I recently watched the first, and fortunately only, series of The Royal Bodyguard starring septuagenarian, David Jason.
Captain Guy Hubble: a danger to himself and others, a whirling vortex of clumsiness and ineptitude.
That in and of itself should give you a clue that this sitcom was doomed to fail. Who would allow Her Majesty to appoint a 70-year-old man to be in charge of royal security? Are we supposed to believe that the Queen doesn’t know that the man who inadvertently keeps rescuing her family is the one putting them in danger in the first place? She has to be a smarter cookie than that, surely.
But let’s give Sir David his due. He was able to get away with pratfalls once upon a time:
Not to worry, The Royal Bodyguard is merely a jumping off point from which to introduce other clowns of British telly fame. Those who can master the art of slapstick are quite talented indeed and the ones who come off as klutzes walk a tightrope (sometimes literally) between humor and being perceived as annoying twats. For example…
1. Howard Steel from The Worst Week of My Life
Basically Meet the Parents with a British sensibility, TWWOML features Howard, a well-meaning bumbler who, when subjected to the stress of crucial events in his life, becomes a full-on buffoon. In the week leading up to his wedding (series 1) and then the week before his wife delivers their first child (series 2), Howard commits an endless string of blunders, posing a danger to himself and especially to his in-laws. Sound familiar? Well it just so happens that both The Worst Week of My Life and The Royal Bodyguard were created by the team of Mark Bussell and Justin Sbresni. Interestingly (well, probably not so interesting) I discovered the connection when I realized that Geoffrey Whitehead appears in both shows as the primary annoyee:
As Captain Hubble’s superior and Howard Steel’s father-in-law, Whitehead possesses a sour, disapproving, put upon attitude – the perfect foil for a klutzy character.
2. Roy Mallard from People Like Us
An unusual choice you might say, since this fictional documentarian is primarily heard and only inadvertently appears on camera, but when I think clumsy, I think Roy Mallard. In the course of following people through their daily work routines, Roy is the antithesis of the fly-on-the-wall presenter he strives to be. His attempts at verbal virtuosity constantly fall flat. For example in trying to describe the difficult duties of a tech company managing director, Roy explains that “being cruel to be kind is never easy – and since Peter isn’t doing this to be kind, his task now of simply being cruel, is even more challenging.” The most brilliant part is that even though we don’t see Roy, the reactions of the other characters tell us he is spilling, stumbling, and breaking things on a regular basis.
3. Miranda
Not since the screwball actresses of my youth (Lucille Ball and Carol Burnett come to mind) have I seen such an adept physical comedienne as Miss Hart. At 6’1″, Miranda is in a perpetual state of unintentional tripping, stripping and wind ripping. Mix with a healthy dose of awkward social habits such as singing at job interviews and categorizing her favorite words and you can see why Miranda has attained the status of comedy royalty.
4. Mr. Bean
Our list would not be complete without mentioning the indomitable Mr. Bean. His sketches pass the true test of physical comedy which is the ability to bridge language barriers. All of Mr. Bean’s predicaments, frustrations and triumphs are conveyed through his actions and that very expressive face. No words are necessary and that’s a very rare skill to be sure.
The ironic thing is that looking clumsy on purpose requires quite a bit of coordination and overall body awareness. Mr. Bean himself, Rowan Atkinson, has been bandying about the idea in recent interviews that at 58 he is too old to be playing the clownish Bean and might be retiring the character for good. Perhaps he should have had a little heart to heart with David Jason awhile back, hmm?
Everything I Know about the UK... I Learned from the BBC 