Now that House is no longer in production (I don’t want to say “off the air” because it’s still on everywhere in reruns), I’m finding new outlets for my Hugh Laurie fix. The man has done so much in his career, but most Americans only know him as Gregory House. So, in upcoming posts I want to introduce you to a few different Hugh Laurie characters, starting with Paul Slippery.
Paul Slippery is having a mid-life crisis. The pressures of his work life and family life have him so out of sorts, he sometimes thinks he can hear peoples’ thoughts. Like Gregory House, Paul Slippery is a doctor, but that’s where the similarities end.
He has three grown sons, who he feels are totally obsessed with sex. But Paul is no better. He’s been married to his wife, Estelle, for 20 years and can’t remember the last time they had sex. Throughout the series Paul is endlessly trying to be intimate with Estelle, planning an erotic dinner, slipping her an herbal aphrodisiac, but one way or another life gets in the way.
Not only is this show a great way to see Hugh Laurie in a sillier role, in 
many ways Paul’s a much more likeable character than House, but you also get to see a younger Benedict Cumberbatch, (who is so absolutely fabulous as Sherlock) playing the eldest son, Rory. Anna Chancellor, who may be best known as the woman everyone hated in Four Weddings and a Funeral, plays Estelle, a character that everyone likes, and I mean everyone.
A special treat in Episode Two: Hugh Laurie’s old comedy partner, Stephen Fry, has a cameo role playing an offended fishmonger.
MAIN CAST:
Hugh Laurie – Paul Slippery
Anna Chancellor – Estelle Slippery
Benedict Cumberbatch – Rory Slippery
Neil Henry – Daniel Slippery
Joe Van Moyland – Edwin Slippery
Sheila Hancock – Gwendolen Hartley
Lolita Chakrabarti – Surinder Dhillon
Peter Capaldi – Ronnie Pilfrey
Emma Ferguson – Laura Proek
Siobhan Hewlett – Lucy Proek
Total Seasons: 1 (6 episodes)
Seasons Available on US Formatted DVD: 1
In Production: 2003
Viewer Discretion: Adult situations and language
The series starts off 1,000 days before the games. The committee deals with problems like choosing who will carry the torch for Britain. They want a public figure or celebrity who will represent the country, someone who will make them proud to be British. They can’t think of anyone! And then there’s the countdown clock that goes backwards, working out the traffic problems, thwarting potential boycott threats and figuring out what to do with the venues after the games. These guys certainly have their hands full. But can they really handle this job?
Again, you can compare it to the UK version of The Office.
Comedian/Actor Robbie Coltrane sits behind the wheel of his classic Jaguar roadster and explores the beautiful British countryside, outside the big cities and off the beaten path on the B roads. The show was also called “B Road Britain.”
festivals, sporting events, small town traditions and colorful characters.
bikers with his sidecar hearse, the Mytholmroyd Dock Pudding Championship (Robbie enters his recipe and comes in second), the oldest sweet shop in Britain, a man who has a lawnmower collection and races them, the Scarecrow Festival, pigeon racing, haunted Chillingham Castle, the destruction of the Chapelcross nuclear power plant towers, grooming the long-haired highland cattle for a show, and the curry cooking competition in Glasgow (which is the curry capital of Britain.)
Tom Good has just turned 40. He’s tired of the rat race and decides to quit his job as a draftsman designing plastic toys for breakfast cereal, and become self-sufficient. But instead of moving to the country to become a farmer, Tom Good builds his farm in his suburban backyard.
more appropriate.
Even though Tom and Barbara are very good friends with their next door neighbors, Margo and Jerry Leadbetter, their antics are not always well-received. Margo likes to think of herself as an upstanding member of her community and is often embarrassed by what goes on next door. Jerry is more laid back about his neighbors’ farm life. He still works for the same company that Tom left and spends much of his time sucking up to his boss so he can become a senior manager someday.
