘more from Filthy, Rich & Catflap in the autumn’. If only.

By ben sH
June 28, 2009 @ 3:11 pm

reply / #


I think it’s a natural thing that the people who seem fresh and new at the start of their careers become the establishment when they get older; not least because they’ve changed the entertainment enviornment in their image. Perhaps this can be some comfort to those who hate what Ben Elton has become (although it’s debateable just how anti-establishment he was, compared to some alternative comedians). But you’re right in saying that this series really works best with people who have knowledge and appreciation of old and new light entertainment. I have a lot of affection for old light entertainment, but that’s with the hindsight of a more diverse era. I can well understand the eagerness of alternative comedians to push that aside; but it’s worth considering the joke that Ade and Rik make at the expense of the more pompous brand of alternative comic. The love many alternative comedians have for Barry Cryer, for example, suggest that nearly all comedians are the same on a basic level…

Tanya Jones's picture

By Tanya Jones
June 28, 2009 @ 6:53 pm

reply / #


The only prob with getting the DVD is that the final episode, thanks to Lionel Bart and Sting, is utterly butchered due to copyright contraints…

It does seem that were plans for another series. I wonder why it didn’t happen?

By Nick H
July 03, 2009 @ 9:08 pm

reply / #


Yeah, I was really pissed off that the ‘Consider Yourself’ sequence is cut, because it’s hilarious. According to Wikipedia, Lise Mayer has hinted that rivalry between Mayall and Elton stopped a second series; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filthy_Rich_%26_Catfl…, but obviously I have no idea how true that is.

Tanya Jones's picture

By Tanya Jones
July 04, 2009 @ 3:41 pm

reply / #


DVD arrived and will be watched some time next week.

Marleen's picture

By Marleen
July 17, 2009 @ 9:54 am

reply / #


Excellent!

Tanya Jones's picture

By Tanya Jones
July 21, 2009 @ 6:14 pm

reply / #


Erhm, or some time later. Didn’t get around to it yet!

Marleen's picture

By Marleen
July 27, 2009 @ 8:36 am

reply / #


yeah me and my sister loved this show at the time and still quote it now..we relished in the fact we seemed to be the only ones we knew who “got” the humour…..

when we asked each other a question, before the answer, we would twist our hair around a finger, look up to the ceiling and say..”ooooo i know this one” as if we were playing triv too..lol that gag went on for years…haha

i saw one of the edited episodes once and was hugely disappointed at the content being left out…..
but what was left was still hilarious as always…

and yeah the pick pocketing scene has to be rik/ade at their best….made me bring up bile laffin so much…lol

By tony
August 11, 2009 @ 3:43 pm

reply / #


I have now seen about half of the stuff.

I particularly like Nigel Planer’s character. And… then some. Hugh Laurie.

But God, it’s so SHOUTY.

4 episodes in I had to turn it off because both my eyes and my ears were bleeding.

Also, sadly, I think the funniest bit is the one that I had already seen on youtube (Ooer, Sounds a Bit Rude…)

Also also, and I realise that I’m being overly anal here, doesn’t someone say something along the lines of “10 000 quid, that amounts to 20 000 attendences on Blankety Blank [sic]”? :x

As Chris Barrie is in this (haha), it has a place in my DVD collection. Buuuuuuuuut… I don’t know. I wish I’d had more actual FUN. I’ll watch the rest of it, but in small doses…

British comedy, I fail at finding you funny *hangs head*

Marleen's picture

By Marleen
August 17, 2009 @ 1:16 pm

reply / #


Yes, it’s shouty, but that’s Rik and Ade. I think you’d get on better with it if you watched Bottom, as it’s less reliant on you knowing British light entertainment! I’m not sure what you mean regarding the Blankety Blank reference; I’ll have to watch it again…

Tanya Jones's picture

By Tanya Jones
August 17, 2009 @ 9:03 pm

reply / #


Two days later I’m only 50% certain, I may have misheard…

Marleen's picture

By Marleen
August 18, 2009 @ 8:07 am

reply / #