The Rebel
- TV sitcom
- U&Gold
- 2016 - 2017
- 9 episodes (2 series)
Sitcom starring Simon Callow as a rebellious pensioner. Also features Bill Paterson, Anita Dobson, Amit Shah, Anna Crilly and Vivian Oparah
Episode menu
Series 1, Episode 3 - Art
Further details
Charles has been holding the fort at Margaret's charity shop when he sells an old urine bottle to Harriet Cusp down from London. Unfortunately, it not only has great sentimental value for Margaret but also seems to be an apprentice piece by Marcel Duchamp for his famous urinal...
Margaret is distraught but Henry vows to get it back. The trouble is the urine bottle is already in the hands of Harriet's boss, Seb Koote who owns the Great White gallery in Hackney. Using a work of art made by painting a rat's bollocks red and bouncing them up and down on a canvas, Henry gets into the gallery only to discover Koote's put the urine bottle in an upcoming sale of Lavatorial art at Sebastian Cholmondley's auction house. Sebastian looks remarkably like a posh version of Seb... and he's refusing to give the urine bottle back.
Apparently defeated, our gang return to Brighton until Margaret comes up with a plan to get the beloved urine bottle back...
Broadcast details
- Date
- Wednesday 3rd August 2016
- Time
- 10pm
- Channel
- U&Gold
- Length
- 40 minutes
Cast & crew
| Simon Callow | Henry Palmer |
| Bill Paterson | Charles |
| Anita Dobson | Margaret |
| Amit Shah | Jeremy |
| Anna Crilly | Cath |
| Paul Kaye | Sebastian/Seb/Bastian |
| Jan Carey | Retirement Home Art Secretary |
| Sarah Winter | Harriet Cusp |
| Katrina Nare | Poppy |
| Robert Portal | Auctioneer |
| Andrew Birch | Writer |
| Vadim Jean | Director |
| Vadim Jean | Producer |
| Simon Lupton | Executive Producer |
| Jon Rolph | Executive Producer |
| Tanya Qureshi | Executive Producer |
| Daniel Gethic | Editor |
| Adrian Smith | Production Designer |
| David Isaac Feldstein | Composer |
Videos
Cremation Over Creation
Cath and Henry meet Margaret at an art exhibition.
Featuring: Simon Callow (Henry Palmer), Anita Dobson (Margaret), Anna Crilly (Cath) & Jan Carey (Retirement Home Art Secretary).
Marcel Duchamp's Piss Pot
Henry meets an art dealer.
Featuring: Simon Callow (Henry Palmer), Paul Kaye (Sebastian/Seb/Bastian) & Katrina Nare (Poppy).
Press
When an unscrupulous art buyer from Shoreditch gives charity-shop worker Charles a tenner for an apparently worthless old urine bottle (conspicuously signed with a tell-tale "R Mutt", history-of-art lovers), a horrified Henry and co hotfoot it to Hackney to get it back, in the last part of this baby-boomer comedy based on the Oldie cartoon strip. Worth catching for Paul Kaye's triple role, Dr Strangelove-style, as three flavours of absolute berk.
Ali Catterall, The Guardian, 3rd August 2016As the three-part comedy bows out, the irascible Henry (Simon Callow) ends up reinventing himself as an art dealer to help Margaret (Anita Dobson) recover a precious item. Unfortunately this means a visit to London, home of the hipster culture he detests. 'What's the worst thing that could happen to me in Hackney?' he wonders. 'Get entangled in someone's beard?' Henry's attempts to fit into the modern art scene ('I hate shapes and colours') are very funny, and the brilliant Paul Kaye guests as a trendy gallery owner.
TV Times, 28th July 2016