''If You See God, Tell Him'' is a

black comedy Black comedy, also known as dark comedy, morbid humor, or gallows humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally considered serious or painful to discu ...

television

sitcom A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ...

starring

Richard Briers Richard David Briers (14 January 1934 – 17 February 2013) was an English actor whose five-decade career encompassed film, radio, stage and television. Briers first came to prominence as George Starling in ''Marriage Lines'' (1961–66), but ...

Adrian Edmondson Adrian Charles Edmondson (born 24 January 1957) is an English actor, comedian, musician, writer and television presenter. He was part of the alternative comedy boom in the early 1980s and had roles in the television series '' The Young Ones'' (1 ...

, and Imelda Staunton. Written by Andrew Marshall and

David Renwick David Peter Renwick (; born 4 September 1951) is an English author, television writer, actor, director and executive producer, best known for creation of the sitcom ''One Foot in the Grave'' and the mystery series ''Jonathan Creek''. He was awar ...

, it was first broadcast on

BBC1 BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...

in 1993. It comprised four episodes, each 45 minutes long, and was broadcast only once, apart from the first episode, which was repeated on BBC Four on 3 December 2007 as part of "

Night". The title is a reference to 'if you see Sid, tell him', the slogan used for the sale of shares in

British Gas plc British Gas plc was an energy and home services provider in the United Kingdom. It was formed when the British Gas Corporation was privatised as a result of the Gas Act 1986, instigated by the government of Margaret Thatcher and superseding the ...

Plot

The series is set in London and follows the character of Godfrey Spry, played by Briers. As he is standing outside the post office, a wheelbarrow full of building rubble falls on top of him, causing serious physical injuries (from which he recovers) and leaving him with a greatly reduced attention span. As a result, he spends most of his time watching television commercials, and believes every claim made by them. After seeing an advertisement for a car, he proceeds to copy it by test-driving the same car at high speed along the top of a cliff at sunset, the resulting accident leaving him paralysed. He convinces his wife to take a relaxing break with him in Hamburg, which he describes to the viewer in idyllic terms, before casually mentioning that on the last night his wife 'popped out f the hotelfor a packet of cough sweets and was stoned to death by a mob of drunken soccer fans'. This entire back-story is played out very early in episode one, with the main part of the series starting with Godfrey calling his nephew Gordon for help after his wife's death. Every episode was punctuated by deadpan parody advertisements for fictional products and companies, often juxtaposing the idealistic view of the adverts with the far bleaker reality. Much of the humour of the show derived from Godfrey's cheery interpretations of unpleasant events and circumstances. One memorable scene involves him cheerfully passing a group of people outside his neighbour's flat, blissfully unaware that he has driven the man to suicide, attributing the man's disappearance to him moving up the property ladder. In a later episode, Godfrey befriends a young school-boy after offering to purchase for him some age-restricted craft material. Godfrey however has a very bad influence on the boy and his school friends, as they become a gang of shoplifters who become news media with an unidentified elderly man as the suspected ring-leader. Eventually the children are apprehended by the police, and an elderly member of the black community – who is also paraplegic – is mistaken for Godfrey and arrested; mass riots result in protest. In the last episode, after seeing government advertisements promoting free-enterprise, Godfrey sets up his own business in Gordon and Muriel's house, hiring an elderly lady he met in hospital to knit tea-cosies in the shed. When she falls dead of a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which ma ...

, Godfrey attempts to perform a

post mortem An autopsy (post-mortem examination, obduction, necropsy, or autopsia cadaverum) is a surgical procedure that consists of a thorough Physical examination, examination of a Cadaver, corpse by dissection to determine the cause, mode, and manner o ...

, which he believes himself to be an expert in after purchasing a

partwork A partwork is a written publication released as a series of planned magazine-like issues over a period of time. Issues are typically released on a weekly, fortnightly or monthly basis, and often a completed set is designed to form a reference wo ...

of Complete Medical Knowledge. As a result, he is arrested for murder. At the trial, Gordon makes an impassioned plea, claiming that it is not Godfrey who should be on trial, but the advertisers who are murdering all of our minds. Godfrey is convicted and sent to a hospital for the criminally insane; languishing in his cell, he is happy under the illusion that he is the centre of attention at a dinner party, where fancy chocolates are being served.

Main cast

as Godfrey Spry *

as Gordon Spry * Imelda Staunton as Muriel Spry

Reception

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...

'' wrote: "It's not really a disaster but there's something decidedly uneven underfoot here, a feeling that this is the working model for a new type of comedy rather than the finished product. ..while it's sustained with considerable energy by the actors and direction you have to doubt whether it really stands up for one episode, let alone four." Conversely, a retrospective review in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' highlighted the series as "a gem from an era when the BBC took its black comedy seriously", praising both its dark content and humour

DVD release

''If You See God, Tell Him'' was released on DVD through

2 entertain 2 Entertain (stylized as 2 , entertain) is a British video and music publisher founded in September 2004 by the merger of BBC Video and Video Collection International in 2004. Under CEO Richard Green, the company operated as a joint venture b ...

on 21 July 2008.

References

External links

''If You See God, Tell Him'' TV Comedy Resources page
*{{IMDb title, id=0106031, title=If You See God, Tell Him 1993 British television series debuts 1993 British television series endings 1990s British black comedy television series 1990s British satirical television series BBC television sitcoms English-language television shows British satirical television series Television shows set in London