The League of Gentlemen's Apocalypse is a film adaptation of the cult BBC sitcom, The League of Gentlemen. It stars Steve Pemberton, Mark Gatiss and Reece Shearsmith and is written by the main cast and Jeremy Dyson. The film features charcters from the programme breaking into the real world to seek help from the programme's creators, as the setting, the fictional town of Royston Vasey is falling into chaos.
Plot[]
The film begins with co-creator Jeremy Dyson (Michael Sheen) discussing the show over the phone with Steve Pemberton. He proposes an idea that all the characters in Royston Vasey wake up one morning to find they all have tails. Jeremy's annoyed to hear that Steve is already talking with the other creators without him. Jeremy goes to the bathroom, and finds Tubbs sitting on his toilet. He runs to the front door but is blocked by Edward. Edward tackles him and tries to bring him down, but Jeremy breaks a window and escapes. Tubbs and edward chase him down a hill and corner him at a cliff. As Jeremy stands with his back to the cliff, Papa Lazarou appears behind him. Jeremy gets such a shock, he falls over the cliff.
In the town of Royston Vasey, the vet Mr Chinnery is conducting an experiment to extract semen from a male giraffe. He inserts a probe up the giraffe's anus to create a shock to simulate ejaculation. However, a freak lightning bolt strikes the electric outlet, causing the probe to electrocute the giraffe and cover the zookeeper and three visiting old women completely in semen. Meanwhile, convicted butcher Hillary briss is running through the moors far above the town, trying to escape the police. He unlocks his manacles with a carving knife. Restart officer Pauline cambell jones is hurrying through the town where she sees Mickey flying a kite. However, it turns out it's actually his dog, which has been caught in a freak gust of wind.
Herr Lipp is out walking and finds two boyscouts trying to start a fire in the hostile conditions. He tries to offer them help, however they recognise his advantages and flee for their lives. Briss sneeks up behind Lipp, and puts a knife to his throat. As Pauline walks up the main street, another freak lightning bolt hits the war memorial, knocking one of its arms off. Herr Lipp is lying on the side of the road, making himself look injured. A car stops, driven by plastic mouldings businessman, Geoff Tipps. Briss watches from the bushes, feeding Lipp lines to make Geoff get out of the car. When the plan goes wrong due to Lipp forgetting his lines, and Briss giving himself away, the two of them commandeer the car and tell Geoff to drive them to Royston Vasey.
In the church, Reverend Bernice is recieving confession from a teenage girl who is thinking a lot about a teacher she fancies. Bernice viciously rebukes her and drives her from the church. Pauline arrives and asks Bernice what's causing the freak weather. Bernice leads Pauline to the catacombs beneath the church where she shows her a fresco of the church being bombarded by fireballs. She shows her another fresco of the war memorial being struck by lightning and losing an arm just as it happened. Mr Chinnery also arrives and sees a fresco of a giraffe ejacualting on three elderly women. Bernice prophesises that "It has begun at last."
Geoff is driving his car towards the town. Along the way, he recognises Briss and recalls the nosebleed epidemic. A massive fireball crashes into the road, just in front of the car.
Bernice says their one chance of salvation is to travel through a mystical door to another world. Briss, Lipp and Geoff arrive at the church as the police draw closer to them. Briss goes into hide, taking Geoff and Lipp with him as hostages. Bernice displays a giant key that unlocks the door. She turns to see a fresco of the church being consumed in fire, leaving the key in the door. Briss, Geoff and Lipp enter the catcombs go through the door, leaving Bernice, Pauline and Chinnery stuck on the other side.
Briss, Lipp and Geoff find themselves in a bare, white room. They decide to wait until the police come and leave. However, Geoff flees the room and Lipp tries to disarm Briss. Briss overcomes him and marches him from the room. They find themselves in an actual church in Hadfield. A vicar, thinking they're part of a tour group tells them to go down the main street. They pass a huge group of Herr Lipp impersonators. Geoff, still carrying the Key, runs back to his apartment. However, he finds it populated by an Asian family. He runs off and finds Briss and Lipp standing outside the butchers, J.W. Metterick and Son, here they see a sign promoting The League of Gentlemen. Papa Lazarou appears and says he's been expecting them.
Lazarou shows them footage of the show, showing each of the characters. This proves that Royston Vasey is nothing but a fictional setting set up by "The Creators." A board shows the four members of the League of Gentlemen (Jeremy Dyson's picture is crossed out). Tubbs and Edward arrive and say the three of them were first sent by Reverend Bernice to discover why the town was being destroyed. Their bizarre appearance and overly direct approach frighened him away. They send Briss, Lipp and Geoff to London to find the creators.
Cast[]
Continuity[]
The film is considered as non-canon to the TV series. As the League themselves described the film as being 'in a bubble' and various inconsistencies existing with it and Series Two onwards of the TV show. Inconsistencies such as:
- Despite being killed off in Series Two and later again in Series Three, Tubbs & Edward are now alive.
- In Series Three, Geoff's face is badly injured, with a paramedic saying "by the time we're done not even his own mother will be able to recognize him". Despite this, Geoff looks normal in the movie.
- Bernice is now free from Papa Lazarou's imprisonment despite having been captured in Series Three.
- Dr. Chinnery is once again famously incompetent with animals despite being "cured" in the Christmas Special.
As of the Anniversary specials, most of these elements were partially integrated into continuity and some of them were explained, meaning the movie can now easily be placed into continuity. For example, Tubbs & Edwards revival is explained as the train that hit them in Series Three having actually missed them (an in-joke about how unconvincing the effect was in Series Three). Meanwhile the freeing of Bernice, as well as the other characters that were trapped in the Elephant, was explained as Bernice having made a deal with Papa Lazarou for allowing the town to be fracked by him in exchange for her freedom. Geoff's face can be explained as his injuries not actually being as severe as initially thought while Chinnery's "curse" may not have actually been lifted, due to it only seemingly being so in the Christmas Special. However, dialogue in the Anniversary Specials indicates that the show's canon is still seperate to the film, such as nobody recognizing Edward & Tubbs, Tubbs not recognizing Papa Lazarou in the last episode, and Geoff's facial scarring.