BBC iPlayer adds ChuckleVision’s final season
David Farnor | On 08, Aug 2018
The final season of ChuckVision is now available to watch on BBC iPlayer once more, in tribute to the late Barry Chuckle.
Born in 1944, Barry David Elliott passed away this week, leaving a nation and his brother, Paul, mourning the tragic loss of a comic talent who became known to children across several generations. Known as the Chuckle Brothers, the duo began their TV career in the 1980s, with ChuckleVision going on to air for 22 years on BBC One and CBBC.
The TV show followed the pair as two chaos-prone brothers, with each standalone episode seeing them taking on different jobs or adventures. The resulting slapstick antics saw catchphases such as “to me, to you” and “oh dear, oh dear” become household favourites. Now, following an outpouring of tributes from fans and celebrities this week, BBC iPlayer has responded to requests to bring back the show by adding the 21st season of the sitcom to iPlayer.
The Chuckle Brothers recently returned to UK TV screens with a new Channel 5 series, Chuckle Time, which is based around home video clips found online.
“There’s some nostalgic consolation to be found in the fact that Barry and Paul’s humour is as delightfully dated as ever,” we wrote in our review, “from terrible puns and dad jokes to even a knowing send-up of their old catchphrase.”
ChuckleVision, though, saw the brothers at their best, and their arrival on BBC iPlayer gives grown-up fans the chance to introduce their slapstick comedy to a whole new generation of fans.
Episodes include the Chuckles falling victim to TV practical joker Kurt Kitchen; becoming police community officers and hoping to impress the chief to win the Cadet of the Week trophy; working as struggling estate agents to sell a property to an American rock star, only to discover that it is owned by their boss; getting hired as drain engineers opposite some MI5 agents; launching their own satellite system into space when a digital TV system doesn’t work; and travelling back in time to meet the Chuckles aged 11-and-a-half to find out who really won the Rotherham Primary Fun Run.
All episodes are available on BBC iPlayer until Monday 5th November.