Prepare for sheer fun as Pink Panther returns to TV

Having breakfast out the way by 11 is rare for me on a Sunday, but we’re in for a treat at that time this weekend.

Not one, but two, Pink Panthers, back to back, to make Sunday go with a bang.

Film4 are treating us to mid-1970s classics The Return Of The Pink Panther and The Pink Panther Strikes Again and it’s a great reminder of just how talented and hilarious Peter Sellers was.

As Inspector Clouseau, Sellers was hardly the greatest crime fighter ever, but if your sense of humour stretches to the downright anarchic, Pink Panther’s for you.

Christopher Plummer, Catherine Schell, Herbert Lom, Burt Kwouk and Graham Stark are among the co-stars, with Blake Edwards directing and producing.

To some fans, The Return Of The Pink Panther was the fourth film of the series, while to others it was only the third.

Sellers had been so good in the first, The Pink Panther, that the studios knew there would be many more.

He was also brilliant in the follow-up, A Shot In The Dark, but the third one failed to hit the heights.

Released in 1968, it had starred Alan Arkin as Clouseau and didn’t feature any of the usual characters. Which is why aficionados don’t consider it a proper one.

They certainly did, though, with the pair we’ll enjoy this weekend.

Sellers, who would die in his 50s just a few years after The Pink Panther Strikes Again, had gone into the films with very definite ideas about what sort of chap Clouseau should be.

“I set out to play Clouseau with great dignity because I feel that he thinks he is probably one of the greatest detectives in the world,” he revealed.

“The original script makes him out to be a complete idiot. I thought a forgivable vanity would humanise him and make him kind of touching.”

He did, needless to say, get the character spot on.

As a kid, Sellers had observed his own family on the British variety show circuit but, while his mother thought he was a natural, his father thought he might make a good road sweep, but not an actor.

By 1975, however, having proved what a star he was, Sellers’ career was on a bit of a downward trajectory, to the extent that he was doing adverts, had drastically reduced his wage demands, and was looking for something to boost his cinema presence.

The Return Of The Pink Panther did just that, made him a millionaire again and reminded the world just how funny he was. All the more surprising as he had declined that third movie, but it and its follow-up didn’t too too badly.

The Return Of The Pink Panther sees the Shah of Lugash – a fictional country –- hire Clouseau to find its stolen national treasure, the Pink Panther diamond.

His boss, Chief Inspector Charles Dreyfus – Lom – hates him but the French government reinstate him to go after the diamond. But his arch-enemy has ordered servant Cato – Kwouk – to attack Clouseau at every opportunity.

Together, the pair would create some of the funniest, maddest scenes in movies.

Clouseau even manages to ruin multiple priceless antiquities at the national museum while inspecting the crime scene, before reaching the conclusion that Sir Charles Litton – Plummer – is his thief.

It’s not the last time he bungles things, and while there have been plenty slapstick stars, Sellers goes about it as only he could.

Sir Charles is back stealing jewels at the end and Clouseau miraculously finds the diamond, none of which prevents Cato attacking him again.

Dreyfus is finally committed to an asylum, in a strait jacket and a padded cell, vowing revenge.

The Pink Panther Strikes Again, the following year, made no mention of the diamond, but it did begin with Dreyfus set to get out of the asylum. When Clouseau visits on the day of his release, he brings on a relapse, denying the poor man his freedom.

Soon, however, Dreyfus manages to escape and has a cunning plan to destroy the world with a gigantic laser weapon if it doesn’t assassinate Clouseau.

Things don’t pan out that way, though, and Clouseau continues to wreak havoc and drive everyone bonkers.

Peter Sellers, who would die at just 54 in 1980, even created havoc at his own funeral.

Knowing his Goons buddies Harry Secombe and Spike Milligan hated Glenn Miller’s In The Mood, he had it played during the service, forcing them to sit and listen.

Two of his most enjoyable movies will put you in a good mood on Sunday.

The Return Of The Pink Panther (1975) and The Pink Panther Strikes Again (1976) – Film4, Sunday May 10, starting at 11am and 1.15pm.