How The Fast Show influenced new Netflix crime caper

Guy Ritchie’s The Gentlemen is currently riding high at the top of the Netflix charts, but two of its characters are clearly influenced by the beloved British sketch series The Fast Show.

The Gentlemen is a new Netflix crime caper, spun off from Guy Ritchie‘s 2019 movie of the same name. The protagonist is Eddie Horniman (Theo James), an aristocrat who inherits the family estate when his father dies, little knowing that their comfortable lifestyle is being funded by crime.

It’s a fun series that’s filled with quirky characters, and oscillates between broad comedy and hardcore violence. But there’s heart hidden away in the narrative, and it’s provided by a pair of secondary characters that are reminiscent of two Fast Show favorites.

In The Gentlemen, it’s Eddie’s mother Lady Sabrina (Joely Richardson), and her Groundskeeper Geoffrey (Vinnie Jones). Early in proceedings, we catch fleeting conversations between the paair, with Geoffrey making little eye contact, and respectful of Sabrina’s loss. But as proceedings progress, you sense there’s a deeper bond between this mismatched duo from opposite sides of the class divide.

Living on the edge of the estate, Geoffrey is a man of few words, but his every glance and gesture speaks volumes. And gradually, what’s left unsaid starts to be spoken out loud, their romantic past bleeding into the present via the reveal of a shared secret that provides the show’s most touching moments.

How The Fast Show influenced The Gentlemen

All of which is a lot like ‘Ted and Ralph’ in The Fast Show. Played by Paul Whitehouse and Charlie Higson respectively, Ted is a groundsman of few words, who rarely makes eye contact. While Ralph is an aristocrat who has inherited his father’s estate, making him Ted’s boss.

Ralph is painfully shy, but engages in awkward conversations with Ted, through which it becomes clear he’s in love with his employee and friend. But for a variety of painful reasons, Ralph can’t express his feelings.

Much like The Gentlemen, Britain’s class divide keeps them apart — though here Ted’s own sexuality might also be an issue. Similarly, their conversations are less about words spoken, but what’s left unsaid; moments that are anchored by two understated performances that are filled with longing and regret.

Finally, these ‘Ted and Ralph’ sketches are source of The Fast Show’s most affecting moments, bringing a poignant pathos to the comedy that mirror similar scenes in The Gentlemen.

The Lady Chatterly connection

The parallels don’t stop there however, as D.H. Lawrence’s scandalous 1929 novel Lady Chatterly’s Lover also casts a shadow over Sabrina and Geoffrey’s forbidden romance.

In the book, the title character is an aristocrat whose embarks on an affair with her gamekeeper, Oliver Mellors. Meaning a major theme of the story is whether love can cross the class divide.

The novel has been adapted multiple times for stage and screen, but one of the most popular versions is a 1993 BBC series that starred Sean Bean as the groundsman, while Lady Chatterly was played by… Joely Richardson.

So with Guy Ritchie’s series playing out years after a seemingly similar affair, The Gentlemen could also be seen as a belated sequel to this literary classic.

The Gentlemen is now streaming on Netflix, while you can read our review of the series here.