E4 and Secret Peter Productions have teamed up once again with Mighty Boosh legend Noel Fielding and returned to British telly sets at the end of July 2014 with Noel Fielding’s Luxury Comedy Series 2. Having already confused the hell out of viewers and TV journalists alike with his first series, he’s been given a chance to do it all over again with more left-field comedy from the most muddled portion of his mixed up mind.
Series 2 crash landed on E4 on the 31st July 2014 like a pink and partially sighted gorilla wearing a black string vest and singing show tunes. It follows up the 1st series, which went out on E4 in 2012 and was set in Noel’s tree-house in a red and blue jungle. There were just 5 short, sharp half hour shows in the new series, which aired on Thursday nights at 10pm. For anyone that missed them you can try catching up 4OD.
This time around Noel returned with the majority of the characters from the first series, but in a whole new setting, taking himself, Dolly, Andy Warhol and Smooth the anteater to his recently acquired coffee shop on the edge of a volcano in Hawaii. The fairly significant setting shift for Luxury Comedy Series 2 is similar to the move away from the Zooniverse in The Mighty Boosh, and once again it worked out well.
When we first heard about the show, we were holding out a faint glimmer of hope for a reincarnated Dondylion, but the reality was that we thought we’d probably seen the last of the lovably neurotic feline. While it was always possible that he might have faked his own death to run back to the Serengeti, we were keeping our dreams on a tight leash and fed on quavers in a little cage following the tragic road traffic accident at the end of episode 6. However, not to give too much away, but it turns out that sometimes if you dare to dream, some of your smaller, less ambitious dreams can come true.
As Michael Fielding and Noel are actually fraternally conjoined, he’s back once again as Smooth and this time the deadpan anteater has become the coffee shop’s trusty barista, dolling out the americanos without th efaintest glimmer of a smile. Dolly Wells is also back as Dolly, along with Tom Meeten as Andy Warhol. They’re joined by a sizable chunk of characters from the first series, including music producing stingray Tony Reason, New York Cop Sergeant Raymond Boombox and the chocolate finger PE teacher Roy Circles, all of whom are played by Fielding, who should be doing pretty well out of the new series as long as he’s being payed for each role he plays individually.
Sergio Pizzorno adds his musical influence to the show again too, combing with Fielding to create the songs for the episodes. Co-writer of the series, Nigel Coan also sprays his animated musk over Noel Fielding’s Luxury Comedy in Series 2 with Terry Gilliam-like surrealism.
The psychedelic mist and surreal carpeting of the 2nd series was another brilliantly fantastical comedy show from Noel Fielding. Read our review to find out more about what we think of the new series.
Noel Fielding’s Luxury Comedy Series 2 episode guide:
Episode 1 – Paul Panfer
Air date – 10pm, Thursday 31st July 2014
Noel introduces the show’s new location in a coffee shop on the side of a volcano in Hawaii for Series 2, Tales From Painted Hawaii. However, the hand drawn cartoon cast of Magnum P.I. become a little disgruntled and try to sacrifice Noel to the volcano, leaving the little coffee shop to hope for a rescue from internet sensation Paul Panfer, who has been recreating Elvis films on his mobile phone.
Episode 2 – Saving Terry
Air date – 10pm, Thursday 7th August 2014
When Andy Warhol, Smooth and Dolly question Noel about the lack of an ending to the episode, it turns out that he’s contracted a rare strain of writer’s block, known as fantasy block. The situation becomes tense, almost unnerving, when they all discover that without an end to the show, their only fan Terry (Steve Oram) will be killed by an asteroid, so Noel has to dig deep to come up with a way to stop the marauding beast that is fantasy block, the fantasy real-life incarnation of Noel’s affliction.
Episode 3 – Reality Man
Air date – 10pm, Thursday 14th August 2014
When Noel’s fantastical exploits are attacked by fantasy terrorist Reality Man, the show becomes a Big Brother style reality TV show. As each of the guys get evicted to the real world they turn to the other-worldly exploits of Fantasy Man and his rave-crazed native American sidekick Big Chief Woolabum Boomalackaway to find a way back to Painted Hawaii to stop Reality Man.
Episode 4 – Cucumbers Of Cool
Air date – 10pm, Thursday 21st August 2014
When it becomes apparent that Noel is officially uncool, he draws the attention of the interplanetary bastions of hip, the Cucumbers Of Cool, who give Noel to the end of the show to become cool or else face certain destruction.
Episode 5 – Joey And The Wales
Air date – 10pm, Thursday 28th August 2014
The show comes under yet more difficulties as it turns out that they have just nine viewers, sixteen shy of the requisite twenty five that they need to save themselves from being decommissioned, packed away in boxes and incinerated. They scramble around frantically to try different things to boost their audience figures, but when a call to all of their friends fails to boost the rating enough it looks like all is lost, but is their king of the jungle hope on the horizon for Noel and the guys on Painted Hawaii?
