Comedy skit duo’s Christmas song parody pays tribute to Matlock and the late Shane MacGowan

Sung to the tune of Fairytale of New York, the duo's latest song, filmed and released over the weekend, is an ode to Matlock.

Friends, Mark Page, 28, from Cromford, and Craig Webb, 23, from London, gained local fame earlier in the year with their musical tribute to Darley Dale Fish bar. The song, called Greek Greek Kebabs, was a parody of the 2022 George Ezra hit, Green Green Grass.

Mark described the general reaction to their chip shop parody song as “absolutely mad,” with the video currently sitting at around 60,000 views on Facebook.

The boys said the success of this parody was a turning point for Reel Productions as they are now aiming to veer away from creating videos just for themselves towards content that could benefit local businesses through exposure.

Craig said: “This could be a really good idea for us to help other businesses. With our platform, we can actually use our creativity to help businesses that may be struggling.

“We get content from it and the exposure will hopefully help them out. So that's the route we’re trying to take now.”

Mark had the idea for their latest parody, Fairytale of Matlock while scrolling through a Christmas song playlist.

Mark said: “I was listening to Christmas songs; seeing what would be funny and what would fit and then Fairytale of New York came on and I thought that it could be really funny to make it about Matlock.

After the boys put their comedy heads together over Facetime, the song’s lyrics took under two hours to write. A couple of days later the pair were in and around Matlock’s Christmas market filming the video with their film-making friend, Amy Taylor.

Mark said: “You’ve got the slow bit at the beginning where you can make it feel like it’s going to be a rubbish Christmas, and then when the beat comes in we could make it like all Christmassy.”

The song's light-hearted lyrics tell the story of a boozy Christmas around Matlock, making references to bars, clubs and businesses like the Tipsy Toad, the Remarkable Hare, Bhulan and Pizza Connection.

The music video is followed by a tribute to The Pogues lead singer, Shane MacGowan who passed away on November 30.

Mark and Craig have been writing and performing comedy skits and songs as Reel Productions since first meeting in 2019 whilst doing extra work on television shows in London.

The pair said that they hit it off instantly due to their almost identical sense of humour.

Craig is a London resident who makes regular trips up to Matlock to collaborate with his buddy Mark, who grew up in Cromford. On his visits, Craig was struck by the strong sense of community shared by the people of Matlock.

He said: “Everyone seems to know each other. There are loads of different characters up there and everyone is so friendly. It’s a happy place.”

Reel productions’ videos can be found on their Facebook and YouTube channel.

If Reel Productions could help your business next, contact them via their Facebook page.