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In 1999, the first season of a sketch show called “The league of Gentlemen” aired. Created, written by, and starring, Mark Gatiss, Steve Pemberton, Reece Shearsmith, and Jeremy Dyson; the only non-performing member, who only made several, mostly background, appearances in the series. Set in the fictional northern English town of “Royston Vasey”, the real name of comedian Roy “Chubby” Brown, the show became known for its dark humour and often unpleasant characters, ranging from the relatively normal, yet intense, Ollie Plimsolls, founder of “Legz Akimbo Theatre Company”, or pen obsessed restart officer Pauline Campbell-Jones, to the grotesque and murderous Tubbs and Edward Tattsyrup, proprietors of the “Local shop”.
Although the characters were usually harsh and disagreeable, the writers had an impressive ability to make you empathise with them, by showing you their humanity, a tiny moment of vulnerability to let you know they’re people.
The show quickly outgrew “cult” status winning them the Golden Rose of Montreux and an RTS award for best entertainment series in 1999, and a BAFTA for best comedy series in 2000. The League of Gentlemen aired for three seasons, ending in 2002, returning for a film, titled “The League of Gentlemen’s Apocalypse” in 2005.
In 2017, after a 15 year absence from the show, the writers decided to return to Royston Vasey, for three, half hour anniversary specials. These episodes turned out to be just as provoking as the show always was, they managed to capture the bleak disposition of the town, and the miserable existence of its residents, just as it was when the show originally aired, as if they had never left. However, it seemed that somewhere in the 15 year gap, the writers forgot what made certain characters funny.
For instance, the character of Barbara Dixon, played by Paul Hays-Marshal, voiced by Steve Pemberton, in the original series, she’s a transgender taxi driver, always eager to answer questions or discuss explicit details about her transition. She was confident and welcoming, if a little loquacious. Being a transgender character in the early 2000s often meant having your identity ridiculed and dismissed, but the fact that she is transgender was never directly the target of the joke, this made the character particularly groundbreaking for its time.
Yet in the anniversary specials, she is hostile and adversarial towards her customers, unwilling to engage in conversation with them or educate them on evolving terminology. She became a militant caricature, perpetuating the idea that transgender people are obtrusive about their identities.
Barbara wasn’t funny because she was transgender, Barbara was funny because she’s an over sharing taxi driver, oblivious to her passengers discomfort at having to hear about her intimate medical procedures, a joke that would work regardless of the characters transgender identity; something the writers seemed to overlook.
Similarly, the characters of Charlie and Stella Hull also appeared to be misrepresented in the specials. Charlie, played by Steve Pemberton, and Stella, played by Reece Shearsmith, are introduced as a dysfunctional couple only capable of interacting through a third party. They are resentful and cruel towards each other, taking part in an unsophisticated battle of humiliation, ending when the third person breaks the tension, snapping Charlie and Stella out of their frenzy. It’s only when left alone that it becomes clear how inconsequential their rivalry is, it’s a performance, with the audience gone they return to normal conversation, and every day life.
This is how Charlie and Stella were presented for the first two seasons, the third season however, saw some big changes to the structure of the show, instead of the sketch based format of the previous seasons, season three takes a more episodic approach to the narrative, dedicating whole episodes to each characters storyline.
The fifth episode titled “Beauty and the Beast (or Come into My Parlour)” centres Charlie, who develops feelings for a man named Tony, played by Mark Gatiss, whom Stella had confessed to having an affair with. This episode is the first time Charlie and Stella are seen having a conversation directly with each other. The final moments of the episode see Charlie professing his love for Tony, who violently rejects him, and Stella telling him she’s won the lottery and is going on holiday without him. The status of their relationship is left ambiguous, but it’s evident this is a significant development, likely, one their marriage would not withstand.
The next time Charlie and Stella are seen, in the anniversary specials, they are, not only divorced, but both in relationships with other men. Charlie is sitting in a restaurant with his partner, played by Mark Gatiss, Stella enters, being pushed in a wheelchair by her considerably younger boyfriend, she takes off a pair of sunglasses revealing a swollen black eye, which Charlie immediately notices.
Quickly, they fall back into old habits, talking through a third party, the waiter of the restaurant, and an argument begins, for the first time including their respective partners. This argument reveals Stella is in an abusive relationship, saying she lies to doctors and pleads to not let him take her with him. The altercation follows the same framework as their previous battles, appealing to the waiter to arbitrate their dilemma, and the tension being dissolved when he, after a comical pause, asks them to try looking at the specials board.
Although this fight bears unequivocal similarities to their original vicious games, it ends with a distasteful feeling of irresolution. Charlie and Stella were always portrayed as equal forces, their bickering was comical because there wasn’t one person with more power, picking on the other, they were both stuck in a marriage with someone they know doesn’t like them. The conflict was a necessary part of their relationship, and even when they crossed lines or went too far with their taunts, it was always with some semblance of jest.
As they are no longer a bickering married couple, but a man in an unhappy relationship and a woman in an abusive relationship, their situations aren’t comparable anymore, and without a level playing field, the exchange comes across as disproportionately malicious towards Stella, especially with the implication it’s what she gets for always wanting a “toy boy”.
The League never shied away from darker subject matter or uncomfortable topics, but in the original series, the joke of the scene never eclipsed the pathos of the character. The comedy and the drama were two separate entities, existing parallel to one another. The decision to put Stella in an abusive relationship comes across as forced and unnecessary, particularly because Stella was always shown advocate for herself, even if it meant putting someone else down. Showing her being treated with such cruelty, without the catharsis of her usual quick-witted retorts makes for a disappointing end for one of the shows most headstrong characters.
That isn’t to say everyone was uncharacteristically written in the specials, the character of Reverend Bernice Woodall becoming the mayor of Royston Vasey is a logical development for her character, as a large part of her sentiment was complaining about things she wished to change, such as never having a parking space outside of grocery stores. Seeing her abuse the privileges of being the mayor, without actually have to do any work, makes this progression perfectly credible and in line with her known personality.
Equally, the aforementioned Ollie Plimsolls, now a high school drama teacher, a career he had previously mocked, appeared just as pitiful and disillusioned as ever. Daydreaming about his former collaborators liberating him from the job he hates and presenting him with the favourable career of a successful actor. Only to be woken up by another teacher, jolting him back to his bleak, unfulfilled existence. Although this ending is morose, it is executed in a sequential manner that honours Ollie’s established arrogant and egotistical character.
Therefore, characters don’t necessarily need happy endings for them to be satisfactory, just conclusions that are in alignment with who they are, or who they develop to be.
The characters often begin as grotesque caricatures, sometimes so extreme or unpleasant it’s difficult to think them as people at all. But the more time that is spent with them, the audience is given a glimpse into their reality, and becomes able to understand the world from their perspective. Shearsmith said about writing the characters: “You take [the audience] by the hand in the dark. Being told: just come in with me a little bit, and I will explain who I am. You might feel differently about me.” This is how the show managed to maintain a comedic overtone, while also creating a connection with the audience. This connection, that draws the viewer into the world and forms an attachment to the people in it, is why it’s unfortunate certain characters were misrepresented when brought back for the specials.
The last line of the anniversary specials is said by Benjamin Denton, played by Reece Shearsmith, to his aunt Valerie Denton, played by Mark Gatiss, he says, “Sometimes you can’t go back, but you can visit.” Regrettably, in the case of certain characters, it might have been better if they hadn’t gone back at all.