Thompson

It was without doubt one of the worst shows English TV produced in 1988. It was predicated on a fantastic idea. Namely, the BBC giving Emma Thompson a six week half hour slot to do whatever she wished. Writer, producer, star. The results were appalling. What ever credit Thompson had with TV critics evaporated very quickly. The smugness, the self satisfaction, the pretentiousness, the ego run riot. It limped to the end of Its run, the BBC never recommissioned a second season, and she never did It again. Even now watching clips of It on YouTube. It makes me wonder If you can take someone that pretentious, that narcissistic, that ego-centric seriously? Me? I'd rather not.

I watched this series when it was aired 19 years ago in 1988 and recorded video of some of it which I still enjoy watching. Yes, it was very hit-and-miss but certain sketches/segments of it were excellent and brilliantly funny, demonstrating Thompson's gift for perfect comic timing and ingeniously original ideas - such scenes as Celebrity, Witchfinder's daughter, No puddings from the sweet trolley, the Dry cleaner's, Rapunzel. The problem was that it didn't know what it wanted to be: a comedy sketch show, song and dance, monologues...... So if you only saw the odd episode, then you didn't get the full breadth of what was being endeavoured. Over all though it was worth watching because the good bits were very good and very clever without being pretentious.

Yes, it's Emma Thompson and her comedy chums. This really was "comedy" as white-knuckle ride into hell. If the sketches didn't kill you, how about the "dance" routines? I'm not making this up - there really were dance routines. All in all, a truly atrocious and embarrassing mess.

Emma Thompson's career in the years following this series rightly cemented her reputation as a performer and writer. This, however, was not a good start.

Quite how someone as talented as Miss Thompson could come up with something as godawful as this is a mystery.

Thompson fans who have never seen this show, do yourselves a favour and avoid ever watching it. It can only spoil the magic.

I would love to see this show become available on video. This is Emma Thompson before she became a big movie star: an incredibly funny, quirky comedienne, a great dancer (yep!), a totally engaging presence, bursting with creativity and supported by a great cast including then-husband Kenneth, and her friends from her Cambridge days. A sheer delight!