Three good reviews. It's a classic that deserves a reappraisal! I remember it being laugh out loud funny but it was a long time ago, so I could be confusing it with some other obscure 80s comedy TV series, for example Thompson (1988) which I also thought was a hoot, and no one else did. Snakes and Ladders bears a strong resemblance to the concept introduced in Doomsday (2008) but with more laughs. The main reason I remember it is not to do with the quality of the acting or story, most of which I can hardly recall, but the fact it ended so abruptly. I don't recall it receiving particularly bad reviews at the time, but one week it was on and the next it was gone. It seemed to end mid series. One of life's unanswered mysteries.
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jeremy-robinson-120 August 2013
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call me awkward, but i liked this. it was one of those programmes that no-one seems to talk about, and you begin to wonder if it really existed. It had a political angle that was satirical and pretty insightful about the future. also it had a vibrant video colour quality which i always like. believe it or not it was written by the same people responsible for the bbc series 'birds of a feather' - just goes to show that everyone has at least one good book in them.
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Rabical-9127 August 2019Rik Mayall and Ade Edmondson parted company briefly in 1987 after their sitcom 'Filthy, Rich & Catflap' came to a premature end to go their own way. Rik's first show was 'The New Statesman', which was scripted by Laurence Marks and Maurice Gran. It was a huge success, running for four series up until 1994. In 1989. Marks and Gran turned their attentions towards Ade Edmondson and devised for him 'Snakes & Ladders', screened by Channel 4 and shot without the use of a studio audience. John Gordon Sinclair appeared alongside him. However, Ade didn't have the same luck as Rik did as 'Snakes & Ladders' met with no success whatsoever, and it was not hard to see why as it was not really all that funny.
Set in 1999, the UK has been divided into two borders. North Britain is the pits whilst South Britain is more glamorous. Upmarket rich boy Giles, whose father is a lord and conglomerate owner, is sent to work in the North which comes as quite a blow to him. Meanwhile, poor young Scotsman Gavin is sent to work in the South which comes as a welcome change to him.
It had potential but unusually for a Marks and Gran sitcom, there were too few genuinely funny lines and overall was quite a chore to be able to follow. Ade Edmondson seemed to struggle to carry the show on his own as he looks so lost without Rik to bounce off ( although Rik did make a guest appearance in one episode ). John Gordon Sinclair also looked uncomfortable ( a problem he similarly encountered in the later 'An Actor's Life For Me' ).
The final episode hinted that a second series was on the cards but lack of interest from viewers saw that it would be axed by Channel 4. Fortunately, Ade continued to deliver some funny stuff with 'The Comic Strip Presents...' and later found his niche again in 1991 with 'Bottom' which saw him paired up again with his old pal Rik Mayall. -
ChazMutz8 March 2005Well, I'm glad that I'm not the only one that remembers this series.. I always liked it too, particularly the satirical slants on the north/south divide, Police PLC, (just as it seemed like the whole country was being sold on the stock market) and the "thatchers". The series saw the "pairing" of Ade Edmondson and John Gordon Sinclair as young men from the opposite sides of the political and financial as well as the geographical divide. (John Gordon Sinclair also starred in another "lost" series, "Hot Metal") It seemed to finish cued up for a second series that just never happened. Of course Marks and Gran also went on to pen that other political satire (starring the other half of the "dangerous brothers", Rik Mayall) "The New Statesman"