The Bleak Old Shop of Stuff: Difference between revisions

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[[Spiritual Successor]] slash [[Sound to Screen Adaptation]] of the radio series ''[[Bleak Expectations]]'', this is a [[Charles Dickens|Dickensian]] parody written by Mark Evans with an all-star cast including [[That Mitchell and Webb Look|Mitchell and Webb]], [[Stephen Fry]] and Johnny Vegas. It follows the story of [[Meaningful Name|Mr. Jedrington Secret-Past]] who tries to win his family and his business, [[Title Drop|The Bleak Old Shop of Stuff]], back from [[Amoral Attorney]] Malifax Skulkingworm.

* [[Alliteration]]: London's three great alliterative clocks, Big Ben, Massive Morris and Tiny Terry.

* [[Amoral Attorney]]: Skulkingworm, the main villain of the pilot. {{spoiler|Curiously, when he's in 'client' mode he's an evil, cackling old scoundrel, but when he's in 'lawyer' mode he's actually quite friendly and pleasant.}}

* [[Androcles' Lion]]: The orphan Jedrington treats like any other customer at the begining of the Christmas episode.

* [[The Artful Dodger]]: Parodied with the Artful Codger ("codger" being slang for an older person) who has had to spend his life with a gang of urchin kids because he failed the exam to graduate to "vagabond" or "ne'er-do-well".

* [[Bazaar of the Bizarre]]: The eponymous shop of stuff.

* [[Big No]]: Servegood delivers one at the end of Episode 2.

* [[British Brevity]]: It aired starting with a one hour [[Christmas Special]] before Christmas 2011 with another three half hour episodes.

* [[Deliberate Values Dissonance]]: Hatred of the French and extreme sexism. Both [[Played for Laughs]].

* [[G-Rated Drug]]: Treacle. Exagerated to the point where it's actually dangerous.

* [[The Fundamentalist]]: Secret-Past's adoptive aunts.

* [[It Will Never Catch On]]: Harmswell Grimstone considered trying to find a business partner by [[The Apprentice (TV series)|putting a group of candidates through demeaning weekly tasks and firing them one by one]], but rejected the idea as ludicrous.

* [[Meaningful Name]]: Almost every single character has one.

* [[Man Behind the Man]]: Subverted. {{spoiler|Skulkingworm's "client" is...Skulkingworm.}}

* [[May Contain Evil]]: "[[Magically-Binding Contract|Contract]] may contain traces of evil."

* [[Mook Face Turn]]: Fearshiver has one, {{spoiler|Skulkingworm killed his parents. "He placed a large amount of legalments and injunctions on them. [[Dropped a Bridge on Him|Literally - they were crushed to death]]."}}

* [[Nice Hat]]: A man is nothing without his! Special mention to Skulkingworm, who seems to have some sort of mechanism that can make his top hat extend to several times his own height.

* [[The Nicknamer]]: Maggoty the treacle fiend, who calls people by the names of birds.

* [[Overly Long Gag]]: Mrs. Christmasham, describing the circumstances of her wedding.

* [[Punch Clock Villain]]: Skulkingworm's first scene has him act the part of an [[Amoral Attorney]], interspersed with him apologising and saying he's just acting on behalf of his client (who's "a meanie"). {{spoiler|His client just so happens to be himself.}}

* [[Screw the Rules, I Have Connections]]: When Grimstone is brought to trial, he arranges matters such that the jury is composed of his cousins, and his uncle is the judge.

* [[Shout-Out]]: To ''Bleak Expectations''. Harrumble indeed!

[[Category:British Series]]

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[[Category:Live-Action TV of the 2010s]]

[[Category:Western Animation]]