Chelmsford 123 (1988–1990) User Reviews

A fabulous series - well worth watching

[kimblebear · 9/10 · 27 April 2007]

I'd forgotten all about this series until I came across it again this week.

Full of marvellous actors and obviously the jump off point for many of them - just look at the list - anything where Andy Hamilton, Phil Pope, Jimmy Mulville and Neil Pearson appear on the screen must be a winner.

This is one of the funniest programmes I've watched in ages - just like a cross between the first Blackadder series and Up Pompei

Neil Pearson as Mungo is excellent as is Howard Lew Lewis (the chap who played Elmo in Brush Strokes)

Any show where a man can justify a flock of sheep consist of one sheep because 'Well it's only me first day' has got to be a classic

Search this out and watch it - you won't regret it.

Classic British Comedy at its finest

[dwtaxi · 8/10 · 21 August 2012]

Chelmsford 123 is one of the great but little known gems from the heyday of British comedy. Set in Romano-Britain in the days when things were still settling in, the show revolves around the interplay between the Roman Governor Aulus Paulinus and the local Celtic Chieftain Badvoc.

With a superb cast, excellent comic timing and a brilliant array of (mostly) original jokes, this show remains as hilarious today as it was back in 1988/90. Some of the cliché jokes are a tad tired perhaps, but they are handled well and the clever humour of the rest of the episode always makes up for it.

Chelmsford is not an over the top pratfall comedy like Faulty Towers, relying more on overacting and miscommunication to pass for humour. The humour here is both visual and linguistic, utilising puns at times, but more often simply clever dialogue and body language to carry the joke, which provides for clever humour, which certainly carries a lot of cultural references, and yet is still easily accessible to anyone. It is similar to the humour of Blackadder IV, yet more restrained.

The sort of comedy it produces can be likened to that of another gem, Maid Marian and her Merry Men, however Chelmsford 123 is not a children's program as it contains many blatant sexual references, some bestial in nature, as well as several sex scenes.

There are some elements of "dramatic necessity" that really make absolutely no sense and the vanishing of Gargamadua (Erica Hoffman) between seasons could use some explanation, but these can be ignored in the face of the laughter.

While some episodes are undoubtedly weaker than others, the final one in particular being rather cliché and disappointing, all episodes contain excellent jokes and most of the series will have you genuinely guffawing.

This series is definitely worth buying to re-watch time and again.

Very funny stuff!

[ILuvTVMovies · 8/10 · 24 February 2022]

Found this on a streaming service and gave it a shot because I love shows set in historical periods of time.

From the first episode I was hooked, especially with the scenes with closed captions, it was clever how they used them as part of the jokes.

All in all I would recommend this because it mixes history and humor with innocent (sometimes raunchy, it's not a family show) good fun.

Added it to my "Comedies that are actually funny" list, check it out if you want more.

One of the most hilarious shows ever filmed!

[hadar-20 · 26 January 2002]

I can't believe there are no comments about this show. Set in Chelmsford, Britania, in the year 123 AD, it tells the story of Roman Governor Aulus Paulinus's everlasting struggle against a bunch of savage and occasionally philosophical group of Brittons led by badvoc, the man who hasn't had a haircut in 25 years. Marvelously zany humor, superb acting and writing, a true gem from Channel four and "Hat trick" (who is also responsible for the original, and still the best, "who's line is it anyway"). This show is a british comedy extraordinaire, second only to FAWLTY TOWERS, if you have a chance to watch it, or maybe find it in a video store, it's worth every minute.

Not to be missed!

Really hilarious show: one of the gems of British comedy and almost unknown

[laddiebuck · 10/10 · 22 August 2010]

This is one of the most entertaining comedy series ever produced -- agreed, maybe some of the humour would be strange to American audiences, but there are very few British-specific jokes, it's just the style that would be rather foreign. But for all that, it's brilliant. Perhaps there were episodes of Fawlty Towers or Yes, Minister that made me laugh more, but not only is this right up with them, I can keep re-watching Chelmsford 123 and it'll always make me laugh. It's no more than every few years that I can turn to an episode of Fawlty Towers and there are ones I just don't like. There isn't an episode of Chelmsford 123 that I don't like, and I turn to it every couple of months and always have a great laugh, though I probably know a lot of the scripts by heart. Yes, it's that good. Terrifically underrated, just a pity that so few episodes were made. I got my copy of both series from a friend in the UK, although I expect you might be able to find it on ebay or filesharing networks.

Really hilarious - and now on iTunes

[arwel · 10/10 · 1 January 2011]

One of the best historical comedies ever - and at last after 20 years we can get it on iTunes for less than £5 a series, and on Channel4 On Demand.

"Oh mighty Hadrian, I have just spent the most miserable four weeks of my life inspecting our borders with Caledonia. It seems you have instructed our engineers to build a long stretch of stonework right across the country. Now if I didn't know better, I'd say it was a wall. Is the idea to continue the wall all the way around Caledonia, then put a roof on it, thereby making it the biggest indoor toilet in the Empire?". - Governor Aulus Paulinus, dictating a letter to Rome, season 2, episode 1.

The funniest Brit-com ever

[agnabeya · 10/10 · 24 April 2019]

The first half of the first episode is set in Rome- with the appointment of a new governor for the province of Britannia. In Latin. It is subtitled- but this very bold move had me hooked instantly. Then the scene moves to Wassers Tavern in Chelmsford- and is a delight from then on for the duration of both series. It has hard to pick a favourite episode. I can only exhort you to get a copy or watch it on-stream. It is clever, funny beyond funny- and deserves to be known. Rory McGrath in his dopey the frog battle jock strap is a site to behold! Treat yourselves.

Mungo: They call me Mungo the contradictory.

Aulus Paulinus: Do they?

Mungo: No.

The best show ever!

[menbe · 10/10 · 1 December 2006]

Hi, I hope that the folks in HATTRICK will release Chelmsford 123 on DVD! I'll be the first to buy!

I saw the show several times and enjoyed it very much.

It is my hope, that some people will take the initiative and contact HATTRICK productions and persuade them to release this masterpiece.

The show is of value also for students since it's teach historical points in a very funny way.

Well, to summarize: I gave it 10! but i would have given it 11 if i could!

Best

Very funny

[anita-fernandez-young · 10/10 · 14 May 2006]

I'm so glad there are other C123 enthusiasts out there. My favourite episodes are the ones with Aulus' and Badvoc's doubles - and all the anachronisms poking fun at makeover shows and other toga sagas (move over, 'I, Claudius'. It always looked as if the guys were remembering stuff from school, rather like 1066 and All That. I will definitely be harassing HatTrick to release the shows on DVD - there must be loads of people out there who'd enjoy another look at a show which used a similar shtick to 'Allo, allo'- when self-interest dictates it, the two sides in any conflict can collaborate, to humorous effect. Huey Lew Lewis was as good in C123 as he also was in 'Maid Marian and her Merry Men' - I don't think his comic genius has been fairly recognised.

True Brit comedy

[tim-haines · 10/10 · 1 September 2008]

Chelmsford 123 is almost certainly one of the funniest historical comedies of all time. It knocks spots off History of the World mostly due to its English humour. Of course Americans probably wont get 90% of the jokes, but it was not written for them.

The tortured Grasientus, the oblivious to reality Functio who lives in Functio world, the totally stupid and hilarious Blag, Mungo the Chelmsford 123 version of a spiv, and the myriad of characters that drop in and out through the series, Andy Hamilton terrific parody of a druid priest, and Chris Langham as the dimwitted roman guard. You can probably tell Im a BIG fan, and my wife loves the series too, and she is Russian !

Buy it, rent it, borrow beg or steal it, but be sure to watch it !

"Hello Aulus, mind if I have a go on your rope ?"

"Grasientus, go to your room and write a fare well note to your testicles !"

"Ooo Err Ooo Err, Give us a bite of your pastie big boy, Ooo Err"

Blag "Ikwa Ikwa Wiki Wiki Wiki Plunger ! Plunger !!" Badvok indignantly "Its not Plunger !! Its Ploonjaha, Ploonjaha !!"

Aulus "Blag, thats an odd name, is it short for something ?" Badvok "Yeah, its short for that great fat dozy git Blag!"

"Dopey the frog !"

"Badvok, leader of the Trinavanti's, and three times runner up in the all Britain pillage a village competition !"

Classic !!!

''I was once chief bollock collector in a eunuch factory!''

[Rabical-91 · 5/10 · 30 August 2018]

I am no fan of Rory McGrath, so therefore it somewhat sours my opinion of this Channel 4 sitcom written by him and Jimmy Mulville. It came about after the pair made it big on Channel 4's popular ( though which I was also not really very keen on ) 'Who Dares Wins'. In 1988, they wanted to try their hand at sitcom and so 'Chelmsford 123' was made.

Set in 123 AD, young sensitive Roman Aulus Paulinus ( Mulville ) is appointed Governer of Britain. Aulus travels to the wet and run down town of Britain known as Chelmsford with his snidey brother-in-law Grasientus ( Philip Pope ). Upon arrival, he locks horns with the revolting Badvoc ( McGrath ) and his bumbling henchmen Mungo ( Neil Pearson ) and Blag ( the late Howard Lew Lewis ). It is hate at first sight. Aulus further enrages Badvoc at one point by sleeping with his girlfriend Gargamadua ( the gorgeous Erika Hoffman ).

'Chelmsford 123' often failed to hit the bullseye and lasted only two series before Channel 4 decided it was time for it to stop. Series one was the better of the two, series two which appeared two years later was dire, a problem not helped by the departure of Erika Hoffman as Gargamadua and Robert Austin as Functio.

Apart from a re-run on UK Gold in the late '90's, it has not been seen on screen since, though it was released on DVD in 2011.

Brilliance.

[MisterFahrenheit · 10 June 2004]

Absolutely brilliant comedy, well written and superbly performed. A terrible shame no more than the two seasons were made, an even bigger shame that when trite rubbish like "Absolutely Fabulous" gets famous this gets virtually ignored. I just wish that Hat Trick would get the two series of Chelmsford 123 released on DVD. I contacted them a year ago to ask if it was in the works and was told they had no plans to do so. What a missed opportunity. Anyone remember in the first episode the cameo toilet stop for a well known British sci-fi character? Genius. The first episode set the tone for the rest of the story, with very very funny, sarcastic and dark humour interspersed between the slapstick. A real gem of a show that should have carried on for a lot longer, it really deserves to be given a chance again on DVD at least, to give those of us that loved it a chance to see it again. Come on Hat Trick, get on to it...you know you want to.

Enjoyable early production from Hat Trick Productions

[Tethys-2 · 10/10 · 21 October 2006]

Been looking for this on DVD for a while. Original series broadcast on terrestrial TV by Channel 4 between 1988 and 1990. Set in the English town of Chelmsford, 123AD. It revolves around the power struggle between Aulus Paulus (Jimmy Mulville) and Badvoc (Rory McGrath). As this is played out we are introduced to an entertaining crop of supporting characters such as:

Grasientus (Philip Pope) - Aulus' ingratiating assistant;

Mungo (Neil Pearson): "They call me Mungo, the Evasive"

"Why's that?"

"Who wants to know?";

Blag (Howard Lew Lewis): "We don't have hills where I come from" (in reference to his vast girth).

I found the interplay between Roman Empire administrator and Celtic subjugated chieftain a colourfully entertaining backdrop to the sitcom vehicle used for this series. Absolutely ace, scarily under-rated IMO.

Funny but not McGrath's and Mulville's best

[dndcullens · 29 December 2005]

Chelmsford 123 came on the back of the success of "Who dares wins" a comedy scetch show which starred three of the cast of Chelmsford 123 as well as Tony Robinson who went on to be Baldrick in the Blackadder series. Who Dares Wins was never released on VHS and apparently never will be as a letter to Channel 4 about this said that the series was "lost". I did like Chelmsford 123 but I feel some of the jokes would be lost on an American audience. Luckily I am in Canada and happen to be on of the few in North America who doesn't think Benny Hill was funny but that this series was. If you get a chance to watch it then give it a look. The writing is top quality.

I AGREE !!

[dgc.kiwi · 30 April 2003]

I agree with your man above. This was funny. Rory McGrath show glimpses of his humour in "They Think It's All Over"......in Chelmsford 123 he has run riot. He is a very clever bloke. For a hairball gooner.

So why hasn't this been released in any format ? I've been after this for ages - similar to the equally brilliant Bostock's Cup with Neil Pearson. I only hope they haven't been deleted.