By Ian Cullen Dec 27, 2011, 4:18 GMT
Synopsis: Guy Hubble’s first assignment as the royal bodyguard is to investigate a planned assassination attempt on a member of the royal family.
Review: David Jason - a much loved actor here in the UK - makes a triumphant return to British comedy in the first part of a six-part series, ‘The Royal Bodyguard.’
This first episode sees the gullible and accident prone Captain Guy Hubble, whose responsibility is largely administrative in that he runs the royal car park accidently save the life of her royal highness the Queen.
This leads to the royals requesting that Hubble be their personal body guard, much to the chagrin of MI5 and the Royal Security detachment who gave Hubble his job in the car park when his confidence damn near got a few of them killed.
Hubble, whose father also served in the British security service and who damn near got Winston Churchill killed, is not surprisingly enthusiastic about his promotion as the Royal Body Guard.
Much of the humour in the series is situational based on the ineptitude of Hubble who is truly well out of his element, but going around doing his job with a child-like enthusiasm and charm that naturally makes you want to see him successfully foil the bad guys.
The use of sight gags were well done, such as Hubble announcing himself as The Royal Body Guard and flashing his credentials only to have the other person announce, “That’s a tesco card” pointing out it was not a proper badge. This was a great way to establish Hubble and could well become a trademark on this show.
A particularly funny moment was when Hubble beat up a display of armour when the visor slipped down and clanked, thinking it was a would be sniper.
In fact, Hubble is very much an accidental hero, due to his own ineptitude and general innocent blundering that creates the accidents to start with.
Much of the humour and the stunts used in the show put me in mind of vintage comedy 'Some Mothers Do ‘Ave Em', in that Hubble could almost be an older version of the always well-intentioned Frank Spencer, in the British Security surfaces. This was only punctuated when Hubble falls through the ceiling and crashes into a grand piano in the centre of the hotel restaurant where he is supposed to be working security.
This was a really welcome first episode and it was great to see David Jason returning to his comedy roots.
It’s a must watch for fans of British Comedy and for fans of David Jason’s comedy work.
5 stars.
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