The League of Gentlemen's Apocalypse
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''The League of Gentlemen's Apocalypse'' is a 2005
disaster A disaster is a serious problem occurring over a short or long period of time that causes widespread human, material, economic or environmental loss which exceeds the ability of the affected community or society to cope using its own resources ...
horror comedy Comedy horror, also known as horror comedy, is a literary, television, and film genre that combines elements of comedy and horror fiction. Comedy horror has been described as able to be categorized under three types: "black comedy, parody and spo ...
film based on the British television series ''
The League of Gentlemen ''The League of Gentlemen'' is a surreal British comedy horror sitcom that premiered on BBC Two in 1999. The programme is set in Royston Vasey, a fictional town in northern England, originally based on Alston, Cumbria, and follows the lives o ...
''. It is directed by
Steve Bendelack Steve Bendelack is an English filmmaker and television director who has worked primarily on comedy programmes. Originally an assistant to Peter Fluck and Roger Law on satirical TV puppet show ''Spitting Image'', Bendelack went on to direct the s ...
at his
directorial debut This is a list of film directorial debuts in chronological order. The films and dates referred to are a director's first commercial cinematic release. Many film makers have directed works which were not commercially released, for example early work ...
and written by the series' cast along with
Jeremy Dyson Jeremy Dyson (born 14 June 1966) is a British author, musician and screenwriter who, along with Mark Gatiss, Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith, is one of the League of Gentlemen. He also created and co-wrote the West End show ''Ghost Stories' ...
. Starring
Mark Gatiss Mark Gatiss (; born 17 October 1966) is an English actor, comedian, screenwriter, director, producer and novelist. His work includes writing for and acting in the television series ''Doctor Who'', '' Sherlock'', and '' Dracula''. Together with ...
,
Steve Pemberton Steven James Pemberton (born 1 September 1967) is a British actor, comedian, director and writer. He is best known as a member of ''The League of Gentlemen'' with Reece Shearsmith, Mark Gatiss, and Jeremy Dyson. Pemberton and Shearsmith also co- ...
and
Reece Shearsmith Reeson Wayne "Reece" Shearsmith (born 27 August 1969) is an English actor, writer and comedian. He is best known for being a member of ''The League of Gentlemen'', alongside Steve Pemberton, Mark Gatiss, and Jeremy Dyson. With Pemberton, he lat ...
, who reprise their roles from the TV series, along with
Michael Sheen Michael Christopher Sheen OBE (born 5 February 1969) is a Welsh actor, television producer and political activist. After training at London's Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA), he worked mainly in theatre throughout the 1990s with stage role ...
,
Victoria Wood Victoria Wood (19 May 1953 – 20 April 2016) was an English comedian, actress, lyricist, singer, composer, pianist, screenwriter, producer and director. Wood wrote and starred in dozens of sketches, plays, musicals, films and sitcoms over se ...
,
David Warner David or Dave Warner may refer to: Sports * Dave Warner (strongman) (born 1969), Northern Ireland strongman competitor * David Bruce Warner (born 1970), South African alpine skier * David Warner (cricketer) (born 1986), Australian cricketer Oth ...
, Alan Morrissey,
Bruno Langley Bruno Langley (born 21 March 1983) is an English former actor. He is known for his roles as Darren Michaels and Todd Grimshaw in ''Coronation Street'' (2001–2004, 2007, 2011, 2013–2017) and Adam Mitchell in ''Doctor Who'' (2005). In Octob ...
,
Bernard Hill Bernard Hill (born 17 December 1944) is an English actor. He is well recognized for playing King Théoden in ''The Lord of the Rings'' film trilogy, Captain Edward Smith in ''Titanic'', and Luther Plunkitt, the Warden of San Quentin Prison in the ...
,
Simon Pegg Simon John Pegg (né Beckingham; born 14 February 1970) is an English actor, comedian, screenwriter, and producer. He came to prominence in the UK as the co-creator of the Channel 4 sitcom ''Spaced'' (1999–2001), directed by Edgar Wright. H ...
and
Peter Kay Peter John Kay (born 2 July 1973) is an English actor, comedy writer and stand-up comedian. He has written, produced and acted in several television and film projects, and has written three books. Born and brought up in Bolton, Kay studied ...
who appear in guest roles, the film follows the series' characters as they enter the real world and meet their creators while the setting, the fictional town of Royston Vasey, is facing a series of apocalyptic events. It is a British-American venture produced by
Film4 Productions Film4 Productions is a British film production company owned by Channel Four Television Corporation. The company has been responsible for backing many films made in the United Kingdom. The company's first production was ''Walter'', directed by ...
, Tiger Aspect Films and
Universal Pictures Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Ameri ...
. The film was released on 3 June 2005 in the United Kingdom.


Plot

Jeremy Dyson proposes to the other members of The League of Gentlemen a new series in which everyone in Royston Vasey wakes up with a tail. The other writers are keen to move on to new projects instead. He is confronted by three characters from the series - Papa Lazarou, Edward and Tubbs - and tries to run but falls off a cliff. At the church the vicar, Bernice Woodall, tells Pauline Campbell-Jones and Mr. Chinnery that there are signs of The
Apocalypse Apocalypse () is a literary genre in which a supernatural being reveals cosmic mysteries or the future to a human intermediary. The means of mediation include dreams, visions and heavenly journeys, and they typically feature symbolic imager ...
occurring. Hilary Briss has escaped from prison and holds Herr Lipp hostage, using him to
hijack Hijack may refer to: Films * ''Hijack'' (1973 film), an American made-for-television film * ''Hijack!'', a 1975 British film sponsored by the Children's Film Foundation - see Children's Film Foundation filmography * ''Hijack'' (2008 film), a Bol ...
a car driven by Geoff Tipps. Fleeing fireballs, Briss leads them through a door in the church crypt, emerging in the real town of
Hadfield, Derbyshire Hadfield is a town in the High Peak of Derbyshire, England, with a population at the 2021 Census of 6,763. It lies on the south side of the River Etherow, near to the border with Greater Manchester, at the western edge of the Peak District clos ...
, the setting for Royston Vasey in ''
The League of Gentlemen ''The League of Gentlemen'' is a surreal British comedy horror sitcom that premiered on BBC Two in 1999. The programme is set in Royston Vasey, a fictional town in northern England, originally based on Alston, Cumbria, and follows the lives o ...
'' television series. With the situation explained to them by Lazarou and the Tattsyrups, Briss, Herr Lipp and Geoff Tipps travel to
London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
. Lipp pretends to be his creator, Steve Pemberton, and goes to his home where he discovers Pemberton has been neglecting his family. Briss and Tipps read through The League of Gentlemen's new project, a historical horror called ''The King's Evil'', while Briss chases after an escapee Pemberton and re-captures him. Returning to the hideout, Briss discovers that Tipps has written himself into ''The King's Evil'' as the hero. Lipp meanwhile has become deeply attached to Pemberton's family, in particular his children. He searches Pemberton's belongings for his notes. Briss takes Pemberton to Hadfield, where Pemberton telephones Reece Shearsmith. Shearsmith thinks that Briss is playing a joke on him, so Briss comes to the phone. Shearsmith initially believes that Mark Gatiss is joining in on the "joke" when he opens a door and Gatiss is standing right in front of him. Shearsmith and Gatiss find and capture Herr Lipp, and they travel to Hadfield. They go back to Royston Vasey via the dimensional door and swap hostages, but Pemberton is killed by a stray gunshot. Dr Erasmus Pea, the villain of ''The King's Evil'', tries to persuade Briss to leave Royston Vasey and join him, but Briss refuses. Pea kills his fellow characters and turns them into a gigantic homunculus, which Briss fights. Shearsmith and Gatiss climb up the wall of the church to escape but Shearsmith falls to his death. Briss kills the monster but is stabbed in the back by Pea. Before dying he tells Tipps that he is the only one who can save Royston Vasey. Tipps fights Pea while Gatiss tries to return to the real world but is held at gunpoint by Lipp. Tipps kills Pea using part of the homunculus. In the church, Lipp says he will kill Gatiss. The other characters try to dissuade him, saying that once all the writers are dead, Royston Vasey will cease to exist and they will die. Lipp claims that they will in fact be better off, because as long as they're controlled by someone else they have no free will and can never change for the better. Tipps tells Lipp that because he saved the day and can therefore change, Lipp need not kill Gatiss. He persuades Lipp to hand him the gun, only for Tipps to accidentally fire it and kill Gatiss. With all the writers now apparently dead, the residents of Royston Vasey prepare for the worst. Instead, everything calms down and The Apocalypse is averted. The characters realise they now have free will. Herr Lipp adopts some orphaned children, the vet, Mr Chinnery, finds a rabbit and is able to take care of it without killing it, and Bernice and Pauline become romantically involved. Tipps leaves the church, waving goodbye to Edward, Tubbs and Papa Lazarou. It appears that Royston Vasey can continue to exist independently of its dead creators. However, in a mid-credits scene, Dyson is revealed to be alive but in a coma after falling off the cliff. Everyone else in the world now has a tail.


Characters

Nearly all of the action involves the characters Herr Lipp, Hilary Briss and Geoff Tipps, played by Steve Pemberton, Mark Gatiss and Reece Shearsmith respectively. Other characters such as Mr Chinnery, Pauline Campbell-Jones, Mickey Michaels, Barbara Dixon, Reverend Bernice Woodall, Tubbs & Edward Tattsyrup and Papa Lazarou also feature. The actors also play themselves, as well as three other characters from their new project, a 17th-century gothic horror entitled ''The King's Evil''. Visual effects are used to show several characters played by the same actor interacting at once. The fourth member of The League of Gentlemen, Jeremy Dyson, who is not an actor, is played by
Michael Sheen Michael Christopher Sheen OBE (born 5 February 1969) is a Welsh actor, television producer and political activist. After training at London's Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA), he worked mainly in theatre throughout the 1990s with stage role ...
.


Cast

*
Mark Gatiss Mark Gatiss (; born 17 October 1966) is an English actor, comedian, screenwriter, director, producer and novelist. His work includes writing for and acting in the television series ''Doctor Who'', '' Sherlock'', and '' Dracula''. Together with ...
as himself / Matthew Chinnery / Hilary Briss / Mickey / Sir Nicholas Sheet-Lightning *
Steve Pemberton Steven James Pemberton (born 1 September 1967) is a British actor, comedian, director and writer. He is best known as a member of ''The League of Gentlemen'' with Reece Shearsmith, Mark Gatiss, and Jeremy Dyson. Pemberton and Shearsmith also co- ...
as himself / Tubbs / Pauline / Herr Lipp / Lemuel Blizzard *
Reece Shearsmith Reeson Wayne "Reece" Shearsmith (born 27 August 1969) is an English actor, writer and comedian. He is best known for being a member of ''The League of Gentlemen'', alongside Steve Pemberton, Mark Gatiss, and Jeremy Dyson. With Pemberton, he lat ...
as himself / Edward / Papa Lazarou / Geoff / Bernice / Father Halfhearte / Red Devil *
Michael Sheen Michael Christopher Sheen OBE (born 5 February 1969) is a Welsh actor, television producer and political activist. After training at London's Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA), he worked mainly in theatre throughout the 1990s with stage role ...
as
Jeremy Dyson Jeremy Dyson (born 14 June 1966) is a British author, musician and screenwriter who, along with Mark Gatiss, Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith, is one of the League of Gentlemen. He also created and co-wrote the West End show ''Ghost Stories' ...
*
Emily Woof Emily Woof is an English actress and author, best known for film and TV roles including Nancy in ''Oliver Twist'', ''The Full Monty'', an ITV adaptation of ''The Woodlanders'', ''Velvet Goldmine'', ''Wondrous Oblivion'', '' Silent Cry'' and '' T ...
as Lindsay * Danielle Tilley as Dahlia *
Bruno Langley Bruno Langley (born 21 March 1983) is an English former actor. He is known for his roles as Darren Michaels and Todd Grimshaw in ''Coronation Street'' (2001–2004, 2007, 2011, 2013–2017) and Adam Mitchell in ''Doctor Who'' (2005). In Octob ...
as Damon * Alan Morrissey as Johnny * Liana O'Cleirigh as Claire *
Victoria Wood Victoria Wood (19 May 1953 – 20 April 2016) was an English comedian, actress, lyricist, singer, composer, pianist, screenwriter, producer and director. Wood wrote and starred in dozens of sketches, plays, musicals, films and sitcoms over se ...
as
Queen Mary II Mary II (30 April 166228 December 1694) was Queen of England, Scotland, and Ireland, co-reigning with her husband, William III & II, from 1689 until her death in 1694. Mary was the eldest daughter of James, Duke of York, and his first wife A ...
*
David Warner David or Dave Warner may refer to: Sports * Dave Warner (strongman) (born 1969), Northern Ireland strongman competitor * David Bruce Warner (born 1970), South African alpine skier * David Warner (cricketer) (born 1986), Australian cricketer Oth ...
as Dr. Erasmus Pea *
Bernard Hill Bernard Hill (born 17 December 1944) is an English actor. He is well recognized for playing King Théoden in ''The Lord of the Rings'' film trilogy, Captain Edward Smith in ''Titanic'', and Luther Plunkitt, the Warden of San Quentin Prison in the ...
as
King William III William III (William Henry; ; 4 November 16508 March 1702), also widely known as William of Orange, was the sovereign Prince of Orange from birth, Stadtholder of Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel in the Dutch Republic from the ...
*
Simon Pegg Simon John Pegg (né Beckingham; born 14 February 1970) is an English actor, comedian, screenwriter, and producer. He came to prominence in the UK as the co-creator of the Channel 4 sitcom ''Spaced'' (1999–2001), directed by Edgar Wright. H ...
as Peter Cow *
Peter Kay Peter John Kay (born 2 July 1973) is an English actor, comedy writer and stand-up comedian. He has written, produced and acted in several television and film projects, and has written three books. Born and brought up in Bolton, Kay studied ...
as Simon Pig *
Liam Cunningham Liam Cunningham (born 2 June 1961) is an Irish actor. He is known for playing Davos Seaworth in the HBO epic-fantasy series ''Game of Thrones''. Cunningham has been nominated for the London Film Critics' Circle Award, the British Independent ...
as Director *
Rachel Rath Rachel Rath (born 2 October 1976, Gorey, County Wexford, Ireland) is an Irish film, television and theatre actress. She has appeared in the films ''The Actors'' (2003), '' Laws of Attraction'' (2004), ''Ella Enchanted'' (2004) and ''Anton'' ( ...
(uncredited) as Homunculus


Reception

The film premiered to generally positive reviews, with review-aggregation website
Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
shows that 83% of critics gave the film a positive review, with an average of 6.8 out of 10, based on 8 reviews.


Soundtrack

;Track listing #"Apocalypse Theme"- 1:47 #"Little Brown Fish"- 3:45 #"Leaving for London"- 1:03 #"Meteors"- 2:25 #"Pig Funeral"- 0:52 #"Storm Over Royston Vasey"- 1:21 #"Stripped Down Theme"- 0:57 #"Have You Seen Me?"- 1:33 #"Dr Pea"- 2:00 #"Into the Crypt"- 1:21 #"An Humunculus"- 4:30 #"The Kings' Evil"- 1:55 #"Herr Lipp in the Attic"- 1:32 #"Herr Lipp Unmasked"- 2:21 #"Arise Sir Geoffrey"- 1:19 #"Back in Royston Vasey"- 3:54 #"Hilary Versus the Humunculus"- 3:09 #"It's a Miracle"- 3:02 #"End Titles"- 3:26 Soundtrack references:


References


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:League of Gentlemen's Apocalypse 2005 films 2005 comedy horror films 2005 fantasy films British comedy horror films The League of Gentlemen Films based on television series Film4 Productions films Universal Pictures films Films about time travel Apocalyptic films Cultural depictions of William III of England 2005 comedy films 2000s English-language films 2000s British films