15 Storeys High – Season 1 ( Fifteen Storeys High – Season One )
Netherlands released, PAL/Region 2 DVD: LANGUAGES: English ( Dolby Digital Stereo ), Dutch ( Subtitles ), SPECIAL FEATURES: Interactive Menu, Scene Access, SYNOPSIS: 15 Storeys High is the cult tv comedy series written by and starring stand-up comedian Sean Lock. This comedy series follows the lives of two very different blokes who find themselves sharing a flat in a towerblock on a South London council estate. The flat’s owner Vince (Sean Lock) takes in a new lodger – Errol (Benedict Wong) and it is not long before he realises he has made a dreadful mistake. 15 Storeys High also introduces us to some of the other towerblock occupants – wife-swappers, bible bashers, lap dancers, men who shout at the television and even a bloke who keeps a horse in his spare room. This DVD features all six episodes from the first series – The Sofa, Pool Kids, Blue Rat, The Model, Ice Queen and Dead Swan. SCREENED/AWARDED AT: BAFTA Awards,
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Ssshhhhh! Don’t tell anyone how good it is…,
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I hadn’t even heard of 15 Storeys High until it was recommended to me by Amazon – presumably because I’ve purchased Spaced, Black Books and Game On in the past. I didn’t know what to expect from the series and I wasn’t familiar with Sean Lock, the writer and star, despite him being a cult figure on the stand-up circuit.
Sean plays Vince, resident of a tower block and a life guard at the local swimming pool. He rents his spare room to Errol (Benedict Wong), who struggles to come to terms with the lunacy of London-life and its inhabitants.
The humour is dry, dry, dry and there is no laughter track or title music. The direction (by Mark Nunneley) adds brilliantly to the humour with creative camera angles and ‘star wars’ style swipe cuts. Vince and Errol’s world is grimy and dark, populated by surreal (normal?) people and surreal happenings. The beauty of the series is that the two main protagonists don’t moan about their existence, they just get on with it, they go to work and they come home. Life goes on.
Vince get’s terrorised by scholl children, Errol gets a job in a fish market where his naivety makes him a tad prone to wind ups, Vince tries to get lucky with the girl upstairs, Errol tries to pass his driving test and Vince drink’s a bit too much ‘Blue Rat’ energy drink (‘all the energy of a rat, trapped in a can’).
Series 2 has just started showing on tv and I can’t wait for it to be released on DVD. Buy this DVD yourself but don’t tell anyone else how good it is – it’s a gem of a secret!
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|Giving olives to people who don’t like olives…,
15 Storey’s is a massively underrated show, which is hardly surprising to those who know that Sean has been one of the best stand-up comedians around for years and doesn’t seem to get the exposure his talent deserves. Witness his occassional slots on HIGNFY to get an idea of his dry distorted take on things – he always manages to give paul merton a run for his money.
I met Sean & Martin Treneman (the other writer) at the Darts this year and I have bad news for those waiting for series 2 to come out on DVD. Unfortunately Sean feels that the BBC have no time for him and didn’t ‘get’ FSH. Carlton aren’t willing to pick up Series 2 as a syndication (as they did for Series 1) as the sales figures weren’t startling and the BBC won’t produce it themselves. Unless another independent production company comes into the fold the chances are it won’t ever see the light of day.
Other than that, fans may be pleased to know that Sean & Martin are both lovely blokes who were happy to have a chat and pleased to meet fans of the show. And the darts was alot of fun.
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|All The Energy of a Rat in a Can,
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What can I say about this apart from I was weak from laughing afterwards. There is an abundance of very funny material, some quite dark although unlike other shows he doesn’t drop to the levels of sick humour. You will need to watch this a number of times to appreciate how well written and observed this comedy is. A tragedy for anyone who misses out, as most people appeared to when it was on BB3 and then BB2.
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