Martin Clunes reveals ‘abysmal’ Men Behaving Badly episode that never aired
The series ran from 1992 until 1998.
Martin Clunes has spoken about the ‘abandoned’ first episode of Men Behaving Badly that never made it to screens.
Running for six seasons from 1992 until 1998, the British sitcom was created and written by Simon Nye.
It followed the lives of London-based Gary Strang (Martin) and his flatmates Dermot Povey (Harry Enfield, in season 1 and Tony Smart (Neil Morrissey) from the second season onwards.
Although the series drew criticism for promoting ‘lad culture’, fans have called the series ‘hilarious’ and ‘excellent’. The season finale also drew in 13.9 million viewers.
However nearly 30 years after Men Behaving Badly ended, Martin has spoken about the ‘abysmal’ pilot episode.
Speaking about the history of the show, he revealed how disastrous the first attempt was.
The series also starred Neil Morrissey, Caroline Quentin and Leslie Ash (Picture: Fremantle Media/ Shutterstock)‘John [Howard Davis] also directed the abysmal pilot of Men Behaving Badly with Harry Enfield that no one has ever seen. We remade it,’ he told The Sun.
‘Dare I say it was badly directed. He went on to direct Fawlty Towers the most other thing and at one point, he actually said to me be more like John Cleese because their idea that it wouldn’t be funny unless there was a clash that we had to, as characters flatmates, it had to be.’
Martin previously said the show would never be rebooted (Picture: ITV)In 2011 Britain in a Box presenter Paul Jackson wrote about watching the pilot, admitting it was ‘awful’.
Martin and Neil have now reunited on screen in the new Gold travel show Neil & Martin’s Bon Voyage, which sees them undertake a road trip around Southern France.
After having some ‘cr**’ shows pitched to them over the past few decades, Martin said he felt this show had a ‘purpose’ to it.
He previously spoke about whether there could ever be another series of Men Behaving Badly: ‘God, no. Not these days. I mean, we talked about things like Kylie Minogue’s buttocks and compared them to a racehorse’s.
‘How could we do that now?’ he told Saga magazine in 2022.
Men Behaving Badly is streaming on Now.
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