How to do a good British TV to film adaptation

How to do a Good British TV to Film Adaptation

(And What to Avoid)

Epic cringefest (in a good way)

After the success of the inbetweeners movie, (with a massive £55 million box office take compared to the £3.5 million budget) I wondered why more comedies didn't make the transition from TV to film.

Evidently I wasn't the only person who had this idea and in the end, I realised why when Keith Lemon: The Film was released. It's sad to see a formally funny character become a one joke caricature, especially when films such as Borat pull off ideas from sketch shows and make them into movies that you can watch repeatedly. (And win you golden globes, ask Sacha Baron Cohen).

The Single character adaptation

Does it well:

Ali G Indahouse

Ali G made just under £26 million at the box office, which gave Sacha  Baron-Cohen the platform to release the critically acclaimed Borat. 

Ali G may not have been to everyone's taste, with a rotten tomatoes rating of 56%, but it did have the capacity to make a lot of people (myself included) laugh.

There are so many memorable scenes, with the introduction setting the surreal tone and decent supporting performances by Martin Freeman and Charles Dance.

Gets it wrong:

Keith Lemon: The Film

Despite Leigh Francis' creation bombing with his Lemon-aide show and losing the only other comedian on Celebrity Juice with Rufus Hound's departure, he damaged the character further with the critically derided Keith Lemon film. Get any aggregate score site and you'll find it's low. M Night Shyamalan low.

The film would have been better if it had actually tried, rather than being content to exist. Also, rumours abound that it wasn't pre-released to critics, so make of that what you will.

The Sitcom

Does it well:

The Inbetweeners

As mentioned in the introduction, the Inbetweeners was unbelievably commercially successful. But never mind that, there was so much laughter in the cinema I watched it in that I missed some of the jokes. 

Also, Neil's dance was worth the inflated admission price alone. (In context, I remember it was in the advert).

Well played, marketing team.

The inbetweeners film is a great example of how to set the limits higher then the original setting, and improves on the established format with what is essentially a holiday episode of the hit series.

Get's it wrong:

Guest House Paradiso

Now, I actually owned this on VHS, and I didn't think it was that bad. I loved Bottom, and the Young Ones.

The problem is, I don't know anyone else that did like it. I think the scene where the Groom gets sick was too much for the more squeamish to handle, but you know what you're getting with those two. Also, with characters like Pascal the chef it probably didn't translate well in other countries. 

The despondent setting and lacklustre plot let it down, because they didn't really improve on the original format at all.

The Future

If there was one British sitcom I could choose, it would have to be Red Dwarf. With the right financial backing I think it could be a sleeper hit. If you don't believe me, check out the records it set on Dave when they released the new seasons. I really enjoyed season X and I can't wait for the new episodes to air, I wish I could have been in the audience.

As far as character adaptations go, Dan Skinners' Angelos Epithemiou could be a candidate. I know his gimmick is just a plastic bag, but you never know what's in there. Also I think he did some good work with Adeel Akhtar on his self named C4 vehicle.

If you have anything to add, any suggestions, or you do actually like Guest House Paradiso (like me) let me know and thanks for reading.