Ratings1
Average rating3
'Fabulous memoirs from the two great writers . . . I loved every second of it' Eric Idle Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais's unique writing partnership has lasted over fifty years. After creating the characters of Bob and Terry, factory hands from the north-east of England, in The Likely Lads and Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads?, their reputation as great screenwriters was secured. Their acclaimed careers have included writing, directing and producing iconic TV programmes like Porridge, Auf Wiedersehen, Pet and Lovejoy. Their feature films include Otley, The Commitments and Still Crazy. Along the way, they have had unforgettable encounters with movie stars like Richard Burton, Ava Gardner, Marlon Brando, Michael Caine and Sean Connery - not to mention with stellar performers as varied as Billy Connolly, George Best, Peter Cook and Dudley Moore, Ronnie Wood and Tracey Ullman. Naturally, Dick and Ian's dual memoir is told with flair and immense humour. It is also choc-a-bloc with unexpected happenings, rogues and rock stars, prima donnas, plots and panic.
Reviews with the most likes.
Over their 50-year career Dick Clement and Ian Le Frenais amassed more than 60 IMDB credits to their name. These include The Commitments, Tracey (Ullman) Takes On, Flushed Away and The Bank Job, plus uncredited script doctor work on the likes of Never Say Never Again and theatre activities like Anyone For Dennis and the West End musical version of Billy Liar. They undoubtedly possess a gift for crafting words. Therefore my expectations were high.
But, unfortunately, I felt the style in this book was a little disappointing. Each writer narrates their stories in a kind of tag-team arrangement. They drop names liberally. The enthusiastic praise for yet another “lovely” and “talented” acquaintance becomes repetitive. Plus we don't get a huge amount of specific detail on their most popular creations. ‘Porridge', ‘Whatever Happened To The Likely Lads' or “Auf Wiedersehen” for example. It's practically like a transcript of a chat show with a disjointed and slightly random narrative. And its scant on autobiographical details, even though these are often the best bits.
In summary, it's all entertaining enough but somewhat tepid.