Q5

I saw these programmes when originally transmitted. I have brought the box set to reaquaint myself with them.Sometimes he is funny,other times he is boring.At all times he is racist. Black people are called wogs. An old fashioned cash register is called a Jewish piano. Not ok then and certainly not now.

A tragically overlooked series that broke all the rules of standard comedy and opened the flood gates to a wave of new anarchic TV comics. All too often are Monty Python hailed as the creators of anarchic, surreal comedy on television. This is not the case. There is no doubting that Monty Python's Flying Circus contributed some of the finest sketches in the genre, but they were pipped to the post by the grand master of comedy, Spike Milligan. While Milligan's stream of consciousness style proved to be far more hit and miss than Python's organised comic offerings, that only added to the shows raw energy. Spike Milligan was a true surrealist and amazingly funny. Some of the material did fall flat and was sometimes charmlessly corny, but this is because we are viewing a show that knows no bounds and is aimlessly sprawling through locations and ideas at a far greater rate than Python's overly structured shows could ever concieve of doing. It is doubtful the Q... series will ever be recognised for its worth by the masses. I strongly recommend you find a tape of this series and see just how great it was. And if that doesn't convince you, listen to a tape of the legendary Goon Shows also written by Milligan. A radio series that went further and funnier than Python ever could almost twenty years before them!

The line between genius and madness is a fine one, and no individual epitomised these extremes more effectively than Spike Milligan. The 'Monty Python' team freely admit drawing inspiration from his shows. I never saw 'Q5' alas, but the later series - beginning with 'Q6' - were a mixture of the brilliant and banal. Like the Pythons, if Milligan tired of a sketch he'd cut it short. False noses and boot polished faces cropped up a lot. Then there was the well-endowed Julia Breck, whom Spike delighted in undressing on air. Spike himself never seemed to be able to get through a sketch without giggling. Amongst the highlights were a spoof 'The World About Us' about the 'Cock-a-knees' ( Cockneys ), the 'Good Samaritan' read from a pulpit by a police officer, the infamous Pakistani Dalek sketch, 'The First Irishman In Space', 'The Smallest Police Station In The World' and Adolf Hitler doing a George Formby impression. You had to love Spike to love the show - and I did.

Although it is now showing its age and can, in places, offend the 'right on' and politically correct factions, Milligans 'Q' series is a work of twisted, surreal, lunatic genius. On television, nothing that came before it and very little that followed has had the same impact.

Although Spike Milligan can be something of an acquired taste it is well worth checking out if you get the chance. Bursting with energy, full of wild characters, bizarre situations and wonderfully understated in-jokes, and of course Milligans ad-libs and fits of giggles 'Q' should be essential viewing for any fan of comedy, if only for an insight in the uniqueness of certain aspects of British humour.

Anyone who has ever read books on Monty Python will no doubt have noticed that the Pythons themselves credit this particular series as being their inspiration. Its first 7 episodes screened several months before Monty Python's first series. The influence is apparent. Spike had the same surreal and mad atmosphere, often showing deconstructed skits (ie. one with no props, with an on-screen title saying "BBC economy sketch". However, it has to be said that Milligan has a more visual humour than Python, he would never have produced 'The Argument Clinic' or 'The Cheese Shop.' There was a lot of profanity, risque jokes and sending up of the Royal Family, which no doubt explains why most of the series was never repeated. The quality of the comedy also varied a lot, some skits were so abstract that they were probably closer to Luis Bunuel than Monty Python: a sketch would just stop in the middle and the characters would walk about the stage, bumping into each other like robots. The costumes are always strange, and the characters often wear large plastic noses a la Raymond Luxury-Yacht from Monty Python. The later series have some hilariously funny scenes eg. a traffic cop asks to see a flying carpet driver's licence and is given a banana, or a Dolly Parton look-alike whose breasts double as bagpipes. There's also a lot of Goon Show references (Spike's Minnie Bannister voice). If you're a fan of the strangest of British humour, this is definitely worth a look, but be warned it is quite hard to find. The BBC recently showed a few episodes, and there's a 'best of' compilation available called 'Spike Milligan in the Best of Q'