The Even Younger Ones

One of the funniest things I remember watching as a child was the 1982 one-off mockumentary Kevin Turvey: The Man Behind The Green Door, starring Rik Mayall as the titular Turvey (a character he'd made famous on BBC2 sketch show A Kick Up The Eighties). Filmed in a video diary style, it chronicles a week in the life of an unemployed dreamer from Redditch, in the West Midlands. It's years ahead of its time really (at least a decade ahead of Steve Coogan's Paul & Pauline Calf's Video Diaries, for example).

Anyway, I recently rewatched Kevin Turvey: TMBTGD for the first time in years and it's still (oxymoron alert!) seriously funny. As well as Mayall there are also early TV roles for a fresh-faced Ade Edmondson and Robbie Coltrane, as well as a great turn from Roger "Nuts In May" Sloman as a deranged, possibly psychopathic park-keeper. All this and a Shakin' Stevens theme tune as well. What more could you ask for?

Sadly you can't get the programme on DVD for love nor money, but there are still old second hand VHS copies available from Amazon and the like. It'll set you back around a tenner but it's well worth it for a largely forgotten TV comedy classic.

Then there's always the option of watching clips from the programme via You Tube. Here we see, firstly, a truly unforgettable rendering of Downtown from Turvey and co; followed by a punk classic courtesy of Ade Edmondson Keith Marshall.

Petula Clark eat your heart out


Keith Marshall & His Musical Anarchy