What movies or TV series have you watched more than 5 times?
I know someone who never re-watches films or re-reads books because they know what’s going to happen. I told them they were missing out, because good writing rewards a re-watch. Subtleties, callbacks, brick jokes, references you missed first time because you were following the plot. Also, things you didn’t understand because you were twelve the first time you read Lord of the Rings (for example) and at fifty you have a much better sense of the world, how plot works, and you realise Sam is the real hero after all.
Some candidates
There’s few things I’ve seen as many as five times. They’d need to be quite old because, despite what I just said, I do think rewatching too frequently is not rewarding. And I think to qualify I’d need to have watched the whole thing.
This latter disqualifies Red Dwarf. I’m sure I’ve watched most of the first five series many times, especially when I was a student back in the early 90s. But from series 6 onwards there was a drop-off in quality and laughs. I watched 7 (I laughed once), some of 8 and haven’t seen much of any of the latter series.
I watch Taskmaster regularly, (and blog about it, and make t-shirts too) but I’ve not seen any of the episodes more than three times. There are nearly 200 of them, and they keep making new ones.
Spaced (1999-2001)
The TV series I’ve probably seen five times is Spaced, a sitcom centring around two 20-somethings, Daisy and Tim, who share a flat in a house alongside Marsha, their permanently sozzled landlady, and the artist Brian. We follow them as they learn to share a flat, cope with each other’s friends and fail to get their act together. This was two series, first shown in the early 00’s. Starring Jessica Hynes and Simon Pegg, who co-wrote the series with direction from Edgar Wright, saw the series as a reaction to the perfect ‘friends’ sitcoms that were prevalent at the time. A somewhat surreal series, the episode are dense and full of visual and verbal jokes, cultural references and call-backs.
The main cast are supported by some surprising one-off guest actors. The third episode Art features David Walliams as the conceptual artist Vulva1, a former artistic partner of Brian. This was the highlight of Walliam’s career.
We also get two-offs of Bill Bailey as Tim’s boss Bilbo Bagshot and Peter Serafinowicz as Tim’s love rival Dwayne, plus John Simm as a brief love interest of Daisy’s in the Matrix-inspired first episode of the second series. Reece Shearsmith gives a memorably unhinged performance as a Robot Wars rival, providing the only link between Spaced and Taskmaster.
Clue (1985)
This is the only film I’m sure I’ve seen at least five times. I’d have thought Star Wars (1977), since I saw it twice when it came out, but I’m sure I’ve only watched it through twice since then.
I may have seen Kind Hearts and Coronets many times, but I can’t be sure how many. This is a joyous film about the gentle art of murder, and I highly recommend it. Likewise, I may have hit the watch-count on Galaxy Quest and everyone’s favourite Christmas film, Die Hard.
So, Clue. Based on the board game Cluedo2, I first watched it in the 80s on telly. It’s a film with three endings, which I thing is unique. My memory from the first watch is that my dad loved it, especially ‘Ending C’, famous for the ‘Flames on the side of my head’ speech, and for the final line delivered by Michael McKean3, which absolutely tickled my dad.
Watching again a few years later, the cast and the ensemble performance grabbed my attention. Yes, that’s Tim Curry4. And Christopher Lloyd. We also have Lesley Ann Warren as Miss Scarlett (she was a late replacement for Carrie Fisher), Eileen Brennan giving a masterclass in how to waffle onscreen5 and a very brief appearance by Jane Wiedlin, who later featured as Miss Of Arc in Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure.
Watch count is at least five, going up to six at the weekend. Youngest child doesn’t know who Tim Curry is, and this is the most family-friendly film we have of his.
Now all we need to do is find a way of connecting the DVD player to the new telly…
- Her real name’s Ian. ↩︎
- Which is called Clue in the USA. ↩︎
- Who starred in another frequent watch, ‘This is Spinal Tap’. ↩︎
- I’ve only seen Rocky Horror three times. ↩︎
- Something Jessica Hynes is also brilliant at. ↩︎
