MovieChat Forums > The Thin Blue Line (1995) Discussion > Inspector Grim's monologues

Inspector Grim's monologues


Hello all.

When Inspector Grim starts his long monologues with "hoity-toity, wishy-washy...", is all of this scripted? Or is there a level of improvisation?

Either way, it's still amazing.

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Not absolutely sure if his rants were scripted or impro, although I suspect the latter as I read somewhere long ago the actors had some flexibility with their characters. And Rowen Atkinson is known to do some of his best work using improv

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Not forgetting the classic 'FANNYING ABOUT!'!

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what about the hilarious classics.grim says "its my arse on the line and i dont want a cock up"
and the other "its my arse on the line so i dont want you sticking your nose in and poking about" CLASSIC GRIM.

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how about grims line "your cock up, my arse"
Classic!!!

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About football:

It's not a game, although it is a game. But it's not a game. I mean technically it is a game, but it's not a game. Although, obvoiusly... it is a game.

Grim is a fantastic comedy creation. It's a shame he was confined to the TBL, he should have shown up in other sitcoms.

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Certainly, David Haig should have had a more prolific sitcom career.

One of my favourite 'Grimisms' was when he was talking to Fowler about the Amateur Drama Society:

Fowler: You would get bored watching Olivier play Hamlet.
Grim: Well, I don't like football. Especially them bloody foreign teams!

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A bunch of fat cats, spinning their webs, with their tentacles in every pie!

I love mixed metaphors!

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what about the hilarious classics.grim says "its my arse on the line and i dont want a cock up"
and the other "its my arse on the line so i dont want you sticking your nose in and poking about" CLASSIC GRIM.

"My arse is on the line and if you stuff this I'm gonna be very red in the face!"

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"We are all in the gutter, but some of us find ourselves looking up at the stars" - Oscar Wilde

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"He's slippery. Like an owl."

:)

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sitcoms? I want him in The Bill. I might watch it then!

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Its my backside on the line, and i'm up to my neck in it

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"It's my arse we're talking about here, so you'd better pull your finger out."

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"We are all in the gutter, but some of us find ourselves looking up at the stars" - Oscar Wilde

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[deleted]

I've always liked that one.

Also, when he has to go to Scotland Yard for a briefing, he can't help but draw attention to the fact (before anyone mentions anything about it).

Fowler: Inspector Grim?
Grim: Yes, I've been to Scotland Yard. The Yard. It's not such a big deal, I wish everyone would stop banging on about it!

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"We are all in the gutter, but some of us find ourselves looking up at the stars" - Oscar Wilde

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"It my arse on the line so you can't just stick two fingers up."

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[deleted]

It's a shame he was confined to the TBL, he should have shown up in other sitcoms.
He played a remarkably similar character in the comedy Keeping Mum, even mentioning 'my Tina' (who turned out to be Meera Syal).

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Grim cracks me up.

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Totally scripted , cos it just screams Ben Elton , who I assume wrote it

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