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| ALISTAIR
MCGOWAN'S BIG IMPRESSION 26-27/04/00, BBC1 reviewed by Steve Williams |
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In a Radio Times interview to promote his new series, Alistair McGowan spent a lot of time explaining about how he was different to other impressionists, but at the end admitted that a lot of people would say "He's just like Bobby Davro". Impressionists have had a rough time lately, seemingly consigned to summer seasons and cabaret and impressing very few. That's with the exception of Rory Bremner, perhaps, although he's received criticism of a different kind, with Lee and Herring reviewing his series as "just stuff like saying Imagine if John Major went on Crimewatch and saying the Tories have stolen all our jobs". So BBC1 might be taking a risk by commissioning a post-watershed series concentrating on impressions. McGowan differs from Bremner in that politics are not apparent, and he seems content to impersonate celebrities, pop stars and sporting personalities - and very good at them he is too. He's joined by the equally impressive Ronni Ancona to provide impressions that are startling in their accuracy (well, vocally, at least). It is this accuracy, and the "obscureness" of the targets, that are the real joys of this series. The idea of an impression of Huw Edwards, Carol Smillie, Caroline Aherne et al is funny in itself, as opposed to Bremner's politics-based range. The centrepiece of the series, a spoof of The Royle Family played by The Royal Family, is fantastic in many ways because it's a parody of The Royle Family. However, once you've seen them impersonate Craig Cash et al once, you really don't need to see them again. This is where strong scripts come in useful, and this series simply doesn't have them. McGowan, who also writes the majority of the programme, as well as script editing it, has said that he has a great deal of respect for the people he sends up, and it is this very niceness that seems to be spoiling the series. Seemingly, he is so concerned about offending anyone that the sketches are overtly whimsical, of the "imagine if Eddie Izzard was in Star Trek" school. The Stars in Their Eyes parody in the first programme was a case in point - McGowan, as Ronan Keating, announced that tonight, Matthew, he was going to be a cobbler from Swindon. Eh? The idea behind the sketch looks like a reversal of the the Stars in Their Eyes concept - where celebrity contestants would be members of the public, but this was so contrived that it simply wasn't funny. But the laughs that McGowan got from impersonating Matthew Kelly and Ronan Keating made up for it. By the second programme, the novelty had worn off somewhat, so it began to live or die on the scripting. Huw Edwards announced that Cardiff had been appointed the greatest city in the world - as a man with a strong Welsh accent, Edwards is therefore portrayed as a fervent Nationalist. Amusing, if Edwards didn't come from Llanelli rather than Cardiff. But as in many series, the Welsh seem an acceptable target to take the piss out of, regardless of what was accurate. The rest of the programme was terribly contrived. McGowan and Ancona are certainly talented, but it's only with stronger scripts that they will move away from being a novelty act. Surely their talents could be used more appropriately in parodies of TV programmes and films, which could then have the accuracy which other parodies would lack. But without this edge, the whole series becomes more like a showreel. Still, he isn't just like Bobby Davro. Most of McGowan's targets are still alive. |
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