Matt Lucas was on Jonathan Ross recently comparing his new series to the children’s show Pingu. Like Pingu the characters here speak in a kind of nonsensical, noisy gibberish. We can tell when Lucas’s down-at-hell aristo is sad, happy, hungry or deliriously delighted just by the sounds he is making.
While he compared it to a children’s animation – and the early evening scheduling and jaunty music* suggests it is aimed at a young demographic – the other inevitable comparison is with Mr Bean. When Rowan Atkinson and Richard Curtis first made that show one of their mantras was something like “think of the viewers in Egypt”. No English meant no need for subtitles. Lucas has also mentioned that having seen Little Britain translated all over the world he fancied making something that everyone could immediately understand.
The result is a series that works on all sorts of levels except for the vomit/piss/breast-feeding shock tactics of Little Britain. Kids will love the stupidity of it, but it is also very clever. Lucas’s bumptious posho – shades of Fred Emney (ask your granddad) – might own a big country house** but he lives in a caravan with his butler and pet dog. His manservant Hove is played with comic servility by Alex Macqueen, while his hound Marion is either brilliantly trained or a brilliant animation, it is sometimes hard to tell.
Their various scrapes are told through brief scenes liberally sprinkled with visual gags. Mr Pompidou is broke and hungry so goes fishing, with hilarious consequences. He ends up in hospital with, well, what do you think, more hilarious consequences. Virtually the only words one can clearly make out are when Pompidou exclaims “very naughty”, as if he has learnt English from an old Ebeneezer Scrooge video.
There is no malice here. Pompidou is like the flipside of Lucas’s early character Sir Bernard Chumley, who was constantly seething with frustrated rage behind the smiles. Little Britain loyalists might find it on the light side, but it is actually satisfying that it is mostly upbeat. The gags evoke Chaplin, Laurel and Hardy, Jacques Tati and like the greats there is a splash of sentimentality too. It is no surprise to see that Lucas is an excellent physical comedian who can pull on your heartstrings as well as make you guffaw. If the makers aren't already planning a film or anination spin-off it can surely only be a matter of time.
Pompidou, BBC2, 6.30pm, Sundays.
*I like the music. Listen out for the bit in the middle that sounds like this.
**Matt Lucas seems to have a thing about stately piles. He appeared in Blur's video for Country House (ask your dad).
