Inside Victor Lewis-Smith: Introduction

I see that it has been some time since I wrote about my occasional worry that the supply of old, interesting TV will run out. It wouldn't necessarily affect this blog, because I would quite happily start all over again, blogging about the same stuff for a second time, but the worry that I will eventually have seen everything I want to, comes back now and then. However I've been finding more interesting stuff down the back of the internet for several years now because a lot was uploaded during lockdown and sadly Network DVD went out of business so are no longer around to defend their copyright. I think the long-term loss of Network will be greater to the cult TV fan than the chance find of some pirated copy of a show on YouTube.

Periodically my searches find real gems and this is one of them: to my delight I had somehow managed never even to have heard of this show. This is one of those posts where I'm going to advise you right now that it would be a better investment of your life to stop reading this blog and go and watch this show on YouTube at once. There are six episodes on YouTube, which according to Wikipedia is the complete show, but IMDb says there was a second series making it up to ten episodes, and I don't know which is right.*

Still here? OK, I'll give it the hard sell and start by telling you that you might have heard of programmes made by this show's creator, Victor Lewis-Smith. He tended to be something of a shock journalist and programme maker, so please don't be put off if you've seen any of his other output and found it distasteful. This show is completely different and you don't get dross on this blog.

The premise is that Lewis-Smith himself is in a coma following an accident in the Frank Bough Memorial Zip Injury Wing at St Reith's Hospital for Distressed Broadcasters. If you let this idea sink in, I know you will all readily see that this is a TV programme about TV, and Lewis-Smith is actually fed TV as part of his recovery before he starts regurgitating his TV memories. You may of course say that this ia about as meta as you could wish to get, but it isn't a load of poncey stuff about Theory. If I tell you that this show is actually as if this blog were a TV show, I think you'll get the general idea.

Also in common with this blog, the programmes shown to him are played in through his life support. And we all know that old TV is the staff of life. AFter he starts playing the programmes back, the BBC decide to use him as a free transmitter, even though the programmes are twisted by his strange sense of humour. I have to say that this show is one of the ones which has literally had me laughing out loud. If you like Monty Python, I think you would like this show, and everyone reading this likes Monty Python, surely? The British Comedy Guide describes it as part sitcom and part sketch show. This show is wild and I can't believe I had never heard of it.

It was broadcast between November and December 1993, and the episodes are named after TV show: The Money Programme, Nationwide, The Saint, The Baron, Danger Man, and Tomorrow's World.

My only criticism is that there is an ongoing thread of a taxi journey through his body, which I think is less successful. The commentary after Lewis-Smith's death commented that he didn't really break through to a major TV audience, and I think going by this show it's simply that this is top-notch television but definitely wouldn't have had popular appeal.

My favourite bit is in the second episode in a running sketch where he prank calls someone, when he rings up the Monopolies Commission to say that it's wrong they should have a monopoly on monopolies commissions and he wants to set up another one. And don't miss the Eurovision Atrocity Contest.

*I am heavily dependent on the Wikipedia and IMDb pages for this show, because my head is still spinning from the weirdness.

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