Not the Nine O'Clock News (1979–1982) User Reviews

''I like trucking and I like to truck!''

[Rabical-91 · 8/10 · 8 May 2017]

'Not The Nine O'Clock News' set the ball rolling for alternative comedians when it first arrived in 1979. As was the case with 'The Young Ones' after it, the impact 'Not The Nine O'Clock News' had on viewers was unbelievable. Nothing like it had been seen before on British television, not at least since the arrival of 'Monty Python's Flying Circus' a decade earlier.

It was a satirical show, and by that I mean much of the humour concerned topical issues of the day. The first episode kicked off with John Cleese as Basil Fawlty from 'Fawlty Towers' introducing the show as a 'tatty revue'. In the cast for the first series were Rowan Atkinson, Pamela Stephenson ( wife of Scots comedian Billy Connolly ), Mel Smith and Chris Langham. The first series was patchy at best though it went down well enough to be awarded a second series a year later, with Griff Rhys Jones replacing Chris Langham.

One of my favourite sketches featured a hilarious spoof of 'That's Life' entitled 'That's Lies!' which featured Stephenson as Esther Rantzen ( ''this has got nothing to do with us!'' ). Another item saw Mel Smith on a woman's doorstep claiming to be collecting for charity on behalf of deaf karate experts. ''We don't give to charity!'' says the woman before closing the door on him, to which he kicks the door down and then enquires: ''Pardon!''. The best of all featured Mel Smith as a professor being interviewed on behalf of his experiences on living with a gorilla called Gerald ( which was Rowan Atkinson in costume ).

PROFESSOR: When I caught Gerald in the jungle in 1968, he was completely wild!

GERALD: Wild? I was absolutely bloody livid!

'Not The Nine O'Clock News' was not in my view a classic show but it certainly had its fine moments and its influence on later shows such as 'Naked Video' and 'Spitting Image' cannot be ignored. Pamela Stephenson, apart from appearances on 'Saturday Live', did not do another comedy show though Rowan Atkinson moved into sitcom with 'Blackadder' while Mel Smith and Griff Rhys Jones stuck together for the long running 'Alas Smith & Jones'.

Classic sketches, even if you can't remember the '80s

[DeadDog · 8 August 2000]

The reason that NTNON isn't remembered as much as it could be is the sheer topicality of many of the sketches. The company bosses acceding to the increasingly outrageous demands of the Union bosses - "and his daughter to be phased in at a later date" - are still funny, but were probably funnier still at the time. Of course, there are plenty of other sketches that don't require a full knowledge of Britain in the early Thatcher years to appreciate, and if you ever get the chance, it's worth catching them.

And the songs are still brilliant. Altogether now - " I Like Trucking"

'The Memory Kinda Lingers'

[ShadeGrenade · 10/10 · 1 August 2006]

Ten years after 'Monty Python', another sketch show revolutionised British comedy. 'Not The Nine O'Clock News' was 'T.W.3' with a harder edge. It didn't merely offend, but horrified. What became known later on as 'alternative comedy' started here. Public figures such as Reagan, Thatcher and The Queen found themselves on the receiving end of some quite vicious ( but funny ) satirical jibes.

Typical 'Not' gag: "Peters and Lee ( a popular '70's singing duo ) split up today. Afterwards, he walked into a lamp post.". Singer Lennie Peters happened to be blind.

They showed no compassion, except when John Lennon died - the end credits of the next episode featured a Lennon song played over a black screen. Even the then-new medium of 'pop videos' got it in the neck from a witty song entitled 'Nice Video, Shame About The Song'. The cast were brilliant, Rowan Atkinson in particular, while Pamela Stephenson came as a shock to those of us used to 'glamour stooges'.

After three excellent seasons, 'Not' ran out of steam in its final year. The last episode, in particular, was absolutely dire and a sad note on which to end a great show.

A time capsule

[chitara-69170 · 6/10 · 29 May 2021]

This show was required viewing in the early eighties, although in retrospect the second, and the third, series are the classics,whilst the bookends are admittedly patchy.

To compare this show with Monty Python is inaccurate, since NTNOCN was actually an eighties version of the sixties satire show, "That was the week that was". And like TW3, it is more of a nostalgia fest for those of us who were there at the time, rather than offering very much to those who were not.

The sketches were written around the persons, and the events which were then contemporary, and so they have lost their cutting edge. Also there us perhaps a feeling in retrospect that the writers were smug middle class intellectuals mocking the simpler pleasures of the plebeians. " Game for a Laugh" might have been perhaps a little silly, but it was harmless Saturday evening entertainment, and did not deserve the sarcastic send up it received. And, having lampooned "The Two Ronnie's" for relying on smutty formulaic comedy, NTNOCN closed with the crude song "Kinda Lingers" which was not witty, or even amusing, it was plain vulgar, & evidence that this show had run its course.

In all fairness, this show has aged better than has "The Young Ones", and some sketches, such as the unhelpful banking staff, the smug salesmen in the home entertainment store, and the bucolic train office manager, are still relevant today, since such characters and situations do still exist. But this is a show for the experienced, rather than for the innocent.

Two Lions in Congress

[Jason-173 · 4 December 2000]

Sure, this was the funniest show ever. Right up until 'Kids in the Hall,' anyway, which gave NTNON about ten years reign. Do you realise NTNON was the first comedy troupe to make fun of ABBA? Respect is due. If you can picture Mel Smith dressed like Agnetha, you get the idea... And if it comes easily to your mind, I raise an eyebrow at you.

Just a young lad when this show was on-air, I was glued to the tv set like wet toilet paper.

Nowadays NTNON's humour seems fairly commonplace. But NTNON was the first to mock the MGM logo by zooming out on the roaring lion to show him mounting a female. Since this is done routinely in comedy now, the impact is lost. But at the time, it was mind-blowingly irreverent. And since this was the first time I had ever seen sex, it was also educational.

In defence of Not The Nine O' Clock News

[nikteacher · 23 September 2005]

What a pity that the comment that is visible on the front page puts down one of the best sketch shows of the 1980s and completely misses the point. It reminds me of the time when someone wrote to 'Points of View' to complain about the racism in 'Goodness Gracious Me' after the 'Indian teenagers visit Britain' and 'Going for an English' sketches. As the writer of the comment was Scottish I wonder if he finds 'Chewin' the Fat' offensive to people with throat cancer! Not the Nine O' Clock News was equally capable of hilarious comedy and biting satire. I remember Rowan Atkinson's monologue as an alien with a faulty translator being the first thing that ever made me laugh uncontrollably, long after the sketch had ended; The series' songs were clever parodies of such pop stars of the time as Sheena Easton, Blondie, Kate Bush and Motorhead; and the 'Gerald the Gorilla' sketch was superb. There was also excellent satire as well, directed at police racism (the 'Constable Savage' sketch), religious outrage over 'Monty Python's Life of Brian' (the 'Life of Christ' sketch) and patronising Hollywood attitudes to issues in other countries (the 'Hollywood Salutes Lech Walesa' sketch). Perhaps our negative reviewer found the 'Coca Cola' sketch offensive to fat people instead of a comment on the fact that a so-called 'cool' drink is actually fattening and unhealthy. It's a pity that this series is only available on 2 'Best of' DVDs (why the hell do the BBC do that?) as it was the launchpad for the careers of Rowan Atkinson, Mel Smith and Griff Rhys-Jones, all of whom are still entertaining us (to a greater or lesser degree) today. And furthermore it shows us that Pamela Stephenson was a talented comedienne who need not have given up performing (though to her credit she has achieved a great deal in the years since her 'retirement'). A much-missed gem.

Classic satire!!

[lundkarina · 29 April 2006]

When I went to school in Denmark the greatest joy was to recite the surreal dialog from the team behind Not the Nine o'clock News with my mates. Granted, some of the more malicious jokes must have appealed more to the younger audience than grown-ups with true knowledge of famine and war - but on the whole - it was the greatest introduction to British society and language usage next to Monty Python. Some of the gags were so classical - I've never forgotten them: The court sketch with the judge and the lawyers arguing over how to prenounce "alibi" or the smash-hit-music-video "Good video - shame about the song - oh oh" with the title repeated again and again while all effort was put into making a state of the art video worthy of MTV. I do hope that the DVD will be released in Denmark too - it's classic fun from the eighties! :0D

Absolute classic hilarity

[jeffie2k-1 · 25 February 2005]

If there is one defining characteristic about British humour it is our ability to laugh at ourselves, not take anything too seriously, and therefore a good few 'sick' jokes abound. Name any major disaster of recent history (Townsend Thoresen, Exxon Valdez, Concorde) and dozens of 'sick' jokes spring to mind. Such is the case with NTNOCN, with their constant Chappaquiddick references and the 'Wallaby Airlines' skit. I was a big fan of NTNOCN, and loved the skits "Gay Christian" "American Express" and "Gerald the Gorilla" as well as their parodies of "That's Life" and "Game For A Laugh" ("Oh, I don't believe it! We love your show!") and dead-on impressions of celebs such as Janet Street-Porter and Sir Robert Mark. The songs were funny too, such as "Gob On You", "The Bouncing Song" and a great skewering of 80's music on "Nice Video, Shame About The Song". All in all a must for any aficionado of British humour.

A brilliant show

[Mmyers2003 · 30 October 2002]

This show was so funny. I especially liked the toilet sketch involving the assistant and the weird bloke trying to design a bathroom for the weird bloke and all he ever puts in it is a toilet. that was the best sketch ever.

De niro 2001, you really need to lighten up, not all the sketches involved plane crashes. Only about 2 or 3 did. the rest of the sketches were just funny things about everyday life. The humour isn't in the plane crash, it's how they edited together two completely different news stories and made them look relevent. People weren't sitting at home saying "Hahahaha look at those people on that plane dying". The thing is, if they did have to acknowledge the fact those people died, they would have done it in a funny sketch anyway. like they did when they had complaints about a (stuffed) hedgehog being run over. for god sake it was stuffed. they didn't ask the local nature reserve for a fresh hedgehog to run over but anyway they then did an apology the following week involving them saying "We probably exibited less pain to hedgehogs per-say than whoever it is who goes around stuffing them". Anyway, sorry about all this writing but this show was just great and i'll love it forever. Overall 10 out of 10.

Superb satire of Thatcherite Britain

[Doug42 · 23 October 2005]

Not the Nine O'Clock News is a brilliant combination of satire, visual and verbal humour, the topical and the downright silly. Although some of the more topical, particularly political, humour doesn't age too well most of it is timeless comedy gold. My personal favourite is the Government statement performed by the marvellously deadpan Rowan Atkinson on the current unemployment figures, a 30-second sketch of 'oh dear, oh dear oh dear oh dear'. For the people who lived through the 80s era of strikes and recession the biting humour will kindle some memories and put a happier face on what was doubtless a trying time. For non-Brits or those of us who were too young to remember, it's just really very funny. "And we would like to point out that we exhibited less cruelty to hedgehogs per se that whoever it is who goes around stuffing them".

Cult British satirical TV show

[harry-105 · 7 July 2003]

This show was practically compulsory viewing for teenagers and students in the late 1970s and early 1980s. It introduced the British public to Griff Rys-Jones, Mel Smith, Pamela Stephenson and Rowan Atkinson. Chris Langham was in the first season but seemed to get replaced by G R-J after that.

It consisted of a series of sketches, some purely comedic, others with political overtones. The pizza parlour worker, played by Rowan Atkinson, sneezing on the pizza and declaring "Extra mozzarella" is the former, the close-up of a yobbish Griff R-J talking about him and his mates picking on some black blokes "because we 'ate 'em, right?" and the camera gradually pulling away during the monologue to show he's a uniformed policeman would be the latter.

Some great writing (Clive Anderson, Andy Hamilton, a pre-"Four Weddings and a Funeral" Richard Curtis), go-for-it acting and sketches that hit frequently enough to forgive the ones that didn't. The sketch with the trendy lefty social worker declaring the only way to deal with young men who misbehaved was to "cut their goolies off" is still a classic, as is Gerald the talking gorilla.

Great British Comedy

[Slick_By_nature · 5 August 2005]

Forget everything de_niro_2001 said about Not the Nine O'Clock News. This is absolutely brilliant comedy that relied heavily on the events of the period it was made in. This makes it sometimes a little bit out of date but if you know anything about the period it was made in, or remember that period, you can still laugh very hard. Too bad they don't offer the complete series for sale on DVD. I would certainly buy it. All members of the cast went on to have great careers. The young Rowan Atkinson is hilarious and Griff Rhys Jones and Mel Smith are very very funny. Pamela Stephenson, as the only woman of the cast, is great in doing impressions of news readers. She also often plays an interviewer providing the other cast members with the setting to deliver their material. Like in the interview with Mel Smith as the trainer of a talking gorilla (played by Rowan Atkinson). For now you can only buy 2 compilation DVD's. If you love sarcasm and irony, this is a series for you. If you loved Blackadder, this is a series for you. Just give it a chance, to watch it is to love it.

Great Range Of Comedy.

[sixstringscouser · 28 August 2001]

I have recently been watching the repeats of NOT THE NINE O'CLOCK NEWS and I've really enjoyed them. I didn't see them the first time around, but I really enjoy the range of subjects that this comedy show embodies. These include music gags, political humour and a whole lot more! The stars include Rown Atkinson, Mel Smith and Griff Rhyss-Jones and if you are a fan of any of these people I would advise you to check out this show. Very enjoyable with a great cast. 8/10

honestly, stinking fantastic!!

[madeline cherry · 7 February 2002]

Hedgehog sandwiches, kinda lingers, and barry manilow....nothing more classic can be described. funniness times 10. what a great way to spend an evening. grabs hold of you right from the start. Never let go. never.

The best sketch show ever!

[bretttom · 14 November 2005]

This is without a doubt the funniest sketch show ever made, the sketches still remain fresh today, time after time. The quality of acting is superb and being a huge Rowan Atkinson fan i have to say this is some of his finest work, even alongside Mr Bean and Blackadder. Mel Smith also stands out as a fine comic actor as well, look out for the drinking game in the style of a darts match...wonderfully inventive! Rowan Atkinson only has to look at the camera in one of the sketches to make you laugh as his style is so unique it has people in fits of laughter, simply every time he's on screen. An absolute comic genius in a cutting edge comical sketch show!

The greatest comedy EVER

[Daniel_Of_Smeg · 27 August 2003]

This is without a doubt the funniest comedy i have ever watched, a pure classic with some unforgettable sketches, it also kick started the very successful careers of Rowan Atkinson and Smith and Jones. First rate comedy which is still funny twenty years on. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

Snootchy Bootchies!!!