Armstrong & Miller on their wartime pilots and old age clubbing

Oct 11 2009 by Roz Laws, Sunday Mercury

“THAT Vera Lynn, she’s well fit”. “You like, crashed your plane, isn’t it?”. “You can’t actually stop me cussing because I’ve got a hyperactivity disorder, I’ve got a note and everything.”

These are just a few lines from one of the best comic creations of recent times – the World War Two pilots from Armstrong & Miller, who talk in teen speak.

The good news is that they are returning for the comics’ new series.

The inspiration for them came from a writer who heard two teenagers talking at the back of a bus. What makes it funny is the comparison between 19-year-olds today and teens who were risking their lives in the war.

Alexander Armstrong says: “The pilots highlight how our generation has evolved into this terrible state of self-regarding compensation culture, from the selflessness of the previous generation.

“Our pilots have a whole list of disorders they suffer from, which somehow should excuse them from any responsibility. Notes from their mum, asthma, learning difficulties...it’s a wonderful performance piece but a nightmare to learn.”

New characters include The White Devil, a self-important ex-pat in Africa and Jilted Jim, dumped at the altar but still on his honeymoon and ruining the lives of other newlyweds.

Ben Miller says: “I play a new character called The Old Clubber, who’s one of my favourites. I feel a bit like him on the rare occasion I go out, actually. He’s that forty-something-year-old who’s dancing away and having a great time even though everyone around him is about 20 years younger. In each sketch he’s raving away before he’s recognised by a junior employee or a friend of one of his children, so he starts trying to give out fatherly advice but has taken a whole lot of drugs and starts gurning uncontrollably!”

The Armstrong & Miller Show, BBC1, Friday, 9.30pm