noelwilde I often wonder why this series was slammed so much. I thought it was brilliant and also very cleverly written and performed. I think in time to come it will be seen in the light it deserves, that is if they ever issue it. Many up and coming young comedy actors appeared in this and all went on to greater things. Maybe this fact will make people aware of its value and it will have to be issued. Sally Phillips, Simon Pegg, Peter Serafinowicz and not least Julian Rhind-Tutt of the hugely successful Green Wing. The writers Graham Linehan and Arthur Matthews are two of the finest comedy writers of the modern age. Anyone that can produce comedy like Father Ted couldn't be capable of writing something not worthy of publication. If it is ever issued I will certainly buy it.

Edmund Ward I loved Hippies, really very, very funny. Best episode, 'Psycho Sociology, art classes one' or the 'Festival' episode. I can't understand why this series was not so popular. I suppose it lived directly in the shadow of Father Ted, so it was inevitable people would rate it against FT.It was also criticised because it was nothing like the sixties - but hey, it was a comedy, not a social commentary. 10 out of 10 for gags and great situations. Now, when's the DVD coming out?? There's a petition online to get it brought out, link can be found here: http://www.petitiononline.com/hippies1/petition.html Please all fans of hippies go onto sign the petition!

maryla I am currently watching the repeats of 'Hippies' on Sky and have confirmed my original thoughts on the programme. Hippies, together with Father Ted, is the best sitcom of the last twenty-five years! When it was first shown I expected to hate it. Unashamedly, I adore the music, ideals and sentiments of the 60s (best music, best fashion, best television, best films.....) and hated portrayals of the era in other sitcoms such as The Young Ones (the Neil character) and Absolutely Fabulous. How dare people from lesser eras poke fun at the best decade of all; The Young Ones was made in the ghastly 1980s....didn't anyone at the time recognise the absurdity of laughing 'AT' the 60s from the viewpoint of that appalling era!!!!The writers of Hippies, however, appear to have a great affinity with the 60s, yet a previous comment on this site, which was otherwise positive, appeared to believe that the programme was poking fun at the era. I don't see that at all. If you think that, do you think the same writers were poking fun at Ted, Jack and Dougal in Father Ted? I don't think so. Like Ted, Hippies is very strong on 'sight' gags, reprisal jokes ('Get on the bus, Ray!')and dream sequences and, personally, I think that the scripts are water-tight. Highlights are Eleanor Bron, the fabulous Rickman character, the scenes with Ray's parents, Hugo's 'Pink Floyd' review and Bob Helmets' obituary, Ray appearing naked in a 'Hair'-type production not realising that his whole family are in the audience.....And yet in trying to find out anything about the series, I found a CV of one of the writers, and 'Hippies' has been completed written out!!!! Not even listed!!!! A resounding 10/10.

Alf0d Had this series on tape from its first airing as a fan of Mathews/Linehan and Simon Pegg and rewatched all six episodes recently and found it to be great.Father Ted was too hard an act to follow and maybe the premise of a group of hippies didn't capture the zeitgeist of the time but compared to a lot of the so- called 'comedy' around today - and in the past - this is a treasurable gem.The spirit of Neil from the Young Ones is evoked in the hippy adventures that take place and it's a chance to gaze upon the pre-Spaced Peggster in all his youthful glory.Underrated and deserving of more than one series - this comedy troupe could have been involved in a Blackadder type comedic study of other social groups in subsequent six episode series.