Dead Ringers

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 Jan Ravens' Anne Robinson is amazingly accurate, as is Jon Culshaw's Tom Baker/Dr Who (pity that it is out of date).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.

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

This is a brilliant show. A mate of mine introduced me to this program and when seeing it for the first time was mesmerised by the uncanniness of the voices. They haven't quite got the looks exactly but it takes a back seat to the voice artistry of the performers, especially the Doctor Who impressions where if you closed your eyes you'd sware it was really Tom Baker. The sketches themselves are hilarious as well as being topical with quite a bit of political satire thrown into the mix like most sketch comedies have. I'm glad now that the ABC has picked up this little gem even though I can't speak for other Australians. Overall it gets 10 out of 10 off me.

I love Dead Ringers. It is easily the best BBC Radio 4 sketch programme and I think that this is the medium it excels in. The television series though...well, it's alright. There are some bits that are extremely funny (particularly the 'Gladiator' spin-offs) but personally I don't think it should ever have gone to TV. Though the voices are accurate, the appearances are not - and, most importantly, there was no way of being able to show the Dr. Who "tell me, my friend, do you stock spare parts for a tardis" phone-calls (an absolute classic.) I much prefer hearing the voices of the chosen victims and picturing them in my mind than seeing an inaccurately portrayed celebrity on the TV (though Tony Blair is still very good!)

I really enjoyed this show when it was on BBC America. I thought that Jon Culshaw's impressions of Ricky Gervais, Simon Schama and Arnold Schwarzenegger were a riot. I especially loved his impression of Ozzy Osbourne. As for his impression of George W. Bush he got the voice dead on but he doesn't even bear a resemblance to him. Because of the show's hilarious impression of David Dickinson I even watched "Bargain Hunt" and no wonder they ape him. I haven't seen the actual people that they lampoon such as Greg Dyke, Michael Buerk, Kirsty Wark and a bunch of others that are too long to name so I can't tell you if they are accurate or not although some of the quotes that they attributed to these people were hilarious. I did enjoy the show when they did a special lampooning the presidential election last year. Of course they aped Bush but I liked the impressions of John Kerry and especially Michael Moore. The Christmas show was really hilarious and I loved the Ozzy Osbourne line. A very entertaining show.