The Comic Strip GLC

[Spbarker@aol.com]

Darrel Henry <darryl1@flash.net> asked:

>Also, could anybody (probably someone in the UK) tell me what 
>The Comic Strip and GLC is?? I'd like to know what Kate's 
>song 'Ken' is about..??

The Comic Strip are (or were) a group of British comedy writers and
actors who got together occasionally to make short (around 30 minute)
comedy films for television.  The subjects of these films vary wildly,
though many are spoofs of other genres. All are worth watching.

GLC (like its predecessor, The Strike) is their idea of how Hollywood
would film a story from recent British history.  Thus it has Robbie
Coltrane playing Charles Bronson playing Ken Livingstone, Peter
Richardson playing Lee Van Cleef playing Tony Benn and Jennifer Saunders
playing Brigitte Nielson playing the Ice Maiden (ie. Margaret Thatcher).

The film is very loosely based on the battle between the Greater London
Council, led by left wing Labour leader Ken Livingstone, and the
Conservative government lead by Margaret Thatcher.  In the early 1980's
(I can't remember exactly when), the GLC tried to adopt a number of left-
wing policies (eg. "Fares Fair", under which public transport was heavily
subsidised, while the government thought it should be fully self-
financing).  Eventually, the government decided to abolish the GLC and
the GLC spent its reserves in a massive (and largely successful) campaign
to save itself.

Naturally, since the film GLC is a "Hollywood" version of the story, the
characterisations are completely inappropriate and the plot bears little
resemblence to reality.

Also of interest to Kate fans is Les Dogs, a film in which Kate appears,
but doesn't sing and says very little.

Simon Barker
Spbarker@aol.com (who lives in the UK, despite the email address)