Look Around You Series 1

I agree that Series 1 seemed a bit funnier - though as a "TV anorak" there were some anachronisms in that production as well (with occasionally things looking a bit modern)

I think that Tomorrows World is ripe for parody - and there were some elements that were painfully funny. (The whole BOPRA chart film was shot for shot just as Tomorrow's World would have done it) - as were the badly recorded voice overs that didn't come close to matching the studio sound.

I partially agree that some of the graphics don't quite have that early 80s feel - I doubt there are that many Aston 2s or Rileys around these days - though the choice of fount, edge etc. is pretty spot on the lack of jagged edges (as was a bugbear with Aston 2 and 3 etc.) was a bit sad.

Some of the other graphics did have the "keyed off a caption camera" look though.

Whilst the actual writing and premise weren't quite as spot on as I would have hoped - the shooting and presentation style was cringingly accurate - with late cuts, uncomfortable "everybody stand in a line" wide shots etc. and some of the fashion (especially the mens suits) was brilliant.

For me it didn't have quite enough "That is, until now" or "With the addition of a small microcomputer" or "Scientists at XX University think they've come up with a solution" lines...

If I'd been a bit older there would have been a drinking game you could have based around the early-to-mid 80s TWs.

You can do it with regional news now instead

I suppose it's always difficult to follow up a successful and highly acclaimed series. I enjoyed last night's programme, but it failed to make me laugh as much as the original series.

Much of the parody of Tomorrow's World was spot on, but once you got past the style, the comedy content seemed a bit thin, with jokes stretched out too much to fill the half-hour. I also agree with the comments on the animated sequences looking too computerised.

I'll probably still buy the DVD when it comes out though - if only for the BBC2 ident!

I enjoyed it, though I agree it wasn't as good as the first series, but some of the technical stuff was spot on IMO, such as the =2= ident and the on screen captions, were very retro, but some of the animations looked a bit too modern. Psilence in a can was good stuff too.

I liked the special report about the music though:

"It's why last year The Post Office Tower was at No1 for six weeks"

But I will be watching next week.

I'd agree with much of what's been said, 4:3 was a nice touch, although I don't think that the first series being 16:9 detracted that much. The Top 40 piece was probably the best bit though, and the in-jokes for those who had seen the first series. Thanks Tchaikovsky, Thankovsky.