Press clippings

A look back at The Old Guys

There's a real sadness to watching The Old Guys now though for the obvious reasons that both Roger Lloyd-Pack and Clive Swift have both passed away.

The Comedy Blog, 9th October 2019

Actor Clive Swift dies aged 82

Actor and sitcom star Clive Swift has died at the age of 82.

British Comedy Guide, 1st February 2019

After inauspicious beginnings, this second series of the pleasant, harmless comedy about a couple of old codgers in Beckenham has warmed up. In this fifth episode, Tom (Roger Lloyd Pack) and Roy (Clive Swift) negotiate their only friend Sally's (Jane Asher) stay in hospital, which causes the two men at least as much trouble as it causes her after Tom is waylaid by vanity and Roy by his eagerness to please. Though the jokes are hardly risqué, it moves at pace, and Swift and Lloyd Pack have a snappy camaraderie.

Ed Cumming, The Telegraph, 6th August 2010

Ageing housemates Tom (Roger Lloyd Pack) and Roy (Clive Swift) continue to trade quick-fire gags in this old-fashioned sitcom. Tonight, Tom gets a surprise when Sally (Jane Asher) turns up asking to use the shower - "God has answered my mad prayer" - but before long she's moving in for the week, causing the men predictable grief.

Chris Harvey, The Telegraph, 30th July 2010

Roy and Tom's wildest dreams actually come true tonight when Sally (Jane Asher) temporarily moves into their house. She's having her bathroom repaired and how can they refuse a damsel in distress? Simon Blackwell has written a gem of an episode as the pair of them go all-out to impress Sally with their five-star hospitality.

Annoyingly though, Sally seems far more interested this week in going off on exciting day trips with cafe owner Rajan (Vincent Ebrahim) who also fancies his chances. It's a simple set-up packed with memorable one-liners. But funniest of all perhaps is Roy (Clive Swift) serving up giant-sized cheese straws, and his rather adorable attempts to avoid hearing any news during the day.

Jane Simon, The Mirror, 30th July 2010

The second series continues of this hybrid of Men Behaving Badly and The Odd Couple. As usual, schoolboyish OAPs Tom (Roger Lloyd Pack) and Roy (Clive Swift) are trying to attract the same woman, Sally (Jane Asher). Roy mocks Tom's flirting technique thus: "That's your pretend laugh. I thought you were choking." I gave a few pretend laughs myself, but some real ones, too.

The Telegraph, 16th July 2010

Jane Asher, Cherie Lunghi and, this week, Tessa Wyatt - the woman who once broke Tony Blackburn's heart. Well, we can see what Roy and Tom's type is when it comes to women: middle-class, actressy types with lovely vowels and no interest in either Roy or Tom.

Having finally accepted that they don't stand a chance with their neighbour Sally, this week the pair decide to break their addiction to her by meeting other women.

As they both end up on the same date with the same woman, the comedy is as corny and predictable as ever, but it's carried along by Roger Lloyd Pack and Clive Swift's considerable boyish charm.

Jane Simon, The Mirror, 16th July 2010

Written by Peep Show creators Sam Bain and Jesse Armstrong, with assistance from Simon Blackwell, The Old Guys is a reasonably successful attempt at fitting their "edgy" comic sensibilities - they also contribute to The Thick of It - within a more traditional mainstream framework.

Amusing, lively and nicely performed, this comedy about mismatched OAPs, played by sitcom stalwarts Roger Lloyd-Pack and Clive Swift, has improved since its first series.

Lloyd-Pack in particular looks far more comfortable, and hogs all the best lines as a feckless old hippie.

While the similarities to Peep Show, in terms of dialogue and characterisation, are still distracting, The Old Guys has an agreeable charm of its own. Ignore the woeful My Family which goes out before it: the mainstream sitcom is far from dead.

Paul Whitelaw, The Scotsman, 13th July 2010

What at first glance appeared to be an unpromising hybrid of Grumpy Old Men and One Foot in the Grave has turned out to be rather an endearing sitcom, which is back for a second series starting tonight. The two central characters, played by veterans Roger Lloyd Pack (instantly recognisable as Trigger from Only Fools and Horses, despite the shaggy grey hair and stubble) and Clive Swift (aka Mr Hyacinth Bucket) are not simply crotchety, they're also randy, caustic, competitive and mean - the opening scene finds them eating stale rice cakes with tomato purée for breakfast because they're in deadlock about whose turn it is to do the "big shop". Writers Sam Bain and Jesse Armstrong previously created the Channel 4 odd-couple comedy Peep Show, so they're skilled at creating awkward scenarios, but it is the casual banter between Tom (Lloyd Pack), a sarcastic one-time rock'n'roller, and Roy (Swift), a peevish wannabe sophisticate, that makes the show. The best moment in this opening episode comes when the two of them attempt to impress a sexy new librarian (Cherie Lunghi) with their choice of reading material. Tom opts for Madame Bovary, a DIY manual and a book about improving sexual technique. "She's going to think I'm a sensitive, practical guy who's good in bed," he boasts. "Or possibly a suicidal self-abuser whose shelves are falling down," Roy retorts. OK, so it's not Seinfeld, but it's worth a look.

Sam Richards, The Telegraph, 9th July 2010

The Old Guys get back on the bus (for free, presumably) for a second series. Written by Peep Show's Sam Bain and Jesse Armstrong with The Thick of It writer Simon Blackwell and a cast that includes Clive Swift, Roger Lloyd Pack, Katherine Parkinson and Jane Asher, it oozes class. Series one perhaps didn't quite live up to expectations, but really warmed up over the six episodes. Let's hope that continues with tonight's first episode, as the pair try to win a pub quiz.

The Guardian, 9th July 2010