The League of Gentlemen’s Apocalypse

The League of Gentlemen's Apocalypse is the big screen outing of the TV show, The League of Gentlemen, created by and starring Dyson, Gatiss, Pemberton and Shearsmith. For those of you unfamiliar with this cult comedy, the show features a range of wonderfully wacky characters based in Royston Vasey, a town as bizarre as its inhabitants, named after the real name of 'blue' comedian Roy 'Chubby' Brown.

Yet the film is much more than their usual blend of grotesquery and surrealism. Following the discovery that their real-life creators have decided to stop writing the TV show and so threatening their fictional community with extinction, a team comprising of Reverend Bernice (Shearsmith), restart officer Pauline Campbell-Jones (Pemberton) and local shop owners Edward & Tubbs Tattsyrup (Shearsmith & Pemberton) plan to escape into the real world in an attempt to save their world. To do this, they need to convince the real-life League of Gentlemen to continue writing for them. However, their plans are scuppered by another group of locals (mad butcher Hilary Briss (Gatiss), German exchange master Herr Lipp (Pemberton) and no-hoper Geoff (Shearsmith)) who inadvertently also go through the gateway into the real world.

From this point on, the movie takes you onto a rollercoaster of a journey, including an impromptu trip to the team's new project, "The King's Evil", a 17th Century period dress drama, and fighting off a giant monster. All of the League of Gentlemen put in wonderful performances; in particular actor Steve Pemberton playing Herr Lipp while pretending to be Steve Pemberton (complete with a German-Blackburn accent) is equal parts unnerving and hilarious. The team are ably supported by various cameos, including horror stalwart David Warner as Dr. Erasmus Pea.

Fusing elements of The Truman Show, Monty Python and Hammer Horror with that unique League comedy touch, The League of Gentlemen's Apocalypse is a wonderful addition to the Gents' comedy CV. Don't miss this opportunity to see this wickedly hilarious film at Warwick Student Cinema - a local cinema for local people!

Alex Coe