Shall We Talk About Dark Ages (on YouTube)?

[Warbodog]

With G&T regularly unearthing the most obscure RD-related odds and sods on YouTube, and the massive success of the Quanderhorn thread in recent weeks, I thought it might be nice to highlight some of the other substantial extracurricular projects out there involving Rob and/or Doug or the cast that any true fan will have already bothered to seek out in the decades since their release, but which some of us fake fans just sort of didn’t ever really get around to sparing a few hours for yet. Especially if consensus says they aren’t worth it.

I’m mainly thinking of other Rob & Doug radio & TV work (I haven’t listened to Cliche/Son-of or 10%ers) and Rob’s solo sitcoms and novels, but some basic knowledge of the cast’s other significant work is good to know too, despite that being a nebulous and vast area.

The barrier is access, since these aren’t all conveniently available worldwide on the iPlayer and posting links to popup-filled putlocker sites and torrents might not be very popular with the admins. But if something’s up on YouTube in awful VHS rip quality and it’s not important enough to warrant a copyright strike, that’s probably okay right?

Well, as it’s week one (of one?), why don’t I start? Here’s episode one of Rob Grant’s maligned millennial ITV sitcom Dark Ages:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tua0SMfa5Fw

I was ready to buckle in for the whole thing, but I can’t find the rest anywhere, short of buying the Region 1 DVD for £49.96 on Amazon (Region 2 unavailable).

Have you seen Dark Ages before, or watching for the first time? Discuss?

[Warbodog]

Oh dear, that wasn’t very good. I think I only watched one episode at the time (but not this one – the one where Phill Jupitus predicts that the next decade will be referred to as the noughties and the audience laughs at the idea). Even as a less fussy 14-year-old terrestrial viewer who recognised Rob Grant’s name and would generally watch any comedy that was on, I didn’t bother with the rest.

Probably Rob’s worst, unless Colony is even worse (only listened to the abridged audiobook when not really paying attention). Both of those are probably his least inventive works too, though maybe that extends to Quanderhorn too.

For a more interesting and entertaining look at the period, I recommend The Year 1000: What Life Was Like at the Turn of the First Millennium by Robert Lacey and Danny Danziger.

[Pete Part Three]

I think I watched the first episode, and then apathy over its quality (and confusion over its scheduling, which I recall being haphazard), meant I saw no more. I’ve never had the inclination to revisit it.

[Ben Saunders]

Does the 10%ers even exist? I went searching for it one time and couldn’t find it anywhere

[Ben Saunders]

Also that documentary thing of Bobby teaching you how to make television looks like a lot of fun, think they show a clip in the VII behind the scenes, of him showing how continuity works. I, Camera?

[Pete Part Three]

I, *Camcoder* was great. Wish I’d recorded that at the time.

The 10%ers really wasn’t bad.

[Pete Part Three]

*I, Camcorder* gah.

[flanl3]

Can you make anything into a British sitcom by simply putting “-ers” onto the end of some phrase?

[flanl3]

The Inbetweeners, The 10%ers, Fawlty Towers, etc.

[Ian Symes]

I have both I, Camcorder and Dark Ages on VHS, but have similarly never seen The 10%ers. I would bloody love to see The 10&ers.

True story: Dark Ages debuted on the same day as my nan’s funeral. I don’t know which event depressed me more.

I first made that joke on here around fifteen years ago, but felt it deserved a wider audience.

[Lily]

I’d never seen or heard of this before. It made me laugh several times so I’d be open to watching some more. I think the more irritating thing was that some of the silly voices were so silly I couldn’t understand what they were actually saying.

The rhythm of some of those drawn out complex insults seemed terribly familiar though.

[Jonsmad]

I’ve got the dark ages region one DVD.

Was a millennium thing. So i doubt ive watched it again in 15 or more years.

It wasnt Chelmsford 123, or blackadder, and so is a bit of an also ran. Certainly worse than any dwarf and not as good the strangerers which i liked though it went off a bit towards the end.

[Jonsmad]

I watched the 10%ers on broadcast. It was quite good. Lightly took the piss out of the world of show biz. so much like The young ones then doing that with Filthy rich and catflap etc. Rob and doug could mock the TV industry a little at a time when they had just experienced a lot of it at two main channels etc. There was one episode a bit sci fi TV in plot as well.

[Warbodog]

I was grateful for G&T’s audio archive when I did mindless data entry work 10 years ago. I remember Wrinkles passing the time just fine, strange that I’ve never bothered to seek out the more significant Cliché & Son of Cliché ever.

One of the top Google results is the series on archive.org. There doesn’t seem to be a commercial release:

https://archive.org/details/SonOfCliche

Though only 5 episodes in series 1, so incomplete. I’ll get through it when I have time, sadly I have work that requires concentration these days.

[International Debris]

I had off-airs of all of Dark Ages at one point. I was excited to see how the Millennium Globe looked. I fancied Sheridan Smith. I quite liked Alistair McGowan. I’m not sure any of my positive experience of it was related to laughter, however. Maybe I’ll have a look at that YouTube version later.

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