Geoff Atkinson

How we made The Mark Thomas Comedy Product

"It was a steep learning curve, from shouting abuse at a Tory MEP to chasing international arms dealers".

The long-lost Hitler sitcom that caused outrage

Thirty years ago, the ill-conceived comedy Heil Honey I'm Home! was cancelled by its UK broadcaster after only one episode.

Comedy's fastest cancellation: Heil Honey I'm Home!

Geoff Atkinson's comedy, starring Hitler as 1950s-style TV buffoon, was famously pulled after just one episode. Was it as bad as it sounds?

Interview with the creator of Heil Honey, I'm Home!

A man strides into his apartment and raises his right arm. "Heil, honey, I'm home!" he shouts at his wife, who's bustling around in the kitchen. The man is Adolf Hitler -- yep, that Adolf Hitler -- and this is the opening of Heil Honey, I'm Home!, a British sitcom that aired for one episode before being cancelled.

Jo Brand returns as former nurse Kim Wilde in Going Forward, who has now left the NHS and is currently working as a carer for the fictional Buccaneer 2000. Going Forward, which is set over three consecutive days, also follows the rest of the Wilde family most notably Kim's husband Dave (Omid Djalili) who works as a driver for a private hire company. The majority of this first episode, which is co-written by Brand and Getting On producer Geoff Atkinson, splits its time equally between watching Kim at work and seeing Dave's rather inane conversations with his colleague Terry (Tom Davis). Going Foward also introduces us to the Wilde children; teenage father Max (Ben Colbert) and high achieving schoolgirl Kelly (Imogen Byron), neither of whom have a lot to do in this first episode. Whilst I wasn't expecting Going Forward ever to live up to the standard of the flawless Getting On I wasn't expecting to be as disappointed as I was. I think the problem with having the character of Kim anchoring this series is that she sort of the straight man of the central trio in Getting On. Having her headline the show means that the more overt comedy has to be provided elsewhere as it was in Getting On thanks to Jo Scanlan and Vicki Pepperdine's performances. However the characters of Den and Pippa are essentially replaced by Dave and Terry who are two men that I didn't really care for all that much. Their conversations about former colleagues who've done well and the positives of working in Iraq weren't that funny and outstayed their welcome very quickly. Atkinson and Brand also weren't sure if they wanted Going Forward to continue in the same observational vein as Getting On or being a more out-and-out sitcom. This a led to a very awkward scene in which Kim, Dave and Max were squeezed into his work car with one of his clients alongside one of her regulars and his dog. This scene typified to me everything that was wrong with Going Forward; a programme that did have moments of genuine promise. Most of these moments were those which saw Kim caring for the older patients and were those that were the most reminiscent of Getting On. For example the scene in which Kim helped one old lady write a birthday card for her son was both realistic and incredibly touching. Brand is also on form once again as a performer however I found her and Atkinson's writing a little inconsistent which was the main problem with Going Forward. That being said I will be going forward with Going Forward primarily due to my love of both Jo Brand and the character of Kim Wilde.

Heil Honey I'm Home! article and interview

Blog Curious British Telly looks at infamous sitcom Heil Honey I'm Home!, and interviews the show's writer, Geoff Atkinson.