Ideal

Graham Duff’s Ideal is a kind of hermetically-sealed sitcom. It’s all about the four walls of drug dealer Moz’s nasty flat. It’s claustrophobic and quite dark. I mean literally dark. No natural light (not even the simulated kind) shall fall on these sticky carpets and collapsing armchairs. It reminds me of Eraserhead—which sounds like a [...]

Love Soup: Whose God is it Anyway?

I should start by saying that the best comedy on British telly at the moment is toe-curlingly rude secondary school sitcom The Inbetweeners. It’s on Channel 4, though, which means I can’t embed it here. So here’s episode 10 of Love Soup series two instead: also brilliant (and pretty rude too). Love Soup’s quite difficult [...]

The Noisiest Have I Got News For You Ever

I’m very pleased that Have I Got News For You is back. Here’s the latest show (episode three) from the current run (series thirty-five! Can you believe it?).
In these post-Angus Deayton days we get to enjoy different presenters in each show. This week, the marvelously loud Brian Blessed. Joining them are the MP Alan Duncan [...]

I’m just going to say it: Basil Brush is brilliant. Funny, fast-paced, clever and cheeky. The canned laughter is weirdly appropriate, the funny sound and video effects make the thing seem really contemporary, and the super-ironic scripts respect the parents watching. Basil, a very small fox as I’m sure you’ll remember, has been integrated into [...]

Humphrey Lyttelton, 1921—2008

Humphrey Lyttelton, who died earlier this evening, loved Buddy Bolden, a troubled, almost mythical jazz trumpeter from turn-of-the-century New Orleans. In his later life, Humph attempted a kind of reconstruction of Bolden’s music, which can’t have been easy because it was never recorded in his lifetime. I’d like to have featured one of Humph’s Bolden [...]

Gavin and Stacey, Season 2, Episode 4

The second series of Gavin and Stacey has already had a mention here, but last night’s episode deserves another plug for being particularly fine. The characters live in a wonderful place, somewhere between surreal and utterly mundane. The wonderful oven glove scene seemed familiar and yet extraordinary.

The Mighty Boosh: a journey through time and space

Kicking off BBC Three’s Mighty Boosh night, this documentary shows how Julian Barratt and Noel Fielding became the nation’s top crimping duo. The whole crew is here, Naboo and Bollo too, plus a legion of celebrity fans. Their relentless good cheer is a joy to behold. No tortured artists here - apart from Howard Moon of course.

Gavin and Stacey - Season 2, Episode 1

Well this is effectively a modern “Bob and Thelma” following the same classic UK sitcom wedding arc. Smiffy and Gavin (and Bryn) explore male friendship just as effectively as Bob and Terry. James Corden and Ruth Jones get all the best lines, probably because they wrote them. However, jokes about badminton lessons, the Elm Lodge [...]

Nathan Barley

Nathan Barley first aired on Channel 4 in February 2005, meaning it recently celebrated its third glorious year of existence. Even longer, in fact, if you include the time Nathan Barley was imagined in the form of fake TV listings in TV Go Home. If you’ve ever worked in (or even walked through) Shoreditch, you’ll [...]