The Rise and Rise of Michael Rimmer

Billington once described this political satire as a kind of British Z, but after the subtlety of his first feature, Interlude, it seemed blunt and a bit pointless. Written and performed by a host of satirical talent, it chronicles the rise of a self-appointed business efficiency expert (Cook), who becomes an autocratic dictator by submitting every issue to national referendum. Somehow the jokes fall a bit thin, and the script can't make up its mind whether to go out for narrative or a string of weak sketches. Despite Cleese's script credit (along with Cook, Chapman and Billington), the writing is miles below Monty Python standard.