The Royal Bodyguard (David Jason)

_AVALANCHE_

If their is a Thread about this already, "Search" isin't finding it.

I was keeping an eye out for this and still managed to miss it, part 3 is tonight (Monday) on BBC1 at 21.00.

Did anyone see the first two? Is it worth a look?

stoneill

Yes - mildly amusing at best.

Alan70

poor

fryup

oh this stinks, this stinks big time

its basically an english Inspector Clouseau but it ain't funny

i feel embarrassed for david jason in this role he's just too old

brian_t

fryup wrote: »

i feel embarrassed for david jason in this role he's just too old

I think the role would more suit a Johnny English type character.
David Jason is definitely too old to be running around in his underwear like in the first episode.
I gave up after that first episode.

constantg

i thought it was alright, missed the start of the first episode though

Biggins

Looked forward to Davids latest offering for months.
Watched the first episode - and thought "My god, this is utter rubbish!"
Suffered to the end of it, just to be fair in hope it might improve. It didn't.
I haven't tuned in to watch it since. Terrible, silly, stupid stuff.

Biggins

UPDATE:

No Loss!

Just weeks after Ricky Gervais’s new series Life’s Too Short bombed on BBC2, there has been another bitter blow for BBC comedy.
I’m told corporation chiefs have privately decided to axe the David Jason disaster The Royal Bodyguard after just one series, even though only three episodes have so far been broadcast.
Ratings on the half-hour show - the much-loved Jason’s first comedy series since Only Fools And Horses - have slumped to just under three million viewers, down from seven million on its Boxing Day debut.
A spokeswoman for the programme said: ‘No decision has been made yet and no discussions will take place until after the series has finished.’


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2085945/Golden-Globes-2012-TV-executives-prepared-gag-host-Ricky-Gervais.html#ixzz1jLSVF2wq

shockwave

Saw David Jason on the One Show weeks before this came out and he really didnt look enthusiastic about it. I bet he knew himself it was crap.

brian_t

Stargazing Live left BBC1's ailing comedy The Royal Bodyguard staring down the wrong end of the telescope with just 2.6 million viewers, a 10% share.
It was the sitcom's lowest audience yet, down from 2.9 million last week and 7.1 million for its Boxing Day opener. There are two more weeks of The Royal Bodyguard to come.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2012/jan/17/stargazing-live-brian-cox-dara-o-briain

Biggins

I suspect that if it was anyone but David Jason in it, it would have been pulled off the air by now?

brian_t

I feel bad for David Jason. I hope he's able to come back quickly in something decent.

lord lucan

Biggins wrote: »

I suspect that if it was anyone but David Jason in it, it would have been pulled off the air by now?

I'd agree with that. I'm sure i'm not the only one who tuned in because it starred David Jason but sadly it's been pretty dire and i gave up on it after 3 episodes.

Biggins

lord lucan wrote: »

I'd agree with that. I'm sure i'm not the only one who tuned in because it starred David Jason but sadly it's been pretty dire and i gave up on it after 3 episodes.

Fair play for sticking it out to 3.
I gave up after the first one and if you read an earlier post by me on it, even that was a struggle.

... And I love Mr Jason in any show he does usually!

Stevecw

It's so so bad, watched 1st 2 episodes prob for same reasons as most as it included David Jason so i reckoned it must be good. But oh it was unfunny crap, makes me understand now how BBC love Mrs Browns Boys so much!! Its 100 times funnier than this muck.

Biggins

brian_t wrote: »

I feel bad for David Jason. I hope he's able to come back quickly in something decent.

So do I.
I (and I suspect he) would hate to finish up his career on such a low.
Here's hoping he finds something better quick and gives himself the return of acclaim that he deserves for his over all acting ability and longer term record.

fryup

Biggins wrote: »

So do I.
I (and I suspect he) would hate to finish up his career on such a low.
Here's hoping he finds something better quick and gives himself the return of acclaim that he deserves for his over all acting ability and longer term record.

another only fools and horses xmas special:cool:

brian_t

The Pearly Gates will be David Jasons next project.
Directing not starring apparently.
This is from the Telegraph

David Jason calls for return to traditional comedy

Television channels should bring back traditional comedies because there are no longer enough shows aimed at families, Sir David Jason has said.

Family-friendly programmes of the 1970s and 80s like Last of the Summer Wine have made way for edgier and harder-hitting television in recent years, Sir David said.

A return to "old-fashioned" comedies is needed to cater for families who settle down in the evening to watch television together, he added.

Sir David, 72, admitted The Royal Bodyguard, his latest series which was also aimed at all ages, had been a flop after a dramatic fall in ratings following the first episode.

But the veteran actor, who starred as Del Boy in Only Fools and Horses, is now directing a pilot which he hopes will fill the gap in television schedules if commissioned for a full series on BBC One.

Pearly Gates, a comedy about a hapless firm of undertakers, is exactly the kind of "gentle family stuff" which has been in increasingly short supply, he explained.

Sir David told BBC News: "I do think there is more of a space for this old-fashioned type of comedy.

"There is enough out there that is what they call edgy and quite hard-hitting and modern and fashionable. There's nothing wrong with that. It's fine. But you can't have a diet of just potatoes. You've got to have meat and two veg.

"I think we haven't been catering enough for families in general. And I think the BBC have taken that on board and are trying to redress the balance."

In the pilot episode of Pearly Gates the undertakers, led by Mark Williams of the Fast Show, arrive with a coffin at the wrong church and end up gatecrashing a wedding.

They also arrange a floral tribute to a deceased man called Eddie wrongly, so that it reads "E Died".

The Royal Bodyguard, in which Sir David played an aged and bungling minder to the Queen, was aimed at resurrecting the traditional broad-appeal sitcom but was savaged by critics for its laboured script and improbable premise.

Sir David admitted the show had not been a success but said modern programmes are not given a chance to develop in the same way as shows like Only Fools and Horses and Dad's Army, which grew in popularity after dismal early ratings.

He said: "You can't get it right all the time ... perhaps I think we didn't quite bring it off and it came in for quite a lot of harsh criticism.

"In the old days you would get a second or third chance at doing a sitcom, but the pressure is on so much to be a success straight away that they won't allow you to have another go and learn from your mistakes."

"In those days they would care for a project and give you another chance and nurture it a bit. But I'm afraid in this day and age you've got to have an instant success or they give you the elbow."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/9059364/David-Jason-calls-for-return-to-traditional-comedy.html

Posy

I read an interview with David Jason a couple of months ago where he said he had turned down lots of sitcom offers and had rejected dozens of scripts before agreeing to do 'The Royal Bodyguard.'
How bad must the other scripts have been!!?? :eek:
I am baffled as to why he agreed to do this show- it's not as though he needs the money!