The bizarre inhabitants of a fictional town cross into the real world to confront their creators and prevent their own annihilation.
The grotesque residents of Royston Vasey discover that their lives are fictional and their creators are planning to end their story. To prevent their annihilation, three of the town’s most notorious figures, butcher Hilary Briss (Mark Gatiss), the sinister Herr Lipp (Steve Pemberton), and desperate businessman Geoff (Reece Shearsmith), escape into the real world. Arriving in modern-day London, they set out to confront the writers (played by Gatiss, Pemberton, Shearsmith, and Michael Sheen). Their quest leads them to a film set, where they disrupt the production of a new historical epic in a last-ditch effort to save themselves from being written out of existence.
This feature-length film takes the meta-fictional premise of the BAFTA-winning television series to its breaking point. The story is built around a self-devouring plot where the inhabitants of Royston Vasey realize they are literary creations. The premise engineers a collision of worlds, as the characters invade the set of their creators’ new historical project, a costume drama titled ‘The King’s Evil’. While some fan-favorite grotesques are sidelined, the film’s strength is its full commitment to this absurdly clever conceit. The finale even injects a dose of creature-feature pastiche, with a stop-motion monster that serves as a direct homage to Ray Harryhausen.
Production Co: UK / 87 mins / 2005
Director: Steve Bendelack
Screenplay: Jeremy Dyson, Mark Gatiss, Reece Shearsmith, Steve Pemberton
Main Cast: Mark Gatiss (Hilary Briss), Steve Pemberton (Herr Lipp), Reece Shearsmith (Geoff), Michael Sheen (Jeremy Dyson), Liam Cunningham (Director), Simon Pegg (Peter Cow)
