Film Shapes

Brian and Charles is the 'Brian-child' of David Earl and Chris Hayward, who also play the leads - the former, a shabby loner, the latter, his bodgy android creation. The film is set in the glorious North Wales countryside, and have a run at some of these place names - Llyn Gwynant, Ysbyty Ifan, Trefriw, Cwm Penmachno, Betws y Coed, Llangernyw. Rough on the tongue, gorgeous on the eye. Earl plays his Brian Gittens character as a sweeter, less disgusting version of the lonely loser from Ricky Gervais's After Life and Derek . He's a single, middle aged depressive, who loves tinkering and inventing (objectively useless) things. The scene of the aftermath of a flying cuckoo clock test run is an early highlight, underlining the 'mockumentary' style of the piece. The 'useless inventions' theory is scotched when Brian surprises himself by actually making a robot, albeit a very shonky looking one. As Charles says, "My tummy is a washing machine." Th...