Dead Ringers

The best topical comedy shows are on the radio. It's true, take shows such as The News Quiz, The Now Show and It's Been A Bad Week. Another of the best radio shows is an impressionists sketch show called Dead Ringers, which has also spawned the BBC2 TV series.

Like the radio show, it lasts half an hour and has some regular "characters". The radio 4 version had Brian "The Daddy" Perkins and the TV show has Michael Burke who insists on concluding shady deals on his mobile before reading the news. Politicians don't get away lightly too, figures such as Tony Blair and George W Bush feature too.

One of the all time great sketches featured Zippy from Rainbow standing for Cherrie Blair using only a black wig and Haiwan shirt. And look out for "Yet another history program" with Professor Simon Sharma. As mensioned in another review here, he boasts about how much money he's made, and tells great chunks of important history using only three props.

But there is also some great secret camera work, such as 'Obi-Wan Kenobi' buying a second hand car or 'Maximus Meridius Decimus' (Russel Crowe in Gladiator) asking local builders to rebuild his castle from one foot ruins, with one builder having the solution to how to strengthen the medieval walkways - decking. Another gem was 'Michael Parkinson' interviewing people waiting at a bus stop.

To sum it all up, it's a very funny show that's recorded the day before broadcast to keep it as topical as possible. There's not a hint of canned laughter either, it's recorded in front of a real audience.

And to quote a recent episode, "Hi, I'm Johnny Vaughan. I'm still a big star, it's the channels that got smaller".

Just watch it.

Us ex-pats here in Europe are lucky enough(sometimes) to get fantastic British comedy on BBC Prime. Unfortunately whilst Mr Culshaw is in this show, he does not actually quench my/our thirst for impressionistic comedy.

The writing of the show = childish + low-level (Suitable for Children's BBC?). Mr Culshaw, you will never be of the caliber of a Bremner, because of the fact the average person above 8 years old can hear your underlying voice/impression as being the same person.(Just like Mr Novelty of the 70s - Yarwood). I remember Culshaw on my local radio, Viking Radio, he was bad then and bad now. Learn to alter your underlying voice in your impressions, then you can go further, maybe.

Use some of the budget to pay for good script writers (Matthews/Linehan would be cool- but not their 'thing'). Congrats for the BBC commission, I'm surprised as well as other people are.

Best Impressions; David Brent, Tom Baker, Ann Robinson.

Impressions 50% of Males Could Do Given 1 Hour Training; Sewell, Ozbourne, Gluteus Maximus(my gag you can take for the show Jon), David Dickinson, Johnny Vaughn.

TERRIBLE Impressions; Schwarzenegger, Blair, Bush + any not listed under 'Best Impressions'.

Well done for effort though. Surely, the only way is up!

I did remember DEAD RINGERS from BBC radio . I didn't think much of it except for the DOCTOR WHO stuff which was very funny , and I have the exact same feeling about the TV series.

Man dressed as the mysterious timelord known only as " The Doctor " ( 4th incarnation as played by Tom Baker ) goes on the millennium wheel in London and shouts to a bunch of Japanese tourists that " I know what this is . It's a Sontaran incubation centre used for hatchlings for their war against the Rutans ! " Cut to a crowd of bemused Japanese tourists . " The Doctor " also visits a working mans' club where he's the star guest and plays his favourite songs which include the Keller machine sound effect as seen in 1971 story The Mind Of Evil . Cut to a bemused audience

But many of the sketches are tedious and are endlessly set around George Dubya Bush . I don't want to sound like an apologist for the American Republican party but how much mileage can you get out of the man's seemingly limited intellect ? It was the same throughout the 1980s when comedians went on about Ronald Reagen and didn't realise they were flogging a dead horse . And DEAD RINGERS suffers from some very intrusive and oh so obvious canned laughter

Jonathan Ross said at the British comedy awards that Dead ringers does a great impression of Alistair McGowan's shows. How wrong he is. He's probably never seen Dead ringers. Dead Ringers offers an up-to-date of the past week look at the news, TV, media and other things. They do polticans, got more impressionists, do more adult jokes, do Candid camera style jokes so Jonathan Ross is dead wrong.

The show started on Radio 4, perhaps that's why young people go away from it but it's a great show. It's very funny, and takes a very sharp swipe at certain stories.

The impressions are fantastic. Espically to Jon Culshaw who does both Bush and Blair very well and made some very funny trademarks about them. (Blair: "Sweaty palms, Hard man hand gesture, Vote-for-me smile" and Bush: "My fellow UmaThurmans, it has been a sadificantly day"). Though it does more politians, it does do movie stars, TV stars music stars and anyone else. One problem is some of the people they do. I mean, I didn't know who Dr. Simon Schama or Brian Sewell were until this show. I didn't even know Newsnight review existed but still laughed at the Tom Paulin impression. But ignore all that, they basically do them really funny and strangely.

So it's a great show, do watch if you want the world to be given a satical swipe!

Listen to this on R4, and some of the impressions are aurally stunning. Jan Ravens' Anne Robinson is amazingly accurate, as is Jon Culshaw's Tom Baker/Dr Who (pity that it is out of date). Mark Perry must have cursed the day that Robin Cook resigned, as his unintelligible rants were a highlight. The biggest praise I can bestow on the show is that there have been several occasions (eg the Archers) where I am unable to tell whether it is Jon Culshaw, Mark Perry or Kevin Connolly doing the voice (Jan Ravens of course is fairly obvious, though). The show also built up its share of catchphrases, the favourite of which is "OH NO" as spoken by Ruth Archer (Americans probably haven't a clue who that is!). The spoof phone calls were a bit hit and miss, and usually funnier when the victim is a celebrity, like when Jon Culshaw as Brian Perkins called the real Brian Perkins.

All the above comments were about the radio show. The problem with transferring to TV is making the impressionists look like the people they're lampooning, and here the show falls down. The skill of the vocal mimicry can't disguise the fact that Jan Ravens cannot look like Sophie Raworth, Anne Robinson, Kirsty Wark or Nigella Lawson. Mark Perry is obviously quite a big man, considerably larger in stature than his voices (David Dickenson, Robin Cook), and Kevin Connolly always resembles himself. In fairness Jon Culshaw - "in character" - looks like a couple of his victims, but that's about it. The material - which seemed so sharp on the radio - is a bit tired in comparison. The "Candid Camera" stunts are as variable as the spoof phone calls, but you have to admire Jon Culshaw's improvisational skills in the various ridiculous situations in which he involves unsuspecting members of the public. My own favourite was "Michael Parkinson" interviewing people at a bus stop. Still a good if disappointing watch.

Keen eyed readers will notice that I have not referred to Phil Cornwell. I can only assume that he is in the show to give the idea that anyone can get on, however bad the impersonation. Yes, I do not see how he is able to share the stage with the four others, who do have talent for vocal mimicry. Phil Cornwell may have a sharp eye for comedy, but he is not an accurate impressionist. All the characters on Stella Street were OTT caricatures and were never meant to be seen as accurate, but that's not good enough on this show, where his Greg Dyke/Michael Caine is by far the biggest irritation.