The League of Gentlemen Christmas Special (2000)

Tagline: ‘Yule Never Leave!’

Running Time: 55 minutes

Film Quality: 5/5
Gore Content: 2/5
Entertainment Value: 5/5
Originality: 4/5

Introduction

I know this is a departure from my usual VHS-era ramblings but, as it’s Christmas, you can forgive a little indulgence on my part!

Those of you outside the UK might not be too familiar with ‘The League’. They are a comedic quartet who delighted and disturbed the country in equal measure through three TV series. After the second, incredibly dark series they announced a Christmas Special and, though we all knew it would be far from snowy white, nobody could have predicted just how far the other way they would go. Embracing the tradition of telling ghost stories at Christmas, what they conjured up is a near perfect hour of television that scared the stockings off people who tuned in expecting a Christmassy delight. Critically acclaimed, it remains the high point of The League’s genius and a lesson to all comedy writers of how to avoid Christmas special clichés and do what you do best.

In a nutshell

It’s Christmas Eve in the Northern village of Royston Vasey where grumpy vicar Bernice is closing up for the night. She is visited by three men who all have a mysterious tale to tell, will it help her to confront her demons and show her the true meaning of Christmas or will she start throwing more snowballs at Santa?!?

What’s good about it?

From the very first opening montage you know you’re in for a Christmas Special, League of Gentlemen style! A point of view shot reveals someone picking up a dead bird whose legs have fallen off before urinating in the snow and throwing it at a passing Santa whilst all the while we hear an ominously out of tune version of ‘God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen’ playing underneath. The reveal shows this character to be the local vicar! Yes, this is dark comedy territory and it soon becomes apparent that the format they’ve chosen is the portmanteau style favoured by the old 50s and 60s Hammer and Amicus classics.

The League have always been influenced by horror and the three tales are genuinely unsettling whilst still retaining that festive atmosphere which is a real skill. The first story, concerning Stella’s use of a cult called ‘Solutions’ who indulge in a spot of voodoo to dissuade her husband from line dancing has a wonderful scene close to the start where they argue bitterly whilst putting up the decorations…haven’t we all done that? The second, concerning a choirboy’s terrifying experiences in Germany takes us to the country where many of our Christmas traditions were born. The third is about a family curse set in Victorian times, bathed in candlelight with snow, Christmas trees and all of the atmosphere of a Charles Dickens inspired Christmas.

Underlying the warm feeling of Christmas are some moments of genuinely terrifying horror and jet black plot twists. The standout scene is in the second story when Matthew, suspecting his choirmaster Herr Lipp (!) is a vampire experiences a terrifying nightmare whilst staying in a room decked out for a small boy; ultimately seeing himself with eyes and mouth sewn together and dead in a cupboard. The first story has some genuinely unsettling moments within the cult and perhaps the bleakest ending of the trio of stories whilst the third has a wonderfully weird ‘shadow puppet show’ that explains away Dr Chinnery’s curse from the TV series.

The film references are plentiful. A masterful use of light and shadow references the famous scene where Nosferatu approaches the stairs in the silent classic. ‘Eyes Wide Shut’ is plainly in evidence during the cult scenes, 'Salem's Lot' whilst any number of Hammer and Amicus references are present and, for me, atmospherically, ‘The Dr and the Devils’ penetrate parts of the third story. But it’s the framework, bringing to mind ‘A Christmas Carol’ which really gives the film its essence. Bernice isn’t visited by three ghosts, rather the three very normal and troubled individuals who cause her to revisit her own ghost, namely a childhood trauma associated with Christmas that resulted in her becoming an orphan.

It’s this framework that gives us one final twist where, seeing Bernice as a happy and changed person, a la Scrooge, after having helped the trio comes face to face with her own past. To say that the final scene is a hammer blow is an understatement and stays with you for a very long time. Most TV shows would have ended with a ‘Merry Christmas to all, and to all a goodnight’ and left it at that, but not The League! I won’t spoil it for you but it absolutely shattered me, still sends shivers down my spine and sums up everything The League was about.

And what about the bad?

For me, absolutely nothing…it’s as brilliant a piece of TV as I have ever seen with all three stories hitting the spot and the wraparound arc giving a purpose for those stories and a context for Bernice’s cynicism and hostility. My only slight complaint would be the third story which lags slightly in the middle but, as Mark Gatiss (one of the League) has said several times when commenting on horror films, the best thing about a portmanteau horror film is that if there’s a story you’re not so keen on, another one will be along in a few minutes.

Any themes?

Ghost stories around the hearth is a very traditional part of Christmas that dates right back to Victorian times. There is clearly an intention to reinvent that tradition and that is why the portmanteau style suits what The League were trying to do by giving them the chance to tell four ghost stories. The fact that it’s recounting past events just gives it an extra dimension of The League letting one of their characters literally tell the tales as we and Bernice ‘listen’. Each story has its own version of dark Christmas traditions, whether it’s the idea of being forced to have fun whilst deep family resentments bubble underneath the surface, the idea of something very dark and gothic hiding behind a children’s choir in Germany or a typically Dickensian setting…it’s all there.

Despite its Dickensian atmosphere, it has, at its heart, a very anti-Dickensian sentiment. Whilst ‘A Christmas Carol’ is all about redemption, The League turn that sentiment on its head. Just as a character is about to be redeemed or think they’re about to be redeemed something horrible happens to them. Paedophile Herr Lipp ends up being the victim whilst his vampire ‘wife’ (I don’t think that’s giving too much away…the visual clues are there from the get-go!) gets away with it whilst Stella thinks she gets her way only to have somebody else’s blood on her hands. We’ve already touched on Bernice’s fate. There are no happily ever afters in this incredibly dark fairy tale!

Staying with the Christmas theme the cast keep up with the Pantomime traditional of men playing grotesque and exaggerated women, in fact The League followed it up with a live pantomime show some years later which was very well received. This is something The League have done throughout all three series but it has particular relevance here…also kudos for not featuring fan favourites David and Tubbs, they clearly felt there was nowhere they would fit in and The League have never been ones to compromise!

Release History

Shown on BBC2 on 27th December 2000 it has never suffered from any censorship issues and was screened several years in succession over the Christmas period. It has had a DVD release but no blu ray release which is a shame because it’s beautifully shot and full of glorious detail.

Cultural Impact

It was screened to huge critical acclaim and one of the first examples of a Christmas Special which was designed to scare rather than warm the cockles. Various members of The League have done their own thing at Christmas, most notably Mark Gatiss who created another magnificent portmanteau with ‘Crooked House’. He also adapted an M. R. James story, ‘The Tractate Middoth’ which was okay but suffered a little with its uneven pacing despite some pretty good scares. Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith will be looking to carry on the tradition with a Christmas Special of their brilliantly twisted ‘Inside No.9’ series which will be set in the 70s and revolve around ‘Krampus’.

The League themselves have become a symbol of dark comedy and blatantly inspired ‘Little Britain’ which, though more popular, for me tried far too hard and lacked the intelligence and subtlety of some of The League’s humour. Sheersmith and Pemberton paired up and create the equally brilliant and warped ‘Psychoville’ (titled as such because that was the literal translation of Japan’s titling of ‘The League of Gentlemen’ which they loved) running for two series.

Viewed by many in the same league as ‘Monty Python’ who also specialised in surreal and dark humour, delighted in men playing female characters and branched into film before excelling either in partnership or individually, we all live in hope that they may one day come back and work together once more…hopefully for another Christmas Special!!!

Final Thoughts

A brilliant piece of TV that has become a part of my Christmas. It may not have the same notoriety elsewhere in the world, in fact I have no idea how far this special has reached, especially given that the series doesn’t necessarily have mass appeal. If you do get the chance to see it, spot it on the TV schedules this Christmas or come across it in your local DVD shop then don’t hesitate to watch it…you’re in for a real festive cracker.

Memorable Quotes

Papa Lazarou: “You’re my wife now.”

Purblind: "I've never seen such a look on a face, a few times on cows and once on a gorilla but never a human face

Matthew: "Are you the Vicar?"
Bernice: "No, I'm the fucking Gardner."

Papa Lazarou: "Hello Dave.....you're.....all grown up...."

You’ll like this if you enjoyed…

“Gremlins’, ‘The Wicker Man’, ‘Black Christmas’