Review of Randall And Hopkirk (Deceased): The Complete Second Series

Introduction

Randall & Hopkirk (deceased) was the surprise hit of 2000 for the BBC, bringing back a modicum of entertainment and excitement to Saturday night schedules for six weeks. A combination of glamour, action and comedy, Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer took the title roles, but supported by excellent scripts and meaty acting talent, a show was produced that was greater than the sum of its parts. A second series aired in 2001, and its seven episodes are presented here on a two-disc set. The first series release was somewhat disappointing in its cropped 4:3 format, but the second disc remedies that presenting the show in its original aspect ratio. This run lasts for seven episodes, which are listed below, but does it maintain the high standard established in the first series? At the end of the first series, after a traumatic visit to a village of the damned, Marty had erased Jeff and Jeannie`s memories of his existence and had left the mortal plane.

1. Whatever Possessed You?

A hotel is plagued by the spectre of two grisly deaths that occurred fifty years ago. When another victim is claimed, Jeff and Jeannie are called to investigate the spooky goings on in room 318. Jeff is initially sceptical of the ghost theory, but first a dangerously amorous spirit possesses Jeannie, then Marty reappears awakening hidden memories in Jeff, and also displaying his new ability to shrink footwear. Hywel Bennett guest stars.

2. Revenge Of The Bog People

Jeff`s old flame Freya returns awakening long buried feelings. Their relationship ended when Jeff couldn`t find her father nor prove his innocence in the case of a museum theft. Freya has new evidence, and Jeff pursues the case on the slim chance of rekindling the embers. While Jeannie is uncharacteristically jealous, Marty takes a wayward spirit played by Matt Lucas under his wing on the urgings of Wyvern. Also starring Celia Imrie and the Fast Show`s Mark Williams.

3. O Happy Isle

Wicker Man type shenanigans as Jeff and Jeannie go to a bleak Scottish island to investigate the apparent suicide of a computer technician in the local brewery. The island`s laird has a unique outlook on population control, and the islanders are insular to say the least. As Jeff and Jeannie begin to get close in such forbidding surroundings, Marty finds he has an even harder time letting Jeannie go. The beer on the other hand is starting to have strange effects on the island`s population. John Sessions guests.

4. Painkillers

Those mysterious government figures, Bulstrode and Lacey first seen in Series 1`s Paranoia return with a mission for our intrepid detectives. A dentist has died under mysterious circumstances after coming out of a sinister scientific think tank, run by the reclusive Colonel Anger. Jeff and Jeannie go undercover as leading scientists to discover exactly what Colonel Anger is researching. It turns out that Anger`s aim is nothing less than immortality itself. But his Amazonian wonder drug reaches perilously close to the spirit world, where Marty is busy learning how to be a teapot. Co-starring Dervla Kirwan and Derek Jacobi.

5. Marshall & Snellgrove

Business is slow and Jeff is considering putting his martial arts skill to use teaching self defence, much to Jeannie`s amusement. But things look up when the patriarch of the Hortweldine family dies in mysterious circumstances. His twin sons Meredith and Jasper stand to inherit the Hortweldine freezer fortune, but the terms of the will are complex. Meredith hires Jeff and Jeannie to make sure that he survives long enough to claim his inheritance, promising a seven-figure sum for their assistance. Unfortunately, Jasper has hired the firm of Marshall & Snellgrove, Randall & Hopkirk`s archrivals to do the same for him. Soon the two firms are in direct competition, but tragedy waits around the corner.

6. The Glorious Butranekh

Jeff and Marty`s old secretary Felia requires help when her baby Marty is kidnapped. Jeff and Jeannie fly to Latvia to investigate and find themselves in the middle of a sinister cult that awaits the rebirth of their immortal leader. While Jeff gets drawn into the Latvian underworld, Jeannie and Felia are besieged as dark factions fight over the destiny of the child. Guest starring Pauline Quirke.

7. Two Can Play That Game

Jeff nurses a neck injury and leaves Jeannie in charge at the office. But the enforced convalescence is doing little for Marty and Jeff`s strained relationship, especially when Marty accuses Jeff of leading Jeannie into danger. Meanwhile Jeannie accepts a case from Jeff`s old school friend Stuart Boyle to investigate some strange goings on at the abandoned Boyle`s department store. When Jeannie vanishes in the shop, Jeff and Marty head off to find her, bickering all the way. Their arguing could have dire consequences for Marty`s status as Jeff`s spectral companion, especially when he is pulled away leaving Jeff, Jeannie and Stuart trapped in a department store that has taken a turn for the surreal. Guest stars Roy Hudd and Eleanor Bron.

Video

As I stated earlier, the annoying cropped picture on the first series hasn`t been repeated here, and the second series of Randall & Hopkirk (deceased) mercifully retains the original 1.78:1 aspect ratio, presented here anamorphically. The high standards set by the first series are also maintained with high production values and excellent effects throughout. Everything from costumes to sets keep a period feel that gives the series a nice retro look and harks back to the original series, but the scripts and effects are nice and contemporary. The image itself is just a little soft and grainy as would be expected from a TV series, and there are a couple of artefacts, whether from the original source material or from the transfer it`s hard to say. The discs are both Region 2 and 6 compatible.

Audio

The sound comes in DD 5.1 English and is excellent for a television series. The action is well represented with the effects powerfully and vibrantly placed complementing the visual effects well. I still love that theme tune, David Arnold is a genius, as is Bomb the Bass front man Tim Simenon. Slaps all around for leaving out the subtitles again though.

Features

For the first series of Randall & Hopkirk, I lamented the lack of commentaries, so for the second series they have gone completely in the other direction. This time around, all you get are two commentaries. Charlie Higson comments on his role as director for Revenge Of The Bog People and he is a little Spartan, but takes the opportunity to ridicule Bob Mortimer`s acting abilities. Painkillers has a commentary with Vic and Bob accompanying Charlie Higson, and is typically anarchic and pointless. Vic and Bob talk about everything from peach trees, orgasms to onset catering menus. There are a few items of interest hidden beneath the mayhem though. You can guess what I believe would complete the extra features, yup a making of documentary and some outtakes. There`s no pleasing this reviewer, hell no!

Conclusion

The first series was certainly a hard act to follow, but the second series almost manages it, and even builds on the firm foundations for a while. The stories for the most part are just as, if not more entertaining, and the same mix of glamour and talent combine to produce entertainment of the highest quality. The trademarks from the first series are there, Charlie Higson`s almost Hitchcockian cameos, the excruciatingly bad poetry, Tom Baker`s stentorian presence and Emilia Fox`s gorgeous talent. Vic and Bob have improved slightly, with Vic Reeves coming dangerously close to acting. But once again the series is constructed around their talents and the most is made of their chemistry.

But the cracks are beginning to show in the format, especially in the stories. While the first series was fresh, original and exciting, the second series felt a little worn and recycled. That isn`t a bad thing, as the first episodes are certainly entertaining and as fun as before, if a little familiar. The problem is that by episode 6, it`s as if the producers had noticed this and then decided to take the show in another direction completely. The first show, Whatever Possessed You? is a classic ghost story that has been done several times. I most recently saw it in an episode of Angel. Revenge Of The Bog People is perhaps the most similar to Series 1 of any of these episodes, but you can see the producers have tried to move Jeff and Jeannie`s relationship forward. O Happy Isle and Painkillers are very much Bond spoofs, complete with secret lairs and megalomaniacal villains plotting to take over the world or cheat death. O Happy Isle is very much in the vein of The Wicker Man while Painkillers has an absolutely hilarious ending spoofing When Harry Met Sally. Marshall & Snellgrove is remarkably reminiscent of Kind Hearts and Coronets and is enjoyable and interesting.

It`s after this, with the final two episodes that the feel of the show changes and the emphasis on the characters shift. The show seems to be reinventing itself as a sort of British X-Files, casting Jeff and Jeannie in the role of Mulder and Scully, and focusing on the sexual tension between them to an increasing degree compared to earlier episodes. The Glorious Butranekh is a case in point, where the humour has been leached out of the script and the look of the show turning wholly darker and bleak. It even gets a little scary and depressing at times, with some scenes not conducive to wholesome family entertainment. When you consider that Vic and Bob`s strong point is comedy, this is an unwise shift, and the show doesn`t quite work as a result. That said there is a silly little Matrix homage, complete with an assassin in a black leather outfit and cut price BBC bullet time. Two Can Play That Game, tries to claw back some of the comedy, but there is still a bleak feel to the show, with the Marty, Jeff and Jeannie triumvirate fracturing at the seams. It feels that every sixties action series had one episode where the heroes were trapped and in jeopardy, and it would be a chance for directors to go to town with their ideas of the surreal and warped, forced perspective, visual illusions and psychedelic lighting would abound as heroes would run around in a sinister funhouse of horrors. This is the Randall & Hopkirk remake version.

Nevertheless, Randall & Hopkirk (deceased) Series 2 is great value for money. All of the episodes are well written, spiritedly (ahem) performed and thoroughly entertaining. The series went out at the top and for this release, they got almost everything right. It`s just a shame that the last two stories aren`t really in keeping with the rest of the series.