Allow me(...you really might as well, because I'm going to whether you personally approve of it or not) to start this off saying that what watched this as was an edited-together version of the six(?) episodes that renders it a movie of not terribly much more of a run-time than 90 minutes or so. Not having enjoyed all that much of of John Cleese's work outside of the Monty Python team and their projects, I put off my viewing of this for a while. This was purchased for me on VHS, immediately following about an hour and a half of the aforementioned group mercilessly butchering routines they did perfectly fine on their Flying Circus(yet another reason to put this off). I am, however, glad I did put it on. I was more amused, watching, than so much all-out laughing, but there are definitely some biting wit herein. The comedy varies, sometimes involving gross-out comedy. Some of the running gags should perhaps have been jogging at a more leisurely pace, because they kept popping up, and it wasn't always funny. The pacing is, presumably due to the chopping up of the episodes to make this about half as long, from what I can surmise, is wildly mixed, with parts speeding by, and others being slow. Not everything seems to pay off, which may again be caused of the cutting. Editing and cinematography are adequate TV quality. Acting is mostly good. There are some adult things in this, and it should not be seen by children. The writing manages to make fun of so many different countries and cultures that almost everyone can be offended, but they do hit the nail on the head with an awful lot of it, and points in this could easily be classified as satirical. I recommend this to fans of British humor and/or Cleese. 6/10
11 Reviews
Still holds up ok
happycarrot684 June 2023
Was a very funny show at the time, some great comedy actors pop up, Alexei Sayle also . Later of course the film with Rik Mayall stealing the show as the SAS leader , sadly Alexei Sayle even sneaked into that version as well.
The great Geoffrey Palmer amongst a fun cast with his deadpan face and delivery, definitely worth another look for its madcap way of dealing with what was a serious issue at the time. The Superman scenes always remained memorable as all these years later.
Plenty of anarchic style humour from the era and great satire , not all of it works but enough to make it a good watchable comedy even all these years later . Were some years to the film version which improved on this , some not so much but a good back to back watch again as both have some excellent moments.
The great Geoffrey Palmer amongst a fun cast with his deadpan face and delivery, definitely worth another look for its madcap way of dealing with what was a serious issue at the time. The Superman scenes always remained memorable as all these years later.
Plenty of anarchic style humour from the era and great satire , not all of it works but enough to make it a good watchable comedy even all these years later . Were some years to the film version which improved on this , some not so much but a good back to back watch again as both have some excellent moments.
Sheer class!
jancyclops16 December 2003
This is one of the best, blackest, most satirical comedies you will ever find. Unfortunately most people will remember the abysmal big screen slapstick version. There are so many great performances, not least from Barry Morse and John Barron as the US president and his advisor; Peter Jones, Geoffrey Palmer and Richard Davies as members of the cabinet when the Labour Party wins the UK election; John Cleese as the terrorist and the brilliant double act of Bruce Montague and David Kelly as the deposed Shah of Iran and Abdab, the Shah's blindfolded manservant. You've got to see this.
Marshall's and Renwick's Cold War Comedy
PorridgeBird18 March 2006
As an American, my obsession with British comedy often results in multiple letdowns (e.g. getting the wrong SINGING DETECTIVE DVD for Christmas). My encounter with WHOOPS APOCALYPSE is one-of-a-kind: while I didn't get the apparently lesser theatrical-release version with Peter Cook, I did get a truncated version which turned the six-episode series into one long 138 minute film with a laugh track. While it certainly retains all of the most hilarious moments of the show, I can't feel that I've missed something.
Still, it's absolutely hilarious. Renwick and Marshall, writers of the show, are two of the greatest British comedy writers I have ever encountered. David Renwick wrote the poignant and occasionally gross-out sitcom ONE FOOT IN THE GRAVE. Andrew Marshall wrote the equally quirky sitcom 2POINT4 CHILDREN. Together, they wrote for the cult classic radio sketch comedy show THE BURKISS WAY and this miniseries about Cold War brinkmanship.
U.S. President Johnny Cyclops, an obvious Reagan parody, is played perfectly as a nervous, naive showbiz icon by Barry Morse. John Barron portrays his almost Cheney-esquire adviser, The Deacon, with particular pomp. Peter Jones has the quavery voice which sounds simply ridiculous as the senile Prime Minister who believes he is Superman. But there is no denying that the show's true strong point is the writing, especially shining through in Ed Bishop's portrayal of Jay Garrick, fast-talking newscaster. (On a late edition of the news, he quickly reads out "I'm Jay Garrick, and you're an insomniac.") Overall, a grand comedy. I continue to search for copies of the full six episodes (as well as the original POLICE SQUAD! series), but meanwhile I watch my version as a double bill with the darker DR. STRANGELOVE.
Still, it's absolutely hilarious. Renwick and Marshall, writers of the show, are two of the greatest British comedy writers I have ever encountered. David Renwick wrote the poignant and occasionally gross-out sitcom ONE FOOT IN THE GRAVE. Andrew Marshall wrote the equally quirky sitcom 2POINT4 CHILDREN. Together, they wrote for the cult classic radio sketch comedy show THE BURKISS WAY and this miniseries about Cold War brinkmanship.
U.S. President Johnny Cyclops, an obvious Reagan parody, is played perfectly as a nervous, naive showbiz icon by Barry Morse. John Barron portrays his almost Cheney-esquire adviser, The Deacon, with particular pomp. Peter Jones has the quavery voice which sounds simply ridiculous as the senile Prime Minister who believes he is Superman. But there is no denying that the show's true strong point is the writing, especially shining through in Ed Bishop's portrayal of Jay Garrick, fast-talking newscaster. (On a late edition of the news, he quickly reads out "I'm Jay Garrick, and you're an insomniac.") Overall, a grand comedy. I continue to search for copies of the full six episodes (as well as the original POLICE SQUAD! series), but meanwhile I watch my version as a double bill with the darker DR. STRANGELOVE.
Whoops! A wonderful old gem
watcher-9919719 April 2017
Warning: Spoilers
I have just managed to acquire this series on a second hand DVD (watched all three hours of it in one session) and, despite the fact that it is around 36 years old, it is still as brilliant as I recalled it.
Yes, there is audience laughter that sometimes obscures the dialogue. Yes, there is quite a bit of ham. Yes, it is more of its time than would be allowed now. Yes, each episode features around 1.5mins of front piece/titles before the action starts (and with each episode coming in at under 28mins that does strike me as a lot). BUT...it has some great great laughs, and that is what really matters.
Stand outs: From the cast, John Cleese will always attract the most attention, the man was at his peak at the time and certainly giving it a go playing multiple characters in the guise of a nuke-smuggling mercenary.
David Kelly as the Iranian servant Abdab, blindfolded so that he does not view his Shah; a hapless yet fawning foil in the same vein as Basil Fawlty's Manuel.
Ed Bishop as motor-mouthed, omnipresent news presenter Jay Garrick, delivering the headlines at what seems like 150 words a minute.
Good old Geoffrey Palmer, stalwart, playing his standard hangdog character to perfection as the British foreign secretary to a prime minister who suddenly declares himself to be Superman.
John Barron, a US adviser running rings around his naive president by arranging for a nuclear bomb to be stolen and trying to boost the presidents miserable ratings percentage by staging an assassination attempt.
Reading the other reviews here it does appear that this comedy has been difficult to get hold of - it has been issued(?) on DVD a few times, it seems, but how many were produced in each production run? I believe I borrowed a VHS from a mate in the early 1990s - so my advice is to get it if you happen upon it, it is a gem.
My pre-owned DVD comes with the big screen 'adaptation' that I haven't yet watched (different story, different characters, different cast in a film that, by all accounts, was made for an American audience and seems to have suffered accordingly - don't think I've seen it this century, but will review it when I have), and the dust jacket does feature images from both productions, including (worryingly?) a still of topless newsreader Kirstie Pooley: wonder if she would be happy with that, all these years later!
Yes, there is audience laughter that sometimes obscures the dialogue. Yes, there is quite a bit of ham. Yes, it is more of its time than would be allowed now. Yes, each episode features around 1.5mins of front piece/titles before the action starts (and with each episode coming in at under 28mins that does strike me as a lot). BUT...it has some great great laughs, and that is what really matters.
Stand outs: From the cast, John Cleese will always attract the most attention, the man was at his peak at the time and certainly giving it a go playing multiple characters in the guise of a nuke-smuggling mercenary.
David Kelly as the Iranian servant Abdab, blindfolded so that he does not view his Shah; a hapless yet fawning foil in the same vein as Basil Fawlty's Manuel.
Ed Bishop as motor-mouthed, omnipresent news presenter Jay Garrick, delivering the headlines at what seems like 150 words a minute.
Good old Geoffrey Palmer, stalwart, playing his standard hangdog character to perfection as the British foreign secretary to a prime minister who suddenly declares himself to be Superman.
John Barron, a US adviser running rings around his naive president by arranging for a nuclear bomb to be stolen and trying to boost the presidents miserable ratings percentage by staging an assassination attempt.
Reading the other reviews here it does appear that this comedy has been difficult to get hold of - it has been issued(?) on DVD a few times, it seems, but how many were produced in each production run? I believe I borrowed a VHS from a mate in the early 1990s - so my advice is to get it if you happen upon it, it is a gem.
My pre-owned DVD comes with the big screen 'adaptation' that I haven't yet watched (different story, different characters, different cast in a film that, by all accounts, was made for an American audience and seems to have suffered accordingly - don't think I've seen it this century, but will review it when I have), and the dust jacket does feature images from both productions, including (worryingly?) a still of topless newsreader Kirstie Pooley: wonder if she would be happy with that, all these years later!
Almost a documentary...
Louisejjames26 January 2021
Watching this 40 years later it's difficult to not believe this isn't a fly on the wall documentary particularly of the US presidency in recent years. Suffice to say this is not at all politically correct in any fashion, and all the better for it. It takes the proverbial out of any & everything that deserves it in its quest to be a countdown to the nuclear apocalypse threatened so often in the early 80's. This would send the loony left crazy today so you best go watch it...
Classic Comedy
simoncoram-067669 February 2022
They don't make them like this anymore, that's for sure! One of the funniest ever TV series to come out of this country. This was from a time when you could switch the telly on and LAUGH, unlike today. Both the six part show and the film are on sale now together in a box set, and I'm SO glad I bought it! 👍
The funniest and blackest sitcom ever made
Lars-Gosta7 April 2003
This is an undeservedly forgotten gem! I wonder why you can't get this one on video or DVD; it really deserves it. At least it deserves to be aired again. As with all great comedy it is dead serious at bottom, and its message is as urgent as it was in 1982. About the only serious line in the whole film is the very last one, and the effect is really powerful.
Probably the funniest TV series ever made.
Uttrediay24 August 1999
A hilarious comedy series which is also an shrewd political commentary of the 80s, complete with a brainless US president, a robotic Soviet premier and a British PM who thinks he's a well known comic book hero. You get here John Cleese at his exasperating best, and the inclusion of comic book characters add to the ever increasing pace toward the apocalyptic climax. And watch out, it's not 1982 anymore, but the world's still just as crazy, it could still happen!
The show was made into a cinema movie (1986), but with a different cast and without the same comic flair.
The show was made into a cinema movie (1986), but with a different cast and without the same comic flair.
British TV comedy about the end of the world and circumsized missiles.
Fibbly6 June 1999
No doubt much of this has aged badly since the Cold War seems well over, but Cleese's performance alone makes it worth finding. Also worth catching is the relationship between the Shah of Iran and his manservant Ahdab - a more endearing piece of subservience would be hard to imagine. Finally my favourite line is recited by one of the Soviet premiers; "Neutral countries have two options - medium or well done"! Important advice for someone living in Sweden.
"Whoops!" - sitcom in late 80's
Mark N.4 June 1999
FOX Broadcasting had their own version of this show, simply named "Whoops!" which aired sometime in the late 80's or early 90's. In FOX's show, a group of ethnically-diverse people escaped the destruction of WW3 in a bomb shelter. After emerging, they found refuge in an old barn accompanied by a windmill in a lush green valley. To their dismay, they couldn't leave the barn due to the fact that a 3-story tall mutant ant wandered around the area. This show was a 30 minute sitcom, and was a comedy. It lasted for only one season. Although most people don't remember this show, I think of it as a cool TV memory from my childhood.
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