It’s 2012, The Queen has been killed and Hong Kong Kung Fu Supercop ‘Terry Phoo’ is seconded to London under American Police Chief Benjamin Benson to track down the killers.  Of course this being future London it is one in the grip of a mutant criminal gang going by the name of ‘The Freebies’ whos leader is little more than a massive row of teeth in a basketball head who’s henchmen sport an array of Mexican Wrestler masks.

I hope you can forgive the use of a cliche but our hero is ‘hapless’ in almost every sense of the word.  As he tears around the city in his awesome Stratos HF car failing to both find the killers and protect the Royal Princes he inadvertently teams up with Whitey Action, Police Chief Bensons disaffected teenage daughter who takes a shine to the ‘Buddhas Loin Cloth’ - a magical pair of hotpants that grant the wearer whatever they desire.

Highly referential is the first thing that comes to mind when trying to find ways to describe this new effort from BBC Three (Courtesy of BBC Scotland’s money).
The old Batman TV Show, Green Hornet, Kung Fu Hustle, The Banana Splits, The Mighty Boosh, The Young Ones & even Sport Billy are just some of the influences that could be seen in this one hour pilot that has since been commissioned as a six part series despite garnering a lower than expected audience share for the recently re-launched channel.Some of the anarchism has been lost from Jamie ‘Gorillaz’ Hewletts comic strip published in Face magazine in the late nineties but since his drawn characters are deliberately dead eyed care-for-nothings I believe that all but the most pedantic of purists would agree the little extra ‘emotion’ in this outing was quite welcome.
The chemistry between the two leads in particular was brilliantly realised at such an early stage and cult movie legend Carl ‘Action Jackson’ Weathers puts in a great turn as Whiteys father. He seems to be enjoying himself enormously in the role, getting fully involved in the delirium of what is a unique and bizarre viewing experience.

At the centre of proceedings along with Whitey is Buddhist Super Cop ‘Terry Phoo’ who seemed a little underplayed a little by American actor Eddie Shin and the character really only comes to life at the extreme ends of his range. i.e. when the arse kicking ensues and in the one-on-one scenes with Jamie Winstone.

That said, the aforementioned chemistry is what a buddy show like this is all about and the arse kicking is also top notch, both funny and well choreographed in the same OTT vein as a Steven Chow movie. 

For me Jamie ‘Rays daughter’ Winstone as ‘Whitey Action’ was the real star of this show.

With her eyes disappearing beneath a wig she still generates so much attitude from a curled bee-stung lip, bright red hair in a pair of enchanted short-shorts that it’s hard to take your eyes off her despite the madness going on all around. I’d usually use the adjective ’sassy’ at this point but I used up my one free hackneyed expression much earlier in this review. She looks rather fetching in those magical hot-pants too.
In truth all of the outfits, make up and costumes are pretty amazing.

The men-in-suits bad guys are deliciously low budget but wonderfully imaginative. Everything else looks like Jon Paul Gautier got together with the Monster Munch marketing department and threw it together at a charity shop - and that’s a good thing by the way.

The constraints of budget show through a little less favourably in the sets and thi isn’t really helped by a less than kinetic approach to direction from Euros Lyn, previously responsible for the outstanding ‘Girl in the Fireplace’ Dr Who episode.

In fact the direction was often the only problem as this hour of flat out entertainment was intermittantly shot at walking pace. It didn’t undermine the fun entirely but occasionly pace of camera and pace of action didn’t quite match.

Hewlett himself was creative director for the pilot show and a large number of the production team, including co-writer Jessica Hynes, worked on ‘Spaced’, arguably the finest TV show ever made.

So the pedigree is high and signs are good - especially if they can keep Hewlett involved for the duration of the series. The Hollywood decision to over rule him at every instance was what turned Tank Girl into an unwatchable mess, it would be a shame to make that mistake again.

Personally I hope Phoo Action is a success creatively first and commercially second.
This hour long introduction was, if nothing else, shamelessly energetic and wilfully jarring on the senses - an attribute that should always be commended.

Sandwiched as it was between the latest painful series of ‘Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps’ and the unforgivably unfunny ‘Marc Wooton Exposed’ it really couldn’t ram it’s point home any harder.

The cast seem to be revelling being involved in something so creative and yet so much fun. Phoo Action possessed the kind of very British anarchic lunacy that The Young Ones used to deliver.

Phoo action replaces the punks and wannabee yuppies of Thatchers eighties with the celebrity ribbing and quiet disaffection of this century post Tony Blair. The two shows share a total disregard for the established rules of the medium that is very refreshing… even if you can’t help but think that were it not for The Mighty Boosh the path to the screen for Hewletts characters may not have been so easy to navigate.

As a small caveat to the fact that I enjoyed the show massively and have high hopes for the series there is a problem that lies with me rather than the pilot itself.
That being that I’m at least 8 years outside the target demographic of BBC3.
Todays 16-24 year old men shave their bodyhair and put stuff called gum in their hair for 45 minutes before leaving the house. I only shave when my face when my girlfriend complains and I put stuff called water in my hair 45 seconds before leaving the house.

As I’m not the kind of old git to make believe he’s still in his twenties I won’t pretend I can relate to the viewers BBC3 are trying to pull in.

In short, despite my own positivity, I have no idea how this show will go down with it’s intended audience.

Posted by Jaguar Wong in Commentary, Television • Add to del.icio.us Add to Digg