Horrible Histories - A Love Letter
So, anyone who has been following me on Twitter recently will know that my most recent fandom obsession is Horrible Histories.
For those of you that don’t know what I’m talking about, well, keep reading and you will soon know.
I refer, of course, to the current CBBC sketch show based on the series of books. Now, before you all turn your noses up at the thought of reading about a kids show, let me just tell you that it’s not, it’s really not. For a start, it was always intended to be a family show, for all that it airs on CBBC. It was always meant to be the kind of show that the whole family could sit down and enjoy together. And thus, what we ended up with was a really intelligent sketch show that doesn’t talk down to kids and is really funny.
No, seriously, it is just properly funny. We’re talking "could give Blackadder a run for its money" funny.
Let me start by showing what got me interested in the show. At some point in the last couple of years, I got linked to this video:
Just look what a great comic idea that is: the 4 King Georges as a boy band, singing about things that happened during their reigns. And how perfectly executed, with the lighting, the stools, the synchronised dance moves, the standing up on the key change!
All of it is well thought out, well written and well executed. The songs are some of my favourite bits about the show, whether it’s King Charles II as a rapper, Cleopatra as a Lady Ga-ga alike or Vikings a rock band.
But they aren’t the only great bits of the show.
There are some superbly executed spoofs of existing shows, such a Historical Master Chef, Ready Steady Feast, Historical Come Dine With Me or Historical Fashion Fix, complete with its very own Gok Wan:
Obviously, the kids watching will know these shows, but really only the parents will fully appreciate how well done these are (see what I mean about it not being just a kids show)
I mean, just look at this next song; an Adam Ant parody about Highwaymen. How many kids have even heard of Adam Ant, let alone understand how spot on this is:
But don’t get the impression that everything about the show is a spoof or a parody (although I admit I haven’t mentioned the "I’m a Shouty Man" adverts). For example:
And just watch this:
Look at that: a sketch telling kids not to believe everything they’re told.
In fact, large parts of the show, much likes the books, are about correcting common misconceptions.
Exhibit A: Shakespeare and Richard III
Yes, there is a high number of poo and fart gags, but history was grimy and dirty, and, lets face it, they can be funny. And at least they are usually making a historical point, rather than for shock value.
And jokes about death. You can’t get away from the fact that people died in horrible ways, but don’t forget some of them were just damn stupid:
Stupid Deaths is one of my favourite segments of the show. As is Bob Hale. With the Civil War report:
We all love Bobsy! Especially when you realise that that pretty much has to be one take.
But one of the best parts about this show is that it’s not just funny, it is, for the most part, historically accurate as well. It manages to slip stealth learning into kids heads. And that is the very best kind of thing to do. Like in this sketch about the causes of the First World War:
So, how do they manage it? How do they manage to be funny and intelligent and brilliant and all of those things? Simple. The people. The people involved a brilliant.
For a start, Terry Deary (author of the amazing books that kicked all of this off) is involved in the writing of the show, and has even appeared in a number of episodes, so it clearly has his seal of approval.
Secondly, they haven’t got kids tv people in. They’ve got comedy people in. The performers and writers all have careers in “proper grown up comedy” including Peep Show, Spy (a recent and excellent Sky One comedy which I may have cause to write more about later), Gavin and Stacy, The Armstrong and Miller Show, Rev, The Thick of It, The Impressions Show and The Office to name but a few. So these people aren’t trying to make children’s tv, they’re trying to make funny tv. And that makes all the difference in the world.
I just can’t explain how much I love this show. It just puts me in a good mood. Literally. A couple of weeks ago I had a really shitty journey home after visiting my dad, and by the time I got back to my dad’s I was spitting tacks, ready to kill my neighbours because I happened to be able to hear them. One episode of Horrible Histories was all it took for me to relax and behave like a rational human being again.
I'm just gonna finish with one of the sketches I love:
Ok, so I’ve spoken about the bits I love about the show, why I think it works and how happy it makes me. In the interest of balance, I think it’s only fair to go on to the other things I like about the show; the pretty pretty men who make it.
Yes, I’m shallow, but I think that’s been firmly established by now. It doesn’t help that they are clearly good mates, are all on twitter and tweet adorably at each other. They make me just want to squeesh them in a great big hug.
So first there must be special mention of Simon Farnaby because he is awesome and I love him, but he has scary hair and it scares me:
And as previously established, I am shallow like a
shallow thing, so he will only be making a guest appearance in the coming picspam.
Next we have Mat Baynton. He suffers from what I like to call “The Reid Effect” in that, much like Spencer Reid in Criminal Minds, the fandom, especially the teenage girl corner of the fandom, all love him and think he is the most wonderful thing because he is skinny and lanky and vaguely emo and a little bit woobie. I… well I can see the appeal of Mat more than Reid.
He is, after all, a Dandy Highwayman:
He is the youngest cast member at only 26, and at times he looks even younger:
Although, actually I don’t know what that photo is from, so actually, he could just have been really young when it was taken.
This, however, was from Horrible Histories so is about 2 years old. I like to call it “The Artful Dodger, a few years later”:
As I said, he is a little bit emo, but I think this is overdoing the guyliner a bit
Perhaps hipster is a better description than emo:
But however we describe him, we must remember that comedy is Srs Bsns!
Mat is, however, incapable of pulling a normal face in photos. It is entirely possible that he might just not *have* a normal face:
But that’s ok, because on Horrible Histories he gets to wear a lot of uniforms. And they just sort of make him look adorable.
Mat is in Spy, which, as I previously mentioned, is a really good Sky One comedy which has, unfortunately just finished. Accidentally caught an episode the other week and I loved it. I think Mat Baynton is one of the best things about it because he plays the quirky best friend and gets to pop up at odd moments, say funny things and disappear. It is also quite a slashtastic show.
There are other awesome things about it, but as this is supposed to be a Horrible Histories post, I think I’ll leave it there.
Next up is Laurence Rickard. Ah, Larry. He was only supposed to be a writer but sort of ended up being one of the main cast. He is just sort of adorable personified.
When he looks sad you just want to give him cookies and hug him till he feels better:
When he is happy it is just as adorable
Even if he has 80s hair:
Or a train driver moustache:
Because when all’s said and done, he’s just all sorts of adorable:
And I think I'm going to leave it there for part one, as my browser is having issues with so much embedding!
Stay tuned for part 2!
For those of you that don’t know what I’m talking about, well, keep reading and you will soon know.
I refer, of course, to the current CBBC sketch show based on the series of books. Now, before you all turn your noses up at the thought of reading about a kids show, let me just tell you that it’s not, it’s really not. For a start, it was always intended to be a family show, for all that it airs on CBBC. It was always meant to be the kind of show that the whole family could sit down and enjoy together. And thus, what we ended up with was a really intelligent sketch show that doesn’t talk down to kids and is really funny.
No, seriously, it is just properly funny. We’re talking "could give Blackadder a run for its money" funny.
Let me start by showing what got me interested in the show. At some point in the last couple of years, I got linked to this video:
Click to viewJust look what a great comic idea that is: the 4 King Georges as a boy band, singing about things that happened during their reigns. And how perfectly executed, with the lighting, the stools, the synchronised dance moves, the standing up on the key change!
All of it is well thought out, well written and well executed. The songs are some of my favourite bits about the show, whether it’s King Charles II as a rapper, Cleopatra as a Lady Ga-ga alike or Vikings a rock band.
But they aren’t the only great bits of the show.
There are some superbly executed spoofs of existing shows, such a Historical Master Chef, Ready Steady Feast, Historical Come Dine With Me or Historical Fashion Fix, complete with its very own Gok Wan:
Obviously, the kids watching will know these shows, but really only the parents will fully appreciate how well done these are (see what I mean about it not being just a kids show)
I mean, just look at this next song; an Adam Ant parody about Highwaymen. How many kids have even heard of Adam Ant, let alone understand how spot on this is:
But don’t get the impression that everything about the show is a spoof or a parody (although I admit I haven’t mentioned the "I’m a Shouty Man" adverts). For example:
And just watch this:
Look at that: a sketch telling kids not to believe everything they’re told.
In fact, large parts of the show, much likes the books, are about correcting common misconceptions.
Exhibit A: Shakespeare and Richard III
Yes, there is a high number of poo and fart gags, but history was grimy and dirty, and, lets face it, they can be funny. And at least they are usually making a historical point, rather than for shock value.
And jokes about death. You can’t get away from the fact that people died in horrible ways, but don’t forget some of them were just damn stupid:
Stupid Deaths is one of my favourite segments of the show. As is Bob Hale. With the Civil War report:
We all love Bobsy! Especially when you realise that that pretty much has to be one take.
But one of the best parts about this show is that it’s not just funny, it is, for the most part, historically accurate as well. It manages to slip stealth learning into kids heads. And that is the very best kind of thing to do. Like in this sketch about the causes of the First World War:
So, how do they manage it? How do they manage to be funny and intelligent and brilliant and all of those things? Simple. The people. The people involved a brilliant.
For a start, Terry Deary (author of the amazing books that kicked all of this off) is involved in the writing of the show, and has even appeared in a number of episodes, so it clearly has his seal of approval.
Secondly, they haven’t got kids tv people in. They’ve got comedy people in. The performers and writers all have careers in “proper grown up comedy” including Peep Show, Spy (a recent and excellent Sky One comedy which I may have cause to write more about later), Gavin and Stacy, The Armstrong and Miller Show, Rev, The Thick of It, The Impressions Show and The Office to name but a few. So these people aren’t trying to make children’s tv, they’re trying to make funny tv. And that makes all the difference in the world.
I just can’t explain how much I love this show. It just puts me in a good mood. Literally. A couple of weeks ago I had a really shitty journey home after visiting my dad, and by the time I got back to my dad’s I was spitting tacks, ready to kill my neighbours because I happened to be able to hear them. One episode of Horrible Histories was all it took for me to relax and behave like a rational human being again.
I'm just gonna finish with one of the sketches I love:
Ok, so I’ve spoken about the bits I love about the show, why I think it works and how happy it makes me. In the interest of balance, I think it’s only fair to go on to the other things I like about the show; the pretty pretty men who make it.
Yes, I’m shallow, but I think that’s been firmly established by now. It doesn’t help that they are clearly good mates, are all on twitter and tweet adorably at each other. They make me just want to squeesh them in a great big hug.
So first there must be special mention of Simon Farnaby because he is awesome and I love him, but he has scary hair and it scares me:
And as previously established, I am shallow like a
shallow thing, so he will only be making a guest appearance in the coming picspam.
Next we have Mat Baynton. He suffers from what I like to call “The Reid Effect” in that, much like Spencer Reid in Criminal Minds, the fandom, especially the teenage girl corner of the fandom, all love him and think he is the most wonderful thing because he is skinny and lanky and vaguely emo and a little bit woobie. I… well I can see the appeal of Mat more than Reid.
He is, after all, a Dandy Highwayman:
He is the youngest cast member at only 26, and at times he looks even younger:
Although, actually I don’t know what that photo is from, so actually, he could just have been really young when it was taken.
This, however, was from Horrible Histories so is about 2 years old. I like to call it “The Artful Dodger, a few years later”:
As I said, he is a little bit emo, but I think this is overdoing the guyliner a bit
Perhaps hipster is a better description than emo:
But however we describe him, we must remember that comedy is Srs Bsns!
Mat is, however, incapable of pulling a normal face in photos. It is entirely possible that he might just not *have* a normal face:
But that’s ok, because on Horrible Histories he gets to wear a lot of uniforms. And they just sort of make him look adorable.
Mat is in Spy, which, as I previously mentioned, is a really good Sky One comedy which has, unfortunately just finished. Accidentally caught an episode the other week and I loved it. I think Mat Baynton is one of the best things about it because he plays the quirky best friend and gets to pop up at odd moments, say funny things and disappear. It is also quite a slashtastic show.
There are other awesome things about it, but as this is supposed to be a Horrible Histories post, I think I’ll leave it there.
Next up is Laurence Rickard. Ah, Larry. He was only supposed to be a writer but sort of ended up being one of the main cast. He is just sort of adorable personified.
When he looks sad you just want to give him cookies and hug him till he feels better:
When he is happy it is just as adorable
Even if he has 80s hair:
Or a train driver moustache:
Because when all’s said and done, he’s just all sorts of adorable:
And I think I'm going to leave it there for part one, as my browser is having issues with so much embedding!
Stay tuned for part 2!