Graham Norton - For Your Pleasure (VHS, 2002)

Graham Norton - For Your Pleasure is a compilation from 2002 that was released on VHS and DVD, capturing some of the best moments from his Channel 4 shows ‘So Graham Norton’ and ‘V Graham Norton’. Featuring a star-studded line up, and lots of adult humour, it’s determined to leave your face aching from laughing so much.

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I got this tape off Vinted, and it’s the kind of item I love to collect the most - something that documents social history in its existence, like a time capsule from the past. I’ve grown up with ‘The Graham Norton Show’, so I was surprised how explicit his older work was, most segments laden with sexual content. It seems he must have had to tone it down when crossing over to the BBC.

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One familiar face on this tape that was synonymous with the success of Graham’s earlier talk shows is Betty Hoskins, who first appeared in one of the mini-games on ‘So Graham Norton’, before becoming a series regular in the audience, often included in many jokes and skits. Betty was a dinner lady at Norton’s drama school, and passed on in 2019 at the age of 97.

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It was interesting to see popular faces of the time, like the ever graceful Sophia Loren, and Emma Chambers of ‘The Vicar Of Dibley’ that we lost in 2018. There are some great comedy sketches included, such as ‘Bender Like Beckham’ that parodies the famous footballer with the help of Gillian Taylforth as David Seaman. One surprise was ‘Poofy The Vampire Slayer’, starring Anthony Head himself as Giles - I had no idea this existed, and it reaffirms how so many of my choices in life are intuitive. We see Graham cosplay Buffy, as my favourite show gets plagued with hilarious innuendos, to the point where Anthony can’t contain his amusement.

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We get many stories from the audience, usually sexual mishaps, like one woman who was pleasuring her partner under the sheets, only to realise her Mum had brought the laundry in while they were keeping busy. We’re also reminded of other fixtures, like the dog phone Graham would use to call people, and the funny videos he’d play on his computer, which looks so retro now. He’d make a point of learning about niche fetishes, and finding food items with rude names. It’s a kind of tongue-in-cheek comedy I really enjoy, and I think it’s a shame his current show has been sanitised to reach a wider audience.

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The compilation is woven together with clips of Graham made up as an elderly man, thinking back on his younger days and the memories he made on these shows. There’s a handful of humour woven in about the joys of growing older, which does seem a bit crass but is fitting for the subject matter. I’m really glad to have found this tape and I’m excited to collect more like it in the future.

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It’s important to mention that whilst I’ve enjoyed exploring Graham’s earlier work, he continues to be complicit in the normalisation of Israel’s genocide against the Palestinian people, by offering his commentary on the Eurovision Song Contest each year while Israel are given a platform on the talent competition. I hope he divests from this role, whilst Eurovision continues to ignore the devastating consequences of Israel’s existence and it’s affirmation.