80's comedy show - Kinvig - anyone know???

[aurelia]

Does anyone remember a sort of spoof Sci-Fi comedy from the 80's called Kinvig - you either loved it or hated it but you had to see the 1st episode to get it or it just seemed double dutch - it only aired the once and has never been repeated.  My dad loves it - does anyone know where I could get hold of it on VHS - he would be made up???

[stoo_pid]

I remember it.  I loved it but even at the time I didn't really know why!  Up until today tho no-one I've ever mentioned it to had ever heard of it.

It starred Tony Haygarth (who was also in the police 'comedy' Rosie) as Des Kinvig who owned an electrical repair shop.  He discovers/imagines that one of his customers is an alien.  Very odd.

I've been looking for a DVD or video of the series for years but I've drawn a blank so far I'm afraid.

Can you (or your Dad) remember how it finished? (That's not a quiz - I can't remember, which is one reason I've been searching for the vid)

 

 

[aurelia]

Thanks I remember Tony Haygarth as well - but I can't remember how it ended - I know there was an episode with doubles - it really was an odd comedy - the wife was off her head with that dog - and Kinvig's friend was like a total alien himself - Prunella scales was the woman was it miss jones and something like the creatures of the zux - there was an episode with the town council office about something and Kinvig was a tv repair man who never seemed to do any work - We found the same thing that no-one seems to have watched it - my dad might remember how it ended so i will ask him when I see him

[aurelia]

The first episode was the key episode to understanding Kinvig - Tony Haygarth got sent out by his loopy wife to take the dog out - while he was out a spaceship landed in the park he was in and these creatures came out and took him in.  It was inside that he met them and their leader who was this woman - miss jones or something and he recognised her as a woman who had come into his shop earlier that day and had given him dog's abuse for not repairing her stuff.  I remember these creatures got him to fix their spaceship and when he tried to start it - it turned over like a car ignition - there was some talk about Venus - and the classic line the woman said was "Venus is no use - it's too bloody hot"

Other people I knew at the time who didn't know he had been taken aboard a spaceship and me tthe woman gave up on the comedy as they couldn't follow it at all

[LeMarchand]

Vaguely remember it, but can't remember liking it. The writer was Nigel "Quatermass" Kneale. I seem to recall a VHS release years ago, but can't find anything to back this up.

[lookslikemik]

Never heard of it myself (bit before my time) but here's a web page with some details:

http://www.phill.co.uk/comedy/kinvig/

[lookslikemik]

And this person here:

 

http://www.tvtapetradersintl.tvheaven.com/list.htm

 

is offering taped copies of it, and by the looks of it just about everything ever shown on telly.

[MFM]

I recall it. I think Joanna Lumley featured in it at one point. I liked it at the time, but it was a bit strange

[Carmichael78]

I know I'm coming to this thread a little late but if anyone is interested the complete series of KINVIG has just been released (along with Kneale's superb six part anthology BEASTS) by Network DVD.

I also dimly remembered this series from when I was too young to grasp it all. When I found it was created by one of my favourite writers I had to find a copy. This I managed only last year.

The only real problem with it is there is no need for this to be performed in front of an audience (which I understand it was as Kneale recalled some warm-up man setting the wrong mood.) The comedy is (generally) too quiet and rather subtle.

The one thing always mentioned is the idea that the show leaves it open as to whether this is all a product of Des Kinvig's fevered imagination or not but since we see characters behaving perfectly normally in their own lives (where one would assume they would be able to shed their earthly guise) and all the crazy events are capable of far more rational explanation I think it's made quite clear Des is simply losing his grip (indeed the suggestion seems to be that he starts his tales just to impress his mate Jim Piper).

I would recommend this series to anyone with a taste for more character driven comedy.

[aurelia]

Thanks Carmichael78 - I have been late in seeing your reply to this thread. I hace just oredered this and a book off amazon as it was cheaper than Network DVD and I'm getting free delivery

I think I'll save it for the old man's chrismas and watch his shock when he sees what it is