The Bleak Old Shop Of Stuff

Bleak Old Shop of Stuff provided some Dickensian cheer

The Bleak Old Shop of Stuff saw a star-studded cast send up the entire works of Charles Dickens, rarely hilarious but a chucklesome bit of festive silliness nonetheless.

It was only a matter of time. A Charles Dickens comedy-adventure mash-up had to happen, and what better timing than now, in the warm-up to our annual pre-prandial sit-down to A Christmas Carol? I'm only surprised that zombies didn't feature. As it turned out, zombies weren't required. The first of the four-part series, The Bleak Old Shop of Stuff, wove together characters and plotlines from Bleak House, Great Expectations and The Old Curiosity Shop, along with a star cast and a sparkling script to make for an entertaining spoof.

If the names of the characters sounded a little contrived at first, a sharp script and perfect casting quickly allayed fears. Robert Webb played the hapless Pip-inspired adult orphan, Jedrington Secret-Past, searching for just that; Katherine Parkinson charmed in her role as his wife-turned-"treacle junkie"; Johnny Vegas turned up as a noble street urchin and Celia Imrie's variation on Miss Havisham (Miss Christmasham) was a winning one. Even Stephen Fry managed to play not yet another version of himself as the baddie, complete with protracted evil laugh. He played the lawyer who repossessed Jedrington's shop and threw his wife and children into a debtors' prison, setting off a plot of Dickensian twists and turns in which novels converged, coincidences occurred and long-lost mothers, lovers and children re-united.

The script, written by Mark Evans, who has previously penned a Radio 4 "comedy", Bleak Expectations, had that rare double-edged agility to appeal across generations. It was both cute and clever, so youngsters got an action-filled plot with Jedrington's children delivering some corking lines, while adults got Dickensian cross-references and literary satire. The wordplay and visual jokes must have tickled both. As we brace ourselves for a fair share of anodyne viewing over the festive period, this breathes life back into the family entertainment genre by actually doing what it says on the tin. Let's hope it maintains its momentum for another three episodes.

Looking a little like that Blackadder Christmas special set in Dickensian London, except with CGI backgrounds and ludicrous special effects, The Bleak Old Shop Of Stuff was a very odd thing. After no time at all you'd already been whacked with multiple gags - at an estimated rate of one throwaway line per demi-minute - to the point they were coming at you so fast, there was no time to discern whether or not a statue of the Duke of Wellington carved from pineapple or a 'jam spaniel' were funny or not. The hit rate was far from perfect, but with such a rampant flurry of wilful stupidity, it was hard to feel cheated.

The story, which ultimately rambled into near-incoherence, saw Robert Webb as Jedrington Secret-Past (silly names were par for the course), pitted against Stephen Fry's evil lawyer, Malifax Skulkingworm, effectively a Melchett-esque villain who was out to bankrupt him over a debt his grandfather had worked up in the distant past. Katherine Parkinson put in a decent turn as Jedrington's treacle-addicted wife, and there were also cameos from the likes of David Mitchell as a workhouse owner who inexplicably inflated every time he got excited. And Johnny Vegas showed up for no real reason too.

This was written and crafted by the people behind Radio 4's Bleak Expectations, and that radio link was clear to see. This was obviously a transfer of sorts, with the kind of script that would work perfectly on radio, with all those strange descriptions of things like 'treacle-fiends' and Big Ben's cousin, 'Tiny Terry' firing the imagination with their idiotic simplicity. Transferring such silliness to the small screen was always likely to be a risk, but despite The Bleak Shop of Stuff possibly sitting on just the wrong side of silly, it still managed to raise a few chuckles. Those who revel in silliness pushed to its absolute limits will doubtless find themselves in seventh heaven.

Bleak Old Shop of Stuff - looking at the reviews

This show was always going to divide the viewers - into the group of those who like jokes and those who find jokes rather insulting to the intelligence. I am obviously in the former group. And tend to find critics in the latter.

It's no use trying to hold out in the face of this daft Dickens spoof. Better to abandon yourself to its rich figgy pudding of rampant silliness.

The idea is a loose relation of Radio 4's Bleak Expectations, with added visuals of London's brick alleyways, street urchins and wind-up top hats. Robert Webb plays our shopkeeper hero, Jedrington Secret-Past, whose emporium (selling treats such as hot and spicy dodo wings) and perfect family - including wife Conceptiva (Katherine Parkinson) - are hauled off by the wicked Skulkingworm (Stephen Fry) to meet an unpaid debt.

What follows involves a lot of twiddly wordplay ("Oh, fiddlesticks and violin twigs!"), sight gags, pratfalls, treacle dependency, peals of wicked laughter and a man with a goose for a hat.

My TV Christmas cracker: The Bleak Old Shop of Stuff

The Mark Evans-scripted comedy series kicks off with a truly festive special starring Robert Webb and Stephen Fry.

As the title more than suggests, this is a spoof of all things Dickensian, or rather, a lampooning of the starched-corset period dramas that British telly has always produced. Robert Webb leads as Jedrington Secret-Past, a shop owner who has his entire business - building, family and all - sent to debtors' prison on Christmas Eve. With Webb's comedy partner David Mitchell popping up, it does have the air of a sketch that goes on far too long, but there's plenty of silliness to hold the interest.

The Bleak Old Shop of Stuff: Radio 4's Dickens spoof

BBC Radio 4's masterful Dickens spoof Bleak Expectations is coming to TV.

Fans of BBC Radio 4's cult ­Dickensian spoof Bleak ­Expectations will be delightified at the news that Mark Evans has penned a Christmas special for TV.

The Bleak Old Shop Of Stuff - the first of a four-parter - is a brand new story but a very familiar one that's stuffed with those essential Dickensian staples - flinty-hearted lawyers, grubby-faced urchins bursting into song, cobwebby spinsters, suggestive surnames and the spectre of debtor's prison, known here as The Skint.

Robert Webb stars as the kindly Jedrington Secret-Past - owner of The Old Shop Of Stuff. But his hopes for a happy Christmas with his loving family are shattered by the arrival of evil lawyer Malifax Skulkingworm (Stephen Fry), a sinful man in an unusual hat demanding an unpaid debt that will be his ruin.

The cast includes David Mitchell as an exceedingly jolly man, Johnny Vegas (already a veteran of the BBC's adaptation of Bleak House), Katherine Parkinson, Celia Imrie and Pauline McLynn - as well as a small but pivotal role in every sense for young Jude Wright from Sky's recent sitcom Spy.

TV provides the opportunity for the kind of visual sight gags and special effects that radio doesn't and they've really gone to town creating a virtual Victorian London.

Purists might argue that it's funnier on the radio when your imagination is left to supply the pictures, but this still serves up a splendidly silly start to the Christmas week.

The Bleak Old Shop of Stuff: Dickens would be proud

If you're a little overcome with the hassle of the yuletide period, this slice of Dickensian comedy could prove as welcome as a warm fire and a glass of egg-nogg (the eggiest and noggiest of all yuletide drinks...).