Latest News/Blog: Updated 2007-04-07

Series 1 comes to DVD

Nearly ten years after it first aired, Series 1 of Stella Street is coming to DVD! The DVD is being released by Universal Playback. I have written to them to see if there are any details available yet.

You can pre-order the item through Amazon below (thanks for using the links through this site!)

Archive: Stella Street Movie News

The Stella Street Movie received its premiere at the HBO Comedy Festval in Aspen, Colorado on 2004-03-04 (listed after this on the A-Z is “A stop-and-chat with Curb Your Enthusiasm”). The screening must have gone down pretty well, despite not one person having contacted me about it, as apparently Phil and John won some kind of best actor award.

The Movie will be shown tonight on BBC2 in the UK (2004-03-21). Do please let me know what you think.

The Stella Street movie is out in the UK on DVD and VHS on 2004-03-22. There are some details on the IMDB. The movie is available to order at a discount on DVD (and on VHS).

There should be a cinema release in the US, but probably not in Europe.

The Columbia Tristar press release reads as follows (slightly modified since originally posted):

 

Stella Street is the feature-length comedy inspired by the BBC television series of the same name, a hilarious parody of the petty foibles and feuds of celebrity existence.

Stella Street stars Phil Cornwell, John Sessions and Ronni Ancona in multiple roles as a group of celebrities including Michael Caine (played by Cornwell), Jack Nicholson (Cornwell), Al Pacino (portrayed by John Sessions), Mick Jagger (Cornwell), Keith Richard (Sessions), Joe Pesci (Sessions) and David Bowie (Cornwell) who, tired of the pressures of life in the spotlight, gravitate to this anonymous London suburb.

Away from celebrity life, they settle down to domestic bliss; Mick and Keith take over the corner shop, Al keeps an eye on the pyromaniac gardener, Joe has trouble with his decorator and they all join together for a game of cricket on the green on a Sunday afternoon. Megastars come and go, but nothing escapes the watchful eye of their long-suffering neighbour, Michael or the cranky cockney cleaning lady Mrs Huggett!

Their blissful haven is shattered, however, the day the residents are conned out of all of their worldly goods by criminal boss Vince Crush (Cornwell) who, with the help of his sidekick Tara (Ronni Ancona) posing as Jimmy Hill’s (Cornwell) unassuming lodger, manages to get hold of the celebrities’ assets totalling $500 million! All of a sudden, none of Al’s credit cards are accepted in the supermarket, the milkman won’t deliver to Jack after his cheque bounces, Michael’s electricity is cut off and Mick & Keith’s corner shop is repossessed! Falling on hard times, these showbiz legends are forced to sink to the lowest level, giving tours of their homes, acting out scenes from their films, while Joe takes a job as a lollipop man and David helps out
the local handy man!

Is this the end of Hollywood as we know it?

The DVD is packed full of extras and bonus materials including an insightful episode of Lost Movie Classics in which Iain Johnstone interviews Michael about his film Bongo in the Congo. All that remains of this 60s classic following a suspicious fire are some charred storyboards, an interview with co-star Agneta Forsgren, and a trailer. Michael reveals some interesting facts about the film including the identity of his body double! Other bonus materials include commentaries by the stars of the film, a Making Of, in which Michael, one of the very first residents, guides us around the street where, according to the local handyman “its like living in the middle of Hello!” We also get exclusive interviews with the residents on what they really think of each other as well as Peter Richardson’s directing techniques! Michael Caine’s Soho, where the star reminisces about his time spent in the 1960s and reveals his early plans for pop stardom. We also see Jimmy having a kickabout up west, and Len, the pyromaniac gardener shares his thoughts on friendship, film directors, motorcycle maintenance, and pretty much anything else!

The release is a week later than originally planned.

Columbia’s website.

And all-importantly, my (personal) opinion…

Stella Street, the movie, is an attempt to make a feature-length adventure out of what started as a series of ten-minute comedy shows. Is this neighbourhood worth a watch, or is it a waste of time?

In the beginning, there was a cleaning woman called Mrs Huggett. She’s lived in Stella Street since it was built, and was bombed in the war. One day, in the 1960s, she took in some lodgers. In a clip from series 4 (introduced by a voice that sounds remarkably like an uncredited Harry Enfield)*, we are shown the Beatles running down Stella Street pursued by hyper-hormonal teenagers, much to the aggravation of their co-lodger Richard Burton. At once we are aware, Stella Street is no ordinary thoroughfare.

Michael Caine, just making a name for himself, is the first celebrity to set up home on the Street. Jimmy Hill isn’t far behind him.

We jump to 2001, when Michael tells Jack Nicholson of Stella Street’s charms. After this, the word spreads and soon detached houses are changing hands for £3million, which is quite expensive even for Surrey. The Stones come to run the shop, and the stage is set.

The plot concerns the stars being taken for a ride by Tony Stanford and losing all their money, with hilarious (or at least, very funny) consequences, generally involving acting out scenes from their hit films.

A notable addition to the original cast is Ronnie Ancona. She has a few brief appearances as an American reporter, Madonna, Victoria Beckham (already, if I may say, done to death on Alistair McGowan’s Big Impression) and an evil Irish girl. Sadly, I don’t think the film really benefits from her presence; if anything, Sessions and Cornwell dressed as women are funnier.

With the exception of a couple of clips in flashback scenes, all the material for the movie has been freshly shot, and any previous Surbiton happenings have been long since forgotten. Except for the interior of the corner shop, the location has changed from Hartswood Road, London, W12, to an anonymous cul-de-sac in Banstead, Surrey. This made filming easier (so the commentary tells us) due to less traffic, although the grander the houses get, the less absurd Stella Street’s core conceit becomes.

Those already familiar with Stella Street will find the opening scenes of the movie a little slow, as they are reintroducing the set-up that the first 30 seconds of episode 1 did so well. You will also miss Dirk Bogarde, Roger Moore, Alan Rickman, Jimmy Saville, Patrick Moore, John Hurt, Marlon Brando and The Slurreys, all of whom have been omitted. Strangely, Jack Flatley (graduating from Mr Gale’s Honey Bee), Mike Duggan and Vince Chuff have survived the suburbanite cull to become the villains of the piece. The enigmatic Dave Haskell has a speaking part as a milkman (including a great feed-line for Jack Nicholson), and Dean Barraclough remains intact. Another generic TV character to make it through is Len MacMonotony, who is more overtly bonkers than his original incarnation. (In my view, Len was funnier when there was some doubt of his mental stability.) John Sessions’ Scottish policeman also makes a brief appearance.

The style is different to the TV show, although there are still examples of the fast editing and use of stand-ins that make the original work so well. It’s clear the pace has been slowed to carry the story over 80 minutes (not long for a feature these days), and the film is very even by modern standards, where so often a film descends into by-the-numbers mechanics after the first dazzling 2 reels.

Gone is the Art of Art theme tune that welcomed each episode of the original series. In its place, we have a superb Frank Sinatra impression taking off tracks such as “The Good Life.” I do not know who this singer is, but I believe he also sang the introduction to Armando Iannucci’s Friday/Saturday Night Armistice on BBC2. Also, on the Bowie parodies, there are some excellent impressions of the guitar work of Robert Fripp.

Whilst shot on video, the movie is in Panavision (an aspect ratio of about 2.35:1). The DVD transfer is in full widescreen, and enhanced for 16:9 televisions. The DVD itself is very professionally finished, with good menus and English and Hindi subtitles. A nice feature is the subtitle track on the otherwise unremarkable commentary by Cornwell and Sessions.

Most of the DVD extras are quite poor. Len and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance is a bore, Caine’s Soho is just Caine improvising in the back of a cab, Lost Movie Classics on Bongo in the Congo fails to live up to its potential. Mick and Keith’s video, See You at the Corner Store, is an acceptable track, but was filmed without leaving Dean Street (where Stella Street Ltd is based) and has John Sessions on a classical guitar, which is unforgivably sloppy. The making-of documentary is quite good, although I haven’t watched it all yet.

My view has always been that Series 1 was the funniest. Whilst it had the lowest production values, being shot on Hi8, it had an energy, speed and freshness (not to mention a cinema verity look) that left most other TV comedy of the time standing. Series 2 built on 1’s strengths, and was also very funny, with more characters and a bit more money spent. Series 3 was the first attempt at a feature-length episode, but when broadcast as 10 minute chunks, the rhythm of the piece suffered. Series 4, on the whole, wasn’t very good. With the movie, the style appears to be midway between the quickfire series 2 and the extended series 3. As this movie is not intended to be watched in 10 minute chunks, the problems with series 3 do not arise. The movie also has some of the finest impression work of any of Phil and John’s output to date.

All in all, the Stella Street movie is very good, and if you’ve enjoyed the series you’ll get something out of it. If you’ve never seen Stella Street before, you’re in for a treat. The extras on the DVD do let the side down a bit, plentiful though they may be.

Finally, please buy the DVD, as the more sold, the better the chance of a DVD release of the first two series!

* Harry Enfield is involved in Peter Richardson’s current project Churchill: The Hollywood Years. This makes it far more likely that Enfield is the voice-over artist.

So, that’s what I think. I’ve already noticed a few reviews that disagree with mine in places, so you’ll have to make your own minds up. Suffice to say, anyone who sees this movie should get something out of it, even if it’s only Jimmy Hill…

© Steve Day

I'm Alan Partridge is available on DVD, all episodes featuring Phil Cornwell, who also gets a mention on the commentary.

See all the Dead Ringers stuff in which Phil sometimes appears here.

Phil, on 16/03/2001, participated in a new pilot show called The Friday Night Show. This show is produced by king of radio producers Bill Dare, and is an attempt to combine Bremner, Bird and Fortune, Dead Ringers, Comedy Nation and The Eleven Viewers Show. Indeed, Jon Holmes (who started so bright and fell so low) sat in the audience looking used and disappointed. I suspect he was partly to blame. The show was, erm, mixed. Highlights were the Mitchell and Webb sketches (two very talented writer-performers) and Simon Munnery/League Against Tedium’s routine ("Most pædophiles were themselves abused as children. The only way to stamp out pædophilia: kill the victims." Delivered to an unearthly silence). Dead Ringers was better on the radio, the camcorder-on-the-streets clips were rubbish, and the live "nuisance calls" routine was done to death by Victor Lewis-Smith years ago, and even then was suspect. This will probably therefore not get a series, however well intentioned it was. Then again, let’s not forget BBC3… And since this was written, The Friday Night Show has come on as the one-off Dead Ringers special, and since that was written, it's got a whole series. And I was there at the start!

Archive: John Sessions Update

John Sessions did the voiceover for 2003’s Channel 4 programme That'll Teach 'Em, where a group of school children were sent to study their O'levels in a 1950s environment. He appeared in the BBC’s countdown of great sitcoms on 2004-01-10.

Archive: Foreign?

Service to overseas viewers: If you are confused by references to British pop culture, send your questions here. Replies will be posted to a new page. Questions so far: Who is Jimmy Hill? Answer: A well-known soccer pundit and drug addict (OK, not a drug addict).

Archive: Can Anyone Help? The Saga Continues…

A while ago, this was posted on the page:

Kieran O'Keeffe asks: In the Zulu episode there was a Tune that the DJ was playing when Mrs Huggett was dancing what was that tune. U are my last hope.

Any ideas?

Well, Jenny Owen has been in touch: The music the DJ was playing in the Zulu party episode was PF project Feat. Ewan McGregor, “Choose life”

See, we get results!

Or do we:

That tune was not “Choose Life” by the PF Project!! I do not know what it was either, but it certainly wasn't that! HONEST!!

What I do know is that the tune appeared on a K'NEX TV commercial at the end of 1997. Hope I have helped. See ya fellas! Let’s hope for a new series!

Adam Pearson from Hartlepool, NE England

But Jenny replies:

it was choose life!

I've got the MP3 to prove it, the only reason I don't send it you is that it'll take ages to download on account of it being 2.65 MB.

it was on that beer advert 'a storm brewing' or some other slogan. There's Ewan Macgregor doing some talking, and then there's a big musical bit in the middle -which is what was on the Zulu party.

I'm angry that anyone can ever doubt my word!

Useless, aren’t we? I think I’ll go upstairs and kill myself.