History Main / AwfulBritishSexComedy

During TheSeventies, when [[{{Fanservice}} sex and nudity]] in mainstream films were at their height and the boundary between soft-core porn and mainstream was blurred, the UK film industry's main product, aside from big-screen BritCom adaptations, consisted of low-budget comedies with sexual themes featuring a great deal of nudity and slapstick. Modern viewers almost universally agree that these were flat-out ''awful'' films, but some [[SoBadItsGood enjoy them anyway]]. David McGillivray, in his 1992 history of the genre, ''Doing Rude Things'', opines that the popularity of these films was an outgrowth of Victorian-era attitudes toward sex among Britons which made people uncomfortable discussing matters sexual unless in a comedic context.

During TheSeventies, when [[{{Fanservice}} sex and nudity]] in mainstream films were at their height and the boundary between soft-core porn and mainstream was blurred, the UK film industry's main product, aside from big-screen BritCom adaptations, consisted of low-budget comedies with sexual themes featuring a great deal of nudity and slapstick. Modern viewers almost universally agree that these were flat-out ''awful'' films, but some [[SoBadItsGood enjoy them anyway]].

[[quoteright:171:[[Film/ConfessionsOfAWindowCleaner https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/coawc_2311.jpg]]]]

Most famous was the [[Film/ConfessionsOfASeries "Confessions of a..." Series]], four films entitled ''Confessions... of a Window Cleaner, of a Driving Instructor, of a Pop Performer'' and ''from a Holiday Camp'', all of which followed the misadventures of "lovable" loser Timmy Lea (to quote the theme tune from the first episode "You're really not a loser, you just find it hard to win") as he bungles his way through a series of jobs set up for him by his brother-in-law, Sid Noggett, who happened to be played by the future father-in-law of former British Prime Minister UsefulNotes/TonyBlair. At every turn, Sid and Timmy attempt to have sex with every young woman they meet, often [[ThePornomancer successfully]]. Subplots include Sid's stormy marriage and Timmy's Dad's habit of stealing things from the lost property office where he works.

During TheSeventies, when [[{{Fanservice}} sex and nudity]] in mainstream films were at their height and the boundary between soft-core porn and mainstream was blurred, the UK film industry's main product, aside from big-screen BritCom adaptations, consisted of low-budget comedies with sexual themes featuring a great deal of nudity and slapstick. Modern viewers almost universally agree that these were [[SoBadItsHorrible flat-out ''awful'' films]], but some [[SoBadItsGood enjoy them anyway]].

During TheSeventies, when [[{{Fanservice}} sex and nudity]] in mainstream films were at their height and the boundary between soft-core porn and mainstream was blurred, the UK film industry's main product, aside from big-screen BritCom adaptations, consisted of low-budget comedies with sexual themes featuring a great deal of nudity and slapstick. Modern viewers almost universally agree that these were flat-out ''awful'' films, but some [[SoBadItsGood enjoy them anyway]].

Most famous was the Film/ConfessionsOfASeries, four films entitled ''Confessions... of a Window Cleaner, of a Driving Instructor, of a Pop Performer'' and ''from a Holiday Camp'', all of which followed the misadventures of "lovable" loser Timmy Lea (to quote the theme tune from the first episode "You're really not a loser, you just find it hard to win") as he bungles his way through a series of jobs set up for him by his brother-in-law, Sid Noggett, who happened to be played by the future father-in-law of former British Prime Minister UsefulNotes/TonyBlair. At every turn, Sid and Timmy attempt to have sex with every young woman they meet, often [[ThePornomancer successfully]]. Subplots include Sid's stormy marriage and Timmy's Dad's habit of stealing things from the lost property office where he works.

Other similar films were made at about the same time, including the derivative "Adventures" series, one episode of which, ''Adventures of a Taxi Driver'' is said to have out-performed Creator/MartinScorsese's ''Film/TaxiDriver'' at the British box office; if true, this says a horrible thing about British culture in the '70s [[note]]The page image, ''Confessions of a Window Cleaner'' notoriously knocked Disney classic ''Disney/TheAristocats'' off the number one spot of the most popular film of 1974[[/note]]. Established comedy series, such as ''Film/{{Carry On|series}}'', also converged with this type of film during TheSeventies.

* BasedOnAGreatBigLie: The ''Confessions'' films were based on a long series of ''True Confessions of Timothy Lea'' books available from cheap paperback racks, all supposedly written by Lea himself as true accounts of his adventures (actually by Christopher Wood, who also wrote the screenplays, and whose Wiki/{{Wikipedia}} bibliography actually specifies "excluding pseudonymous humorous erotica"). Wood was also responsible for the equally fictional ''True Confessons of Rosie Dixon'' books, the first of which was adapted into the film ''Rosie Dixon -- Night Nurse''.

Most famous was the Film/ConfessionsOfASeries, four films entitled ''Confessions... of a Window Cleaner, of a Driving Instructor, of a Pop Performer'' and ''from a Holiday Camp'', all of which followed the misadventures of "lovable" loser Timmy Lea (to quote the theme tune from the first episode "You're really not a loser, you just find it hard to win") as he bungles his way through a series of jobs set up for him by his brother-in-law, Sid Noggett, who happened to be played by the future father-in-law of former British Prime Minister UsefulNotes/TonyBlair. At every turn, Sid and Timmy attempt to have sex with every young woman they meet, often successfully. Subplots include Sid's stormy marriage and Timmy's Dad's habit of stealing things from the lost property office where he works.

A notable TV example of this genre is ''Series/TheBennyHillShow'', a long-running {{Britcom}} that ran for 20 series[[note]]The British telly equivalent of a show's TV season; for example, Series 1 would be the British equivalent of Season 1, etc.[[/note]] from 1969 to 1989, which is notable for two things: Creator/BennyHill's slapstick antics, which would usually result in a woman hitting him even whe contact was accidental, and getting ChasedOffIntoTheSunset with such a closing sequence involving "Yakety Sax", the wacky, fast-paced closing theme played by Boots Randolph on the saxophone.

Most famous was the Film/ConfessionsOfASeries, four films entitled ''Confessions... of a Window Cleaner, of a Driving Instructor, of a Pop Performer'' and ''from a Holiday Camp'', all of which followed the misadventures of "lovable" loser Timmy Lea (to quote the theme tune from the first episode "You're really not a loser, you just find it hard to win") as he bungles his way through a series of jobs set up for him by his brother-in-law, Sid Noggett, who happened to be played by the future father-in-law of a British Prime Minister. At every turn, Sid and Timmy attempt to have sex with every young woman they meet, often successfully. Subplots include Sid's stormy marriage and Timmy's Dad's habit of stealing things from the lost property office where he works.

Referenced in an episode of ''Series/StElsewhere'', where one of the patients revealed that he had -- ahem -- performed in them. He insisted that they were really quite funny.

Most famous was the "Film/ConfessionsOfA" series, four films entitled ''Confessions...'' ''of a Window Cleaner, of a Driving Instructor, of a Pop Performer'' and ''from a Holiday Camp'', all of which followed the misadventures of "lovable" loser Timmy Lea (to quote the theme tune from the first episode "You're really not a loser, you just find it hard to win") as he bungles his way through a series of jobs set up for him by his brother-in-law, Sid Noggett, who happened to be played by the future father-in-law of a British Prime Minister. At every turn, Sid and Timmy attempt to have sex with every young woman they meet, often successfully. Subplots include Sid's stormy marriage and Timmy's Dad's habit of stealing things from the lost property office where he works.

* BasedOnAGreatBigLie: The ''Confessions'' films were based on a long series of ''True Confessions of Timothy Lea'' books available from cheap paperback racks, all supposedly written by Lea himself as true accounts of his adventures (actually by Christopher Wood, who also wrote the screenplays, and whose Wikipedia bibliography actually specifies "excluding pseudonymous humorous erotica"). Wood was also responsible for the equally fictional ''True Confessons of Rosie Dixon'' books, the first of which was adapted into the film ''Rosie Dixon -- Night Nurse''.

Other similar films were made at about the same time, including the derivative "Adventures" series, one episode of which, ''Adventures of a Taxi Driver'' is said to have out-performed Creator/MartinScorsese's ''Film/TaxiDriver'' at the British box office; if true, this says a horrible thing about British culture in the '70s [[note]]The page image, ''Confessions of a Window Cleaner'' notoriously knocked Disney classic ''Disney/TheAristocats'' off the number one spot of popular film of 1974[[/note]]. Established comedy series, such as ''Film/{{Carry On|series}}'', also converged with this type of film during TheSeventies.

Other similar films were made at about the same time, including the derivative "Adventures" series, one episode of which, ''Adventures of a Taxi Driver'' is said to have out-performed Creator/MartinScorsese's ''Film/TaxiDriver'' at the British box office; if true, this says a horrible thing about British culture in the '70s. Established comedy series, such as ''Film/{{Carry On|series}}'', also converged with this type of film during TheSeventies.

All the films of this type were cheap, cheerful and cheesy. They also showed considerably more flesh and considerably less morality than modern {{sex comed|y}}ies. For example, remember how, at the end of ''Film/AmericanPie 2'', our hero turns down the beautiful foreign student who has already [[FanService got her tits out]] and runs off after the band geek whom he has just realized he really loves? Timmy Lea would have shagged the foreign girl, then said , "Ta very much, love. Cheerio!" and ''then'' ran off after the band geek. And the shag would have been on camera.

Other similar films were made at about the same time, including the derivative "Adventures" series, one episode of which, ''Adventures of a Taxi Driver'' is said to have out-performed Creator/MartinScorsese's ''Film/TaxiDriver'' at the British box office; if true, this says a horrible thing about British culture in the '70s. Established comedy series, such as ''Film/CarryOn'', also converged with this type of film during TheSeventies.

Other similar films were made at about the same time, including the derivative "Adventures" series, one episode of which, ''Adventures of a Taxi Driver'' is said to have out-performed Creator/MartinScorsese's ''TaxiDriver'' at the British box office; if true, this says a horrible thing about British culture in the '70s. Established comedy series, such as ''Film/CarryOn'', also converged with this type of film during TheSeventies.

All the films of this type were cheap, cheerful and cheesy. They also showed considerably more flesh and considerably less morality than modern {{sex comed|y}}ies. For example, remember how, at the end of ''AmericanPie 2'', our hero turns down the beautiful foreign student who has already [[FanService got her tits out]] and runs off after the band geek whom he has just realized he really loves? Timmy Lea would have shagged the foreign girl, then said , "Ta very much, love. Cheerio!" and ''then'' ran off after the band geek. And the shag would have been on camera.

Most famous was the "Film/ConfessionsOfA" series, four films entitled ''Confessions...'' ''of a Window cleaner, of a Driving Instructor, of a Pop Performer'' and ''from a Holiday Camp''. All of which followed the misadventures of "lovable" loser Timmy Lea (to quote the theme tune from the first episode "You're really not a loser, you just find it hard to win") as he bungles his way through a series of jobs set up for him by his brother-in-law, Sid Noggett, who happened to be played by the future father-in-law of a British Prime Minister. At every turn, Sid and Timmy attempt to have sex with every young woman they meet. Often successfully. Subplots include Sid's stormy marriage and Timmy's Dad's habit of stealing things from the lost property office where he works.

Referenced in an episode of ''StElsewhere'', where one of the patients revealed that he had -- ahem -- performed in them. He insisted that they were really quite funny.

[[quoteright:171:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/coawc_2311.jpg]]

Most famous was the "Confessions" series, four films entitled ''Confessions...'' ''of a Window cleaner, of a Driving Instructor, of a Pop Performer'' and ''from a Holiday Camp''. All of which followed the misadventures of "lovable" loser Timmy Lea (to quote the theme tune from the first episode "You're really not a loser, you just find it hard to win") as he bungles his way through a series of jobs set up for him by his brother-in-law, Sid Noggett, who happened to be played by the future father-in-law of a British Prime Minister. At every turn, Sid and Timmy attempt to have sex with every young woman they meet. Often successfully. Subplots include Sid's stormy marriage and Timmy's Dad's habit of stealing things from the lost property office where he works.

[[quoteright:171:[[Film/ConfessionsOfAWindowCleaner http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/coawc_2311.jpg]]]]

Laden with tropes, including:

[[quoteright:171:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/coawc_2311.jpg]]