Magnus Reviews...Let Them Eat Cake (Patreon)

With so many television shows created every year, hundreds of channels giving us both new and ongoing series to watch, it can be quite bewildering at times to know just what is worthwhile investing your time in. A person has to be selective in this day and age with so much choice available. Let Them Eat Cake, a short-lived period comedy created by the BBC, is such a series, which makes the fact it has fallen into general obscurity an even greater shame to consider. 

The setting is France, 1782, seven years before the French Revolution and a growing dark cloud hangs over the country. In the palace of Versailles debauchery and corruption are rife and stirring up the murky waters is the most vile noblewoman of all; the Comtesse De Vache (Jennifer Saunders). Stalking the halls of the palace with her sex obsessed maid Lisette (Dawn French) and her barbed tongued coachman Bouffant (Adrian Scarborough) in tow, she gathers the darkest secrets of her fellow nobles to gain social power and dominance, all the while toadying up to the dim witted, Austrian pining Marie Antoinette (Elizabeth Berrington), who’s resigned man servant (Julian Rhind-Tutt) is constantly correcting her faulty French.

But it is not all plain sailing for the Comtesse De Vache. She is constantly at war with her rival, the Madame De Plonge (Alison Steadman), who is trying to scale the ladder to social success by (literally) getting one leg over the male members of the nobility. She is assisted at times by her daughter, the sweet and innocent Eveline De Plonge (Lucy Punch) who ironically also has one of the dirtiest mouths you will ever hear.

Let Them Eat Cake is just sheer fun with its well written barbs and catty side jabs. It is a wonderfully sharp comedy, one that drips with snappy one liners and sometimes crude yet never dull innuendos. Characters verbally parry, riposte, and deliver fatal words of scorn earning them a victory in the endless game of one-upmanship that is way of life in versailles. The setting is perfect for such an over-the-top historic comedy; the decadent heights of the French court saw it's power and wealth only matched by it’s outright abuses. The many different dresses and wigs the Comtesse goes through alone is staggering; the wardrobe department must have had their hands full to supply such a veritable arsenal of garments. The galleon wig is the crowning glory of the many pieces, something quite unlike anything you would have seen before.

French and Saunders are brilliant here and it is one of the few shows where they work exceptionally well together in. While there are some scenes in the French and Saunders comedy sketch show that come close to Let Them Eat Cake’s quality, most of their successes comes from their independent works, such as Vicar of Dibley (French) and Absolutely Fabulous (Saunders). Speaking of Absolutely Fabulous, one may notice some similarities between the characters that Saunders plays in both series although this is not necessarily a bad thing as the Comtesse would be a worthy adversary to the equally self-obsessed Edina (or even possibly a distant ancestor).

While the Comtesse and Lisette are a strong double act that are the core of the show, there are two other characters that at times steal the limelight right from underneath them; Bouffant and the Madame De Plonge. Bouffant is a good foil to his mistress and colleague, despairing at times at their antics in pursuit of gaining more dirty gossip and holding his own to his acid-tongued partners in crime. His verbal fencing match with his opposite number in Madame De Plonge’s camp in one of the palace's corridors as both mistresses demand the other’s party step aside is hilarious and full of quick handkerchief blows to the shoulders, a memorable highlight. 

The Madame De Plonge is a fine choice of rival for the Comtesse, a tenacious underdog scheming to drag her down by any means necessary. She is not afraid to use her sexual methods in this regard, ironically terrified her daughter will follow in her slutty footsteps. Alison Steadman is a brilliant actress who is quite believable as the vicious Madame and the show won’t be half as funny without her presence.

Considering all of these wonderful points, it remains a surprise to me that Let Them Eat Cake never seemed to find it's audience and in the end only six episodes of this comedy were made. I rate the quality and feel of Let Them Eat Cake to be comparable to that of Black Adder and Vicar of Dibley. It does perplex me, since there was scope to do more with the show's concept. Perhaps though in the brevity of Let Them Eat Cake's run there is a small silver lining; that it never becomes stale and each jest is as sharp as the others. I look back fondly then on this gem of a show and enjoy every time I get the chance to rewatch and if that isn't the perfect sign of a recommendation...;)

If you'd like to purchase a copy of the series head over to Amazon:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Let-Them-Eat-Cake-Complete/dp/B000KGGP6M

If you'd like to check out the series before buying there is a good quality playlist over on Youtube:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwHT6S3CnpEQDUKznWPLQ5y2klEvlUuhD