The Windsors

Not since Spitting Image have we had a show the pokes fun at the Royal Family and British Government with such sharp wit and excellent satire. It's about time. Yes, it's incredibly offensive and disrespectful, but that's the whole point. I'm a proud monarchist myself, but the whole thing is so completely ludicrous and over the top it's impossible to not laugh out loud.

So nice to see Harry Enfield back at the top of his game, he's been sadly missed in comedic roles over the last couple of decades it seems (anyone remember Harry Enfield and Chums?). His larger than life portrayal of Prince Charles is nothing short of genius.Vicki Pepperdine as Princess Anne is another highlight, as is Kathryn Drysdale's re-imagining of Meghan Markle.

Truly hysterical, well written and beautifully acted. The writers have simply exaggerated what we already suspect: Camilla is a scheming bitch; Charles is a Dumb, Aristocratic Hippy; Pippa is a crazed Social Climber; William is Nice, Well-meaning but ineffectual; Harry is thick as a brick but a lovely person who needs mothering; Beatrice and Eugenie are desperate for cash but bad at EVERYTHING: Sarah Ferguson is desperate to get back in favour; Andrew is after £££ and Totty; Edward is utterly useless and will clean windows for cash! I'm a fervent Monarchist, but we Brits have a sense of humour -- especially about OURSELVES. The programme is great fun and totally harmless. I bet the younger Royals think it's great and the older Royals will never see it. I'm just disappointed there are only 12 episodes!!!

The charming comedic performances of so many of the cast makes The Windsors great fun, particularly Hugh Skinner as Wills. He is ably supported by Louise Ford's Kate, Harry Enfield's Charles, Haydn Gwynn's manipulative and dangerous Camilla, Katy Wix as Fergie and Matthew Cottle as Edward.

The writers take the tabloid profile of the royals and twist it further. (Camilla is obsessed by continuing her own bloodline, Wills thinks republics are fairer than monarchies; Harry is a sex-obsessed illiterate fool; and Kate and Pippa are gypsies, with scheming Pippa willing to seduce anyone in order to get what she wants - often Harry.)

Not deep, not probing, but funny and different. Worth a try at least.

This show is hilarious and a great foil to the palace press barrage that the media regurgitates mindlessly, summed up beautifully by my favourite line of the series from Will (or is it Harry, they all sound the same to me): "I love riding around on bicycles, wearing chinos and jumpers, and pretending to be like ordinary people."

This is a merciless portrayal of the royals as a bunch of airheads, albeit mostly good-natured,but when your only real talent is being born (or marrying) into the right family, perhaps it's not that far off the mark. I'd like to say this is political satire at its best, skewering an anachronism that only undermines modern democracy, but really it's just making fun of a musty institution and its all-too-public characters. The impersonations are spot on and the irreverence is delicious.

It's been a long time since I've laughed as loud and as often as I did at this show. The caricatures of the royals were spot on, taking their foibles (as we all have) and stretching them into comic gold. It got to the point that all Fergie and her girls would have to do is appear on the screen, and I would laugh, knowing I would have a good time. The show is not perfect, but there's enough good stuff that I could coast through the parts that weren't, knowing a clever/funny scene was around the bend.

ERII, Prince Phillip, and the Cambridge kids' characters didn't appear on screen, but Phillip's curmudgeonly ways were represented in other ways, to great comic effect.