Music in comedy: The secret life of Edgar Briggs (1974)

As I'm approaching my 100th video I think it's time for something special. And this really is special, and a rarity, and it might not be around on YouTube for long. The star actor in the series it is taken from, the famous David Jason (Inpector Frost), has to this very day withheld his consent for repeat broadcasts or release on video or DVD. This is not just a drawback for the other actors who remained short of extra revenues that way, it is also a pity for artistic reasons.

The series tells the story of Edgar Briggs, a (vehemently pipe smoking!) British secret agent with a few screws loose and a logic which his assistants find hard to follow but nevertheless always gets results.
In the clipped episode Briggs and his colleagues are following the French pianist Clemont whom they suspect of being a Russian spy and who might be passing on secret information in musical code during a radio broadcast. Briggs and his men are present at the broadcast, ready for action should he play anything out of the ordinary. As usual Briggs is on the wrong track (including interrogating a man about the murder of Johann Sebastian Bach), but, as usual, gets it right in the end.

Jason vetoed repeat broadcasts on grounds of lack of acting refinement - but looking at Edgar Briggs while focusing on this aspect proves the opposite. It is true that the writing is at times inconsistent and predictable, but it is thanks to Jason's straight-forward no-nonsense acting that the jokes work. Most actors would have turned the role of Edgar Briggs into a ridiculous caricature, Jason however gives a performance which makes him a credible real-life figure, an odd guy perhaps, but one who would not be unimaginable. And to play Edgar Briggs the way Jason does is nothing less than proof of just that quality: refinement. Of course, the Jason who plays Frost is a different Jason than the one who played Briggs, but the Beethoven of the 9th Symphony is not the Beethoven of the Second - should that piece then no longer be performed?
Therefore, uploaded here in line with my channel purpose of imagery of music and/or pipe smoking, this clip is also a plea to Jason to finally lift his ban, so that new audiences too can have their share of a good show not seen since 1974.

Whatever it may lead to or not, enjoy it as long as it lasts here.

Category:

Comedy

Tags:

• pipe
• smoking
• Bach
• cantata
• BWV147
• secret
• agent
• MI5
• Edgar
• Briggs

[LOVELYJUBBLIES123]

Thanks for uploading! I love this!

[alanheath2]

@thisisverytrue You had a cassette player in 1974? They must have cost a fortune then!!

[nzvion100]

Btw is thiw an episode of Edgar briggs or i am confusing it,with another serial?

So many years passed so...forgive me!

Also forgive my bad english

[nzvion100]

Suddenly the electricity was cut,and the people inside the bar heard the agent who was screaming loud saying this:'the russians landed to the airport,going to London,and no one can stop them"!!The people thought about a russian invasion and start to panic!!

[nzvion100]

Hallo i am looking for an episode of EDGAR BRIGGS series!Some agents have a mission to "help escaping" a russian member of a ballet or something ,But by a mistake the russians leave the airport,taking a wrong "way" to London,and one of the agents run to a near bar,where the leader was ,and start to "scream" because of the loud music inside !

I continue the story in a next post,because of limitations

[mystered]

@mistofoles Remember that Martin Shaw for some years vetoed re-runs of "The Professionals" for similar reasons. The lead actors presumably have a contract with the TV studio to allow them to negotiate the rights for repeat screenings.

[mistofoles]

How does David have the authority to forbid the re-release of this show? Surely, the rights to the show belong to LWT, not David personally?

[spotcollector]

hallo

ich bin schon seit jahren auf der suche nach der serie...

was würd ich drum geben, die serie auf dvd zu haben.

lässt sich da was machen?

lG Hansi

[Anelson88]

He looks like Mr. Bean, just he speak :) 

[argumenteren]

The serie was broadcasted on the Dutch television in 1976, named: "Briggs, de schrik van de geheime dienst".