Two of the pioneers of modern satire a. A generation which took on the establishment with TW3 in 1963 and are still relevant sixty years later. RIP John & John.
Bird and Fortune were not involved with That Was The Week That Was but were together on the two:sequel series after the 1964 General Election, Not So Much a Programme, More A Way of Life and an easier to remember title BBC3 (no connection with the digital channel). Both only had one season each in 1964 and 1965. These satirised the Harold Wilson admin, which Labour had only a wafer thin majority T he trouble prone McMillan Douglas-Home admins which were satire gold dust had even replaced by a Labour government which called an election in 1966 in order to boost their majority Of course Wilson was the target of satirists eventually!
RIP John Bird, go hunt out, John Fortune, have an utter another lifetime, of making each other giggle . I loved you both immensely. You gave me, so much happy , when my life was very sad. Bless you both , I loved you both immensely. Thank you for your silly , needed it and I loved it . You kept me going , thank you xxx
I worked in the NHS for thirty years. I recall wards being closed, a&e departments being shut down, streamlining the system, as we had to save six million pounds immediately. There was a massive CIP (cost improvement plan),. They closed my ward and sold it privately to save three hundred thousand. As I was then a ward manager without a ward, they dumped me into a imaginary job to liaise on a project to computerise patient records. The project lasted a year and the private sector company, Oasis, was paid three million pounds to deliver a useless system that couldn't do the most basic functions. It was scrapped after eight months. Three million shovelled into the drain. The wards are still closed.
So good to hear from someone who experienced the fatuous policies of a Tory government that probably loathed the concept of a national health system, for all its faults.
They did their research - this satire was absolutely, UNCANNILY spot-on. NPfIT was just a big national shopping list of kit and vapour-ware, with no prior planning for how it would be got into use, and the implementation costs dumped on the poor saps running the local operations. And the big consultancy companies swooped in like vampires to a kill and interposed themselves between national and local, so neither knew what the f**k was going on. Which of course, didn't matter as long as the gravy kept flowing....
Coincidentally, that's one of the pillars of making money. If the "financial positive source" don't understand what's going on or what they're paying for, they won't be brave enough to interfere with the transactions.
@@philipcamp1370 Yes! and it is a reminder of the saying that runs: "A failure is a guy who has made mistakes, but is not able to cash in on the experience". The saying is as applicable to countries and to Governments as it is to individuals.
@@falfield public money is consistently wasted in the uk . The ajax light tank the nimrod early warning plane . The NHS Computer system around 2008 . That was around 8 to 10 billion . We don't have proper oversight and accountability .
@@spiffenage1 Wells died as well. R.I.P. Excellent as actor writer and satirist worked many times with the Bird and Fortune but not exclusive. They did a few sketches and other ‘Long Johns’ versions were just Fortune and Bird like The Last Laugh. Wells did ‘Denis’ and was Bond’s Q’s assistant 🤣 As a long term private eye sub his writing is recognised there.
@@spiffenage1 Not at all. You highlighting Wells shows the talent from these guys and their losses. Saw lots of their sketches and tv series and makes us realise very little has changes on the political scene. Would be good to have seen them with scenes about Covid and current Brexit and Just Stop Oil etc. I can imagine that! 🤣👍
I loved John Fortune, he was a legend. Such a shame he died. I always enjoyed watching Bremner Bird and Fortune whenever I could, and I loved Rory's impressions of Tony Blair (with those funny teeth he (Rory) used to put in to impersonate Blair!). I wish there were more quality programmes on television, like this.
Sad to hear of the death of John Bird🙏🙏🙏😢😢 I remember back in the 80’s watching these on TV Proper satire with the 3 of them I did not realise John was 86 I would have said 76 but time flies 😀😀😁😁🤩🤩👍 👍 ❤️❤️🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🏴🏴🏴🏴
In 2022, one of the new On-line patient record systems used by my local health authority is called "Patients Know Best ",. This seems to be a system run by a third- party entity outwith the NHS and yet it has access to part of my NHS record. I don't believe I gave my permission for PKB to access my records. As a patient, I only found out about its existence by accident, due to a reference to it in a text I received during treatment. I received no advance notification of its introduction either as a potential client of the NHS residing in this Health District or as a new patient. Consequently, I was not trained in its use. In some cases, data entered on the Patients Know Best system does not appear to be read across to the other on-line patient record system operated by this Health District. This other system is again accessible by the patient, but nobody told me of its existence or instructed me in its use and I only discovered it whilst pursuing enquiries about the Patients Know Best system. These systems are important to the patient in that they hold details of appointments, correspondence, treatments, consultations, medications and other details of concern to the patient and, although, much of this information is also made available to the patient in the form of hard copy letters and reports, it really comes into its own when the paperwork is delayed or goes missing . . as has happened to me on a couple of occasions this year. When this has happened previously, my GP has been able to access a copy of my electronic records that are available to him and issue a replacement hard copy to me.However, I'm not sure he is able to access the Patients Know Best Service. Further, I suspect that recently, the Patients Know Best system has been used to hide notifications to patients . . from the patients, in the possible hope that they won't find them in circumstances where the paper duplicate promised appears not to have been issued. Very strange bureaucratic behaviour.
Such a prophetic sketch. I went for a pre-operation chat in January 2022, which duplicated almost exactly the information I had entered online in November. I asked why, and the nurse had to say that the information I had entered (on one computer system) couldn't be transferred to the system used by Sheffield Hospitals.
2 documentaries ''The Great NHS Heist'' ( Dr Bob Gill ) & ''The Dirty War on the NHS'' ( John Pilger ) - plus the 2 minute 39 second movie clip ''bulworth'' by Raven Van.
oh yes it has. it's worse today because crookery is in government and crookery & greed is now bold and in your face... no attempt to present it as anything else.
As someone who worked in the Civil Service with computers commissioned by managers and ministers who would struggle to grasp the concept of "Pong", from IT consultants who had no interest at all in what the systems were to be used for, without any consultation with the poor saps who'd have to try to do their jobs with the wretched systems, I can say this is absolutely spot on. There was only one system I ever used that worked properly and that was one where the managers for that area of work had all done the job themselces and told the IT people exactly what was required and that they wouldn't sign it off until it did that. The Civil Service is in the poor state it's in because it is run by managers who were promoted beyond their levels of competence , answerable to ministers who don't know or care what about anything other than their careers, commissioning work from private companies who only see the chance to make some easy money.
It's 2023 and this sketch is as relevant today as it was in 2004. Nothing has changed with the same government clowns ,civil servants and NHS managers totally incapable in running anything. RIP John Bird and John Fortune
The Observer reports, today in Jan 2023, the NHS regions are suggesting with,posters on display that patients pay for the treatment or tests they urgently want instead of hanging around on a months long waiting list…effectively a 2 tier NHS.
Channel 4, Saturday evening. about twenty past seven instead of Noel Edmonds on the other side. Funnily enough I don't think about all the politics, I just think about their partnership. Sorely missed.
Funny but so true, It was decided in the eighties to privatize and the result was that much of the technical expertise that was present in various sectors was lost or outsourced. The government then relied on private consultants who sole purpose seemed to be to screw the government for as much as they could and often left the government with systems that overran the original cost and often never worked and had to be abandoned.
I was told, many years ago by some one in the know, that in order to win a bid for the contract for a government IT project, you needed to have previously won a bid for a government IT project. Which explains why the company that fucked up the last government IT project gets awarded the contract to fuck up the next government IT project.
Things haven't changed all that much since 2004. Except that the eurosceptic is now in the driving seat. Of the bus. Which is on the wrong side of the road.
Art imitating reality. The Establishment dorks propagating the "clap for the NHS" nonsense should be force fed this satire in a padded cell 24/7 to understand how nothing about the crappy NHS has changed, and that in 2023, it might well kill you before it has time to cure. Here is one show I really miss. RIP the two of you legends.
RIP John Fortunę and John Bird: comic genius's both. This hilarious sketch is horribly prescient given the current shambles in the NHS, Border Force, railways, postal service ad infinitum....
as true now in 2023 as it was then, but the numbers are of course much bigger now. Plus the fact that one no longer has to try to hide this kind of criminal activity, as we now have the concept of 'public service for private profit', plus you can lie and deceive as much as you want, as there's no responsibility or accountability - true utopia, but not for ordinary tax aying folks.
Love these guys! Sadly truth is stranger than fiction - and under the egregious Tories, the reality in Britain has far outstripped anything made up here... :(
A sketch on food moderation consumption and finacial edu . Use internatoonal liaunguage on a person whom sang fir ww2 trooos and bombed victims. The lsnguage csn be jurustructions of nation
Two brilliant performers. And now, both gone. But always remembered. Simply because they told us the truth.
totally agree - the George Parr plus interviever segments were always a highlight
}
@@theeviljames❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤
RIP John Bird. A brilliantly funny man.
Still painfully relevant today. RIP
Sadly so.
😢absolutely CORRECT and true
Two of the pioneers of modern satire a. A generation which took on the establishment with TW3 in 1963 and are still relevant sixty years later. RIP John & John.
Bird and Fortune were not involved with That Was The Week That Was but were together on the two:sequel series after the 1964 General Election, Not So Much a Programme, More A Way of Life and an easier to remember title BBC3 (no connection with the digital channel). Both only had one season each in 1964 and 1965. These satirised the Harold Wilson admin, which Labour had only a wafer thin majority T he trouble prone McMillan Douglas-Home admins which were satire gold dust had even replaced by a Labour government which called an election in 1966 in order to boost their majority Of course Wilson was the target of satirists eventually!
RIP John Bird, go hunt out, John Fortune, have an utter another lifetime, of making each other giggle . I loved you both immensely. You gave me, so much happy , when my life was very sad. Bless you both , I loved you both immensely. Thank you for your silly , needed it and I loved it . You kept me going , thank you xxx
Brilliant! John Bird passed away yesterday. RIP. They will be missed.
I only found out yesterday. So sad.
Only found out he had some really hard years, too.
I loved Absolute Power
I worked in the NHS for thirty years. I recall wards being closed, a&e departments being shut down, streamlining the system, as we had to save six million pounds immediately. There was a massive CIP (cost improvement plan),. They closed my ward and sold it privately to save three hundred thousand. As I was then a ward manager without a ward, they dumped me into a imaginary job to liaise on a project to computerise patient records.
The project lasted a year and the private sector company, Oasis, was paid three million pounds to deliver a useless system that couldn't do the most basic functions. It was scrapped after eight months. Three million shovelled into the drain.
The wards are still closed.
So good to hear from someone who experienced the fatuous policies of a Tory government that probably loathed the concept of a national health system, for all its faults.
Yes, but bottomless pit insists it is good value for money.
They did their research - this satire was absolutely, UNCANNILY spot-on. NPfIT was just a big national shopping list of kit and vapour-ware, with no prior planning for how it would be got into use, and the implementation costs dumped on the poor saps running the local operations. And the big consultancy companies swooped in like vampires to a kill and interposed themselves between national and local, so neither knew what the f**k was going on. Which of course, didn't matter as long as the gravy kept flowing....
Coincidentally, that's one of the pillars of making money. If the "financial positive source" don't understand what's going on or what they're paying for, they won't be brave enough to interfere with the transactions.
Another expensive british waste of money .......... been here before .
@@philipcamp1370 Yes! and it is a reminder of the saying that runs: "A failure is a guy who has made mistakes, but is not able to cash in on the experience".
The saying is as applicable to countries and to Governments as it is to individuals.
@@falfield public money is consistently wasted in the uk . The ajax light tank the nimrod early warning plane . The NHS Computer system around 2008 . That was around 8 to 10 billion . We don't have proper oversight and accountability .
@@philipcamp1370 Not British.
This rang true 18 years ago and nothing seems to have changed!
It's getting worse.
This is so similar in Ireland. Hse ran thier entire system on windows 7@bermudarailway
In Ireland nothing is computerised
R.I.P. The Long Johns ❤️ Watch all their clips and you realise how relevant their satire is today! Brilliant minds. 🥰
The Long Johns were Bird, Fortune and John Wells, who impersonated Dennis Thatcher
@@spiffenage1 Wells died as well. R.I.P. Excellent as actor writer and satirist worked many times with the Bird and Fortune but not exclusive. They did a few sketches and other ‘Long Johns’ versions were just Fortune and Bird like The Last Laugh. Wells did ‘Denis’ and was Bond’s Q’s assistant 🤣 As a long term private eye sub his writing is recognised there.
@@bluecarefreeforever John Wells died in 1998 I should have emphasized that in my post.
@@spiffenage1 Not at all. You highlighting Wells shows the talent from these guys and their losses. Saw lots of their sketches and tv series and makes us realise very little has changes on the political scene. Would be good to
have seen them with scenes about Covid and current Brexit and Just Stop Oil etc. I can imagine that! 🤣👍
@@spiffenage1
I’m still trying to find on RUclips
Anyone for Dennis and
Dunrulin with John Wells and Angela Thorne as MT.
One of the best performances from John Fortune. Absolutely superb. These two are/were legends.
Perfect script and delivery. These two masters matched one another perfectly. PIP John Fortune and John Bird.
They were not scripted!
R.I.P Mr Bird & Fortune. Pure geniuses ❤️❤️🙏
The big flaw with these interviews is that no politician would be as open and honest in their answers.
That's what made them funny is how proud they where over what they achieved
That was in fact the whole point of them
Loved their sketches, but it's a bit depressing looking back how accurate all this was.
I loved John Fortune, he was a legend. Such a shame he died. I always enjoyed watching Bremner Bird and Fortune whenever I could, and I loved Rory's impressions of Tony Blair (with those funny teeth he (Rory) used to put in to impersonate Blair!). I wish there were more quality programmes on television, like this.
Good memory. I didn't realise he had passed away
So relevant today and very close to the truth wish they had been here to comment today
18 years old and yet oddly contemporary...
Well watching this in 2022 nothing changes
Two absolute geniuses, RIP satire.
Sad to hear yesterday of John Bird's death. This was 5 star satire comedy.
Miss these guys so much. Irreplaceable!
Two geniuses at the top of their game. Should be mandatory in schools so that pupils get an insight into how the UK is.
Not only UK
What a trip down memory lane… good days these…. RIP to the legend
And Rest In Peace the NHS.....
@@oliveringram3056 well the man you started dismembering the NHS is now chancellor so I guess,, RIP the country in a few months I guess 🥵
Sad to hear of the death of John Bird🙏🙏🙏😢😢
I remember back in the 80’s watching these on TV
Proper satire with the 3 of them
I did not realise John was 86
I would have said 76 but time flies
😀😀😁😁🤩🤩👍 👍 ❤️❤️🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🏴🏴🏴🏴
Every IT manager I've ever worked for.......
These were brilliant. I used to put the cassette on during my ling drives. Very funny. Classic
Britain is good to satirize because there is so much to satirize as in this third world country.
Satirical legends
so funny, I love these interviews
10 years ago!!! They are just but only just beginning a little with this.
I worked with a guy that tried to validate these Nationalised IT systems, similar to what we have in the Pharmaceutical industry. Never happened.
In 2022, one of the new On-line patient record systems used by my local health authority is called "Patients Know Best ",. This seems to be a system run by a third-
party entity outwith the NHS and yet it has access to part of my NHS record. I don't believe I gave my permission for PKB to access my records.
As a patient, I only found out about its existence by accident, due to a reference to it in a text I received during treatment. I received no advance notification of its introduction either as a potential client of the NHS residing in this Health District or as a new patient. Consequently, I was not trained in its use.
In some cases, data entered on the Patients Know Best system does not appear to be read across to the other on-line patient record system operated by this Health District. This other system is again accessible by the patient, but nobody told me of its existence or instructed me in its use and I only discovered it whilst pursuing enquiries about the Patients Know Best system.
These systems are important to the patient in that they hold details of appointments, correspondence, treatments, consultations, medications and other details of concern to the patient and, although, much of this information is also made available to the patient in the form of hard copy letters and reports, it really comes into its own when the paperwork is delayed or goes missing . . as has happened to me on a couple of occasions this year.
When this has happened previously, my GP has been able to access a copy of my electronic records that are available to him and issue a replacement hard copy to me.However, I'm not sure he is able to access the Patients Know Best Service.
Further, I suspect that recently, the Patients Know Best system has been used to hide notifications to patients . . from the patients, in the possible hope that they won't find them in circumstances where the paper duplicate promised appears not to have been issued. Very strange bureaucratic behaviour.
They don’t make them like this anymore.
Safe travels, gentlemen.
Their facial expressions😂😂😂😂👏👏👏
Such a prophetic sketch.
I went for a pre-operation chat in January 2022, which duplicated almost exactly the information I had entered online in November. I asked why, and the nurse had to say that the information I had entered (on one computer system) couldn't be transferred to the system used by Sheffield Hospitals.
2 documentaries ''The Great NHS Heist'' ( Dr Bob Gill ) & ''The Dirty War on the NHS'' ( John Pilger ) - plus the 2 minute 39 second movie clip ''bulworth'' by Raven Van.
Just found this gem. They saw it coming in 2004... Who's doing satire like this nowadays? I'll miss them. Cheers.
Nothing has changed and it’s now 2022
oh yes it has. it's worse today because crookery is in government and crookery & greed is now bold and in your face... no attempt to present it as anything else.
Amazing foresight
my dad loved these 2. i would watch my dad laugh his ass off. i was very young so it all went ove my head.
your dad was smart and cool
To add to the Catalogue of chaos how about the great Post Office scandal
Brilliant. RIP both.
Omg, I forgot all about these 2 on the Rory Premner show. Until RUclips suggestion from Mock The Week 😳😆😆
So watchable and funny sadly missed.
RIP the great John Bird .
Imagine their take on NHS Covid IT contracts!
As someone who worked in the Civil Service with computers commissioned by managers and ministers who would struggle to grasp the concept of "Pong", from IT consultants who had no interest at all in what the systems were to be used for, without any consultation with the poor saps who'd have to try to do their jobs with the wretched systems, I can say this is absolutely spot on.
There was only one system I ever used that worked properly and that was one where the managers for that area of work had all done the job themselces and told the IT people exactly what was required and that they wouldn't sign it off until it did that.
The Civil Service is in the poor state it's in because it is run by managers who were promoted beyond their levels of competence , answerable to ministers who don't know or care what about anything other than their careers, commissioning work from private companies who only see the chance to make some easy money.
These should be shown in schools and colleges to inform the ideologically dim students how stuff really works.
These guys are old but fab in their day on current affairs
Stunningly accurate they really nailed the tories
In 2004 when this was made it was Labour and Tony Blair
9 years later here we go again
At 1:04 you can see him corpsing because it was such a good line
To think that 9 years on the NHS would be flatlining
I remember this sketch and the rollout of this failed NHS project
R.I.P 💗 John Bird 💗
It seems, years on, that nothing changes.....
And this was from a time when the NHS was well run.
NHS stopped being well run in the mid 1960s
RIP John Bird.
Brilliant Shrewd and close to the Bone!
It's 2023 and this sketch is as relevant today as it was in 2004. Nothing has changed with the same government clowns ,civil servants and NHS managers totally incapable in running anything. RIP John Bird and John Fortune
I am sorry to say, but you're wrong. The rubber boat ppl get seen straight away
@@crazycressy7986 Wow
The Observer reports, today in Jan 2023, the NHS regions are suggesting with,posters on display that patients pay for the treatment or tests they urgently want instead of hanging around on a months long waiting list…effectively a 2 tier NHS.
“Its tedious” 😂😂😂😂
RIP John Bird
Channel 4, Saturday evening. about twenty past seven instead of Noel Edmonds on the other side. Funnily enough I don't think about all the politics, I just think about their partnership. Sorely missed.
Funny but so true, It was decided in the eighties to privatize and the result was that much of the technical expertise that was present in various sectors was lost or outsourced. The government then relied on private consultants who sole purpose seemed to be to screw the government for as much as they could and often left the government with systems that overran the original cost and often never worked and had to be abandoned.
I was told, many years ago by some one in the know, that in order to win a bid for the contract for a government IT project, you needed to have previously won a bid for a government IT project. Which explains why the company that fucked up the last government IT project gets awarded the contract to fuck up the next government IT project.
Things haven't changed all that much since 2004. Except that the eurosceptic is now in the driving seat. Of the bus. Which is on the wrong side of the road.
Proper satire.
still seems relevant sad to say....
Proper satire. Probably the Tories would stop this.
back in the day this was funny because of how grotesque the various George Parrs were. now they are just really, really life like... 😱
Oh they've been like this for 40 years or more, it's just that we know that everything that was being said is true.
2:15 - Bird stifles a smile
2023. Nothing changes 🤣 NHS
How did they know?
brilliant
Sheer class.
Laughable then and tragic now if you are looking at the NHS now in 2023!
3 weeks to flatten the curve
No doubt Keir Starmer will conveniently ignore which party was in power when this was aired!
Unfortunately, this is no longer satire, it is real life
Look where the NHS is today & weep .
Plus ca change .
At least the NHS existed back then. Now it's a front for private firms.
Geniuses
Art imitating reality. The Establishment dorks propagating the "clap for the NHS" nonsense should be force fed this satire in a padded cell 24/7 to understand how nothing about the crappy NHS has changed, and that in 2023, it might well kill you before it has time to cure. Here is one show I really miss. RIP the two of you legends.
RIP John Fortunę and John Bird: comic genius's both. This hilarious sketch is horribly prescient given the current shambles in the NHS, Border Force, railways, postal service ad infinitum....
Funny but true
Much missed. Never to be replaced. Where is the next generation of satirist though?
Computer says no...
Is this comedy?? Sounds very much like the usual ministerial interview that we're subjected to.
Told the truth and ripped the pish out of governments and business
as true now in 2023 as it was then, but the numbers are of course much bigger now. Plus the fact that one no longer has to try to hide this kind of criminal activity, as we now have the concept of 'public service for private profit', plus you can lie and deceive as much as you want, as there's no responsibility or accountability - true utopia, but not for ordinary tax aying folks.
Love these guys! Sadly truth is stranger than fiction - and under the egregious Tories, the reality in Britain has far outstripped anything made up here... :(
NHS IT cock up happened under Labour, you lefty twat.
A spoon and empty bole. For a egg timers choice
😂
Seems to borrow from Clarke & Dawe. Whilst I enjoyed a number of John Birds performances I am sorry to have seen this.
yeah, that hit me in about the first second
Artists... when comedy was satire not swearwords...
Holy shit we are now in 2023, and it's all f*#ked. Computer says no 👀.
As funny as this is ,its dam scandal!
A sketch on food moderation consumption and finacial edu . Use internatoonal liaunguage on a person whom sang fir ww2 trooos and bombed victims. The lsnguage csn be jurustructions of nation
RIP John Bird. Sad that he's died, but I thought he was shite.
PPE, 🤔