The League of Gentlemen's Apocalapse
Director: Steve Bendelack
Actors: Jeremy Dyson, Steve Pemberton
Release Date: Monday 30th November -0001
Running time: 91 minutes
When the creators of TV's League of Gentlemen decide they've had enough of writing about their collection of rural oddballs, the end of the world draws nigh for Royston Vasey - until the fictional characters break out into the real world and kidnap one of the writers, Steve Pemberton, replacing him with one of the roles he plays in the TV series, Herr Lipp (Pemberton). Still with me? Good. Meanwhile, the League boys are writing a Guy Fawkes-type drama; when the Vasey faction steals their computer, another fictional character, Geoff Tipps, writes the real writers and their fictional creations into a story set in 1690.
If all that sounds confusing, it actually makes perfect sense on screen; director Bendelack has been directing British comedy since the Spitting Image days and his experience ensures the various story strands are cohesive. But while it's difficult to resist the infectious enthusiasm with which the League team dive into the murky waters of narrative overlays, most of the characters are one-note jokes, and the self-referential gags will only be appreciated by those who are already fans of the TV series. "Give yourself up," Herr Lipp urges early on in the proceedings, "this is a wild goose cake." Indeed it is, and a wild goose cake made from regurgitated ingredients at that.
