Are you local?
If you’ve ever seen The League Of Gentlemen (LOG) those words will strike fear into your heart.
The League Of Gentlemen's Apocalypse is nothing to do with the similarly titled League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen although they are certainly extraordinary. Writer/performer’s Mark Gatiss, Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith and writer Jeremy Dyson have created a vast array of characters that populate a village, Royston Vasey, the likes of which you’ve never seen before (I hope!).
It started when they met at college and created a comedy which became a Edinburgh Festival hit, award winning BBC Radio show, three BBC TV series, a Christmas TV Special, Drury Lane Live Show and now a Movie. For those in the U.K. there is even a LOG Pantomime currently touring.
Mark, Steve & Reece play most of the characters (close to 100) while Jeremy is only seen in cameos. The League of Gentlemen Character Index has character bio’s but contains some spoilers, if you haven’t seen the series.
The LOG movie made it to New Zealand as part of the Film Festival and I saw it at The Civic. On arriving I was somewhat relieved to find I’m not the only person in Auckland with a twisted sense of humour as the theatre was fairly full. I then wondered how wise it was to sit, in the dark, with a bunch of people who find these weird and wonderful characters amusing!
In a grim isolated corner of northern England lurks the town of Royston Vasey. The local cab driver is a preoperative transsexual, the local butcher sells his special stuff to select customers, and the local employment counselor thinks people are like pens: "If they don't work, you shake 'em. If they still don't work, you chuck 'em away!" The rest of the village are quite strange and if you're not local, you should steer clear of the local shop, no matter how tempted you are by its precious things. To call The League of Gentlemen a black comedy would be an understatement…
In the movie the fictional world of Royston Vasey is facing apocalypse and the only way to avert disaster is for the nightmarish cast of characters to…
Well that would spoil it. The movie would make sense if you haven’t seen the TV series but is more enjoyable if you have. The transition from the small screen is successful and they introduce some new character and plot twists in the process. It’s always a worry with TV comedy and something they parody in the movie.
Some DVD’s are available from Amazon.com, all from Amazon.co.uk.but check the regions to make sure they will play on your machine. If you are in New Zealand Marbecks have the LOG TV DVDs and now the movie. It’s probably the only way to see it as there is no sign of a regular cinema release here. It’s worth watching more than once anyway and you get some great DVD extras, even if you’re not local 
This Is A Local Shop.com - The Official League Of Gentleman Web site
The League of Gentlemen's Apocalypse DVD – Purchase on-line from Marbecks New Zealand (They also have the TV Series 1, 2 3, & Xmas Special on DVD)
Fan Sites:
Starring Mark Gatiss, Steve Pemberton, Reece Shearsmith, David Warner, Victoria Wood, Bernard Hill, and Michael Sheen. Directed by Steve Bendelack.
Regions 2+4 -- Widescreen 1.85:1 Anamorphic -- Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround -- Colour -- 87 Minutes -- PAL
For a long time there was no official site and the LOG encouraged fan sites. They have some wonderful material.
