Theme Time: Edwin Astley - Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased)

It was fifty years ago this week that one of ITC's most enduring crime dramas Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased) arrived on our screens.

Starring Mike Pratt and Kenneth Cope as Jeff Randall and Marty Hopkirk, private investigators who won't let a little thing like death get in the way of their business, whilst Annette Andre starred as Marty's widow, Jeanie.

Unlike much of its stablemates at ITC, Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) was, by its very nature, fantastical, and yet at the same time much more down-to-earth in its downbeat depiction of the then swinging London. Perhaps it's that slightly more recognisably real world vibe that has ensured it hasn't dated as much as Department S or Jason King say, whilst the fact that Reeves and Mortimer remade it for two series in the early '00s proved that this was a show that the public still had a lot of time for. 

And then there's that theme tune. A wonderfully evocative, atmospheric track from ITC composer supremo Edwin Astley. It's the sonic equivalent of a tingle running down your spine.

Hanging on the Telephone

Annette Andre as Jeannie Hopkirk in Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased)

A Life Less Ordinary (1997)

After being disappointed by Boyle's latest offering Trance at the weekend, I turned today to an earlier film in his career and one that was pretty much considered a flop.

I've always had a soft spot for A Life Less Ordinary, it's a genuinely fun film with some brilliant performances and so I don't know why it was so trashed upon its release. Well, that's a lie as I can hazard a guess; expectations. Boyle had just brought out Shallow Grave and Trainspotting, too utterly iconic ground breaking landmark movies. It was inevitable that the third offering would see the knives out, especially when Boyle relocated from Scotland (scene of both previous films) to America.

It's true to say that A Life Less Ordinary is no Shallow Grave or Trainspotting. But it's unfair to expect it to be. What Boyle has here is a delightfully fucked up romcom, the best perhaps in the genre, and despite the reservations some felt about him making his mark in the US I can't help but love and admire the gleeful brio he had in throwing himself into 'Americana'. You can almost see him pinching himself in disbelief at actually having the opportunity to make a film there. The Coen Brothers have always been a clear influence on Boyle and his scriptwriter John Hodge (Shallow Grave tips its hat to Blood Simple) and it's that influence is most obvious here when finding himself Stateside, even to the extent of hiring Coen regular Holly Hunter - delivering a wonderfully kooky, manic, scary and a little bit sexy performance.

If I can pinpoint one complaint however it is perhaps in Hunter and Delroy Lindo's angelic/bounty hunter/matchmaker characters. In showing the audience their celestial origins straight off the bat in the opening scene any possibility of dark tension - a key component in Boyle's work - is ultimately lost. This is never more so disappointing in the scene where McGregor's hapless kidnapper has to dig his own grave in the woods under the mystifying direction of the gun toting Lindo. We the audience know their true mission and as such the scene is robbed off any drama or suspense. Likewise MacGregor and Diaz coming up against an indestructible Hunter equally loses the potential for startling black  humour and surprise. It's a real shame. I think I read somewhere that these characters and indeed that whole strand to the story came late to the party and despite their excellent performances, the characterisation and the quirkiness of it all, I am inclined to think that may have been no bad thing for the film overall.

The plus points however are McGregor and Diaz who have tremendous chemistry together, and both gorgeous and at the top of their game and frankly, neither have had a better co lead in this kind of material since. McGregor is at his most likeable and charismatic whilst Diaz is at her sexiest. Above all the pair are both very funny and you can believe their romance, which isn't always actually evident in a romcom, despite such qualities beinf y'know, integral! Also of great merit is the jittery turn from the ever reliable Ian Holm as Diaz's rich daddy and Maury Chaykin's small role as Todd Johnson; utterly, sweetly hilarious. And then of course there's Boyle, a great director.

Trivia: David Arnold, the film's soundtrack composer, uses a little signature whenever Hunter and Lindo, the angels, appear in the film. This signature was something he extended a couple of years later to become the theme tune to the Vic and Bob remake of Randall and Hopkirk Deceased, which also featured a white suited celestial aide.