Steve Coogan’s popularity in the United States is continuing to grow as he appears in acclaimed films such as Hamlet 2 and Tropic Thunder, not to mention his supporting role in the popular Night at the Museum. So it is no surprise that the BBC has decided to begin releasing his popular television work on DVD, including the recently released Saxondale which comes to us in a three-DVD set collecting both seasons of the British comedy.

Coogan stars as Tommy Saxondale, an aging, ex-roadie for some of the biggest rock bands in the 70’s. Now in his 50s with gray hair and a round pot belly, Saxondale’s life is drastically different from his youth. While he still drives around like a rock ‘roller in his beloved Mustang Mach 1, Tommy now works as a pest controller and lives with his younger girlfriend, Magz, portrayed by the wonderful Ruth Jones (star and creator of the recent BBC hit, Gavin and Stacy). Tommy and Magz live in a small flat with a young man named Raymond (Rasmus Hardiker), who is Tommy’s new bug busting assistant.

The accommodations are meant to be temporary, but Raymond never moves out and he becomes a surrogate son to Tommy. While he shows the naïve kid the ropes of the pest control business, Tommy also regales him with stories of the glory days on the road with the likes of Deep Purple and Genesis and subjects the poor lad to his opinion about the state of the world (in particular those people who enjoy dance music, James Blunt or Dido). Rounding out the cast are Morwenna Banks as Vicky, the pest conrol dispatcher and Tommy’s nemesis, and (in season 2) Darren Boyd as Tommy’s annoying neighbor, Jonathan.

Tommy and Magz are an unlikely pair for television and I wonder their relationship would even make it past the pilot stage on the U.S. networks. If someone pitched to any of the networks a series about an opinionated old roadie with anger issues who dates a full figured woman, executives would scratch their heads and likely say, “Who’s going to watch that?” The BBC, on the other hand, seems more willing to take risks and allow creative people like Coogan that opportunity to create. Tommy is at his funniest when he’s ranting against the upper class and trying to impress the others that he’s just as good as they are. Unfortunately, Tommy is a “pretty huge inverted snob”, in Coogan’s words, and acts no better than the people he’s railing against. He may think they’re looking down on him because he’s a pest controller (in most cases, they are not), but he’s just as judgmental, in particular during his angry rants. (more…)