Channel 4’s much overlooked cult comedy Green Wing is unparalleled in its absolute lunacy. Its surreal originality earns it a place amongst any of the past decade’s top comedies – albeit a place where you might have taken a few magic mushrooms.
While the show gained a loyal fan base and favourable critical reviews, it never quite gained the viewing figures it deserved, and is well worth watching if you missed out the first time round.
Based around the lives of the staff at the fictional East Hampton Hospital Trust, few other shows have provided me with quite so many laugh out loud moments.
Its creators should be applauded for their ability to come up with some of the most bizarre, yet frequently hilarious scenes, which succeeded in making stars of the show’s hospital staff Tamsin Greig and Stephen Mangan (both of whom popped up more recently in comedy Episodes, alongside Matt Le Blanc).
Yet some of the show’s best moments come from its lesser known stars. Mark Heap is brilliant as the spluttering, over-sexed consultant radiologist Dr Alan Statham, who is sometimes seen prancing around in his underpants playing a recorder.
Meanwhile, Michelle Gomez is the completely lunatic staff liaison officer, who greets all requests for help with foul-mouthed tirades, and can be found pulling a camel down the corridor or attempting to take sperm samples from the comatose hospital heart-throb to impregnate herself with.
Sounds a little out of your comfort zone? Do not be put off, embrace ’s sheer lunacy and you’ll find yourself questioning why on earth they never made a third series.