The Rebel
- TV sitcom
- Gold
- 2016 - 2017
- 9 episodes (2 series)
Sitcom starring Simon Callow as a rebellious pensioner. Also features Bill Paterson, Anita Dobson, Amit Shah, Anna Crilly and Vivian Oparah
Episode menu
Series 1, Episode 1 - Law
Further details
Henry visits his GP, Dr. McGill, but only at the insistence of his daughter Cath and under protest. He doesn't want to be there; he feels as fit as a fiddle, even though everyone keeps reminding him he's 70.
Dr. McGill diagnoses possible depression and Henry puts her blood pressure apparatus in her sharps bin when she's not looking. She prescribes anti-depressants which Henry refuses to take and he storms out.
Henry pays his daily visit to the charity shop run by Margaret. While trying on a waistcoat, his best friend Charles comes in looking for a stress toy for his gerbil. Henry buys him an old teddy bear which Margaret picks out. As she opens the till, a bearded thief steals its contents.
Henry gives chase, brandishing the teddy bear... Henry confronts the thief who tries to take the bear off him. Witnessed by PC Burns, the useless policeman accuses Henry of a homophobic attack. Henry assaults him with the teddy bear and is arrested.
Cath is furious and suggests he apologise to the nice policeman in the hope of just getting a caution. Infuriated, Henry decides to go on a rebellious rampage, setting fire to a cash point in a protest against the banks, smashing a supermarket window and desecrating a font.
He ends up in court. Determined to make his rebellious point he represents himself. Despite his best efforts to go to prison... the judge has other ideas. Adjourning to the judge's chambers he discovers they went to school together. The judge is determined to let Henry off for the sake of the old school's reputation. However, Henry has other ideas...
Broadcast details
- Date
- Wednesday 20th July 2016
- Time
- 10pm
- Channel
- Gold
- Length
- 40 minutes
Cast & crew
| Simon Callow | Henry Palmer |
| Bill Paterson | Charles |
| Anita Dobson | Margaret |
| Amit Shah | Jeremy |
| Anna Crilly | Cath |
| Doon Mackichan | Doctor McGill |
| Philip Cumbus | PC Burns |
| Nila Aalia | Jane |
| James Millard | Court Official |
| Simon Williams | Judge 'Scabby' Pawson |
| Clara Indrani | Ms Budaly for the Prosecution |
| Andrew Birch | Writer |
| Vadim Jean | Director |
| Vadim Jean | Producer |
| Simon Lupton | Executive Producer |
| Jon Rolph | Executive Producer |
| Tanya Qureshi | Executive Producer |
| Daniel Gethic | Editor |
| Adrian Smith | Production Designer |
| David Isaac Feldstein | Composer |
Videos
Remembering The Past
Henry and Charles chat.
Featuring: Simon Callow (Henry Palmer) & Bill Paterson (Charles).
Henry Attacks A Policeman
A policeman gets in the way of Henry's mission.
Featuring: Simon Callow (Henry Palmer), Nila Aalia (Jane), Philip Cumbus (PC Burns) & Doon Mackichan (Doctor McGill).
Press
In The Rebel we rubbed up against the ageing population again. This time in the form of 70-year-old anarchic ex-mod Henry Palmer, played with characteristic booming glee by Simon Callow. A new sitcom adapted by Private Eye cartoonist Andrew Birch from his own cartoon strip series, there were some nice spiky moments and lots of proper swearing and other mildly radical things that no British person can wholly dislike. Such as Palmer beating a police officer with a teddy bear, blowing up an ATM, smashing a shopping trolley into a supermarket, and shouting: "Gay, my arse!" while representing himself in court. Lots of deckchair smashing, Pink Floyd, and no mention of data whatsoever ensued. Some things don't change.
Chitra Ramaswamy, The Guardian, 21st July 2016Untimely new comedy courting the grey vote with the dubious premise of: "Here, when you're old, you're nobody." Simon Callow plays permanently furious baby-boomer Henry who, when not being menaced by faceless youths on skateboards, rails against any suggestion that he should act his age. The targets are soft (political correctness, fancy coffee shops) and the lead character isn't sympathetic enough to gain real traction. A Victor Meldrew for the post-Brexit era? No, thanks.
Phil Harrison, The Guardian, 20th July 2016The Rebel review
The key difference with The Rebel and One Foot In The Grave: Meldrew was battered by external forces driving him to distraction, but Palmer is the architect of his own fury. Plus you could never see Meldrew pogoing to The Jam in his living room.
Steve Bennett, Chortle, 20th July 2016These hot summer months are the dog days of TV schedules, with only a few new series starting. One noteworthy exception is Gold's The Rebel, a spikier, angrier One Foot In The Grave starring Simon Callow as an elderly ex-mod who never quite lost his appetite for seafront contretemps.
The language is on the ripe side of realistic, the scripts sometimes betray their cartoon origins - The Rebel started as a strip in The Oldie - and the dialogue given to Bill Paterson as Callow's ex-hippy pal is a bit on the clichéd side, but any show that lets old stagers like Callow, Paterson and former EastEnder Anita Dobson have this much fun is a good watch.
Michael Moran, BT, 20th July 2016