Paris (1994 TV series)

According to Graham Linehan, "It was about Paris in the 1920s and Alexei Sayle starred as a frustrated artist watching momentous things happen in the world of literature and art."^[4] The show lampooned the excesses of the avant-garde art movement in Paris, but also other cultural and political phenomenon of the era, such as the popularity of Jazz and the rise of Communism and Fascism.^[3]

Sayle, Linehan, and Mathews had all worked together on The All New Alexei Sayle Show, a comedy sketch show whose first series was broadcast on the BBC in early 1994.^[5]

With Alexei Sayle in the lead role, Paris was being fronted by a famous comedian and television veteran, giving it a major audience draw. Sayle was one of the trailblazers of the alternative comedy scene, and his earlier BBC sketch programme Alexei Sayle's Stuff had run for three series between 1988 and 1991, with Sayle winning an Emmy in 1989.^[6]

For some scenes, Paris used painted backdrops instead of proper studio sets, which, according to Linehan, gave the sitcom a "fake" feel that made it "harder to engage" with the characters and the fictional world being created.^[7]

Speaking to The Guardian in 2013, Linehan said, "It was in the days that I didn't realise writing was rewriting, as they say. We would refuse point-blank to cut the script down to its proper length, so we'd end up with shows that were overlong."^[4] This resulted in the recorded episodes being substantially edited down, with many jokes ending up on the cutting room floor.^[8]

Channel 4 gave Paris a prominent Friday night slot, with the first episode broadcast on 14 October 1994.^[3]

The series received poor reviews,^[9] has been described as "critically lambasted",^[10] and according to the Irish Independent, "Paris more resembled war-torn Beirut".^[11]

Linehan later wrote of Paris, "I don't remember the show ever making it on to DVD, which is fair enough. There are fun things in it, but it was a swing and a miss".^[8]

However, despite the negative response, Linehan stood by Paris, stating, "It was really painful for us, because I still stand by those scripts. If you look at those scripts, written down, you’d understand why people made it."^[10]

The key figures who worked on Paris quickly moved on to success in other projects. Linehan and Matthews would receive critical acclaim for Father Ted, whose first series debuted just five months after Paris, and was broadcast by Channel 4. It has been suggested Alain Degout displayed character flaws that resembled those of Father Ted Crilly. For instance, both characters often behaved hypocritically and were easily swayed by temptation (particularly by money).^[3]

Prior to Paris, Neil Morrissey, who played Rochet, had already appeared in the second and third series of the sitcom Men Behaving Badly. Morrissey remained with the show, which was a major hit for the BBC during the 1990s. James Dreyfus, who played Belunaire, was in the hit BBC sitcoms, The Thin Blue Line and Gimme Gimme Gimme. The Director of Paris, Liddy Oldroyd, directed Gimme Gimme Gimme.^[12]

• Alexei Sayle as Alain Degout
• Neil Morrissey as Rochet
• Allan Corduner as Minotti
• James Dreyfus as Belunaire
• Simon Godley as Pilo
• Beverley Klein as Mme Ovary
• Walter Sparrow as Hugo

The series contains cameo performances by John Barron, John Bird, Windsor Davies, Ian McNeice, Patrick Marber, Stephen Moore and Rebecca Front. Also, Arthur Mathews and Graham Linehan appear briefly in the first episode playing Gendarmes.^[13]