|
David Mitchell and Robert Webb return to their radio roots
with this third fantastic series, which finds them in their
finest ever sketch-show form. Meet the Stone Age flint-chipper
who reckons bronze is just a fad; the very unpleasant man
who wants to take you out on a little date; another thrilling
adventure with Sir Digby Chicken-Caesar; the world’s
most mismatched rally-driving couple; Zombie Poppins, the
undead nanny; and Asbo, the naughty baby seal who offers dubious
advice about text messaging. Whether sniping at “citizen
journalism”, predictable radio plays, reality TV or football
fans, here are lots of silly and clever sketches, with laugh-out-loud
humour and painfully funny dialogue...
Thank goodness Mitchell and Webb haven’t turned their
backs on their radio series. Amusing though it was, the television
version of this show, That Mitchell and Webb Look wasn’t
quite up to the standard of the Sony Award-winning radio version.
I’m also pleased to report that this third series is
not merely a testing ground for potential television material.
Indeed, many of the more surreal ideas are defiantly unfilmable,
including the reality TV spoof Celebrity Fame Zeppelin,
the morbid Zombie Poppins, and - my personal favourite - Asbo
Zaprudder (Robert Webb), the talking baby seal who offers
very dodgy texting advice. The duo’s tradition for anthropomorphising
animals continues: in addition to Asbo, there’s also
a fox (Webb again) who, since the hunting ban came into effect,
cunningly sells his services like a prostitute (“Of course
I’m cunning - I’m a fox”).
The one and only concession to the success of the recent BBC
TWO series is an appearance by Sir Digby Chicken-Caesar (Webb),
who had previously been known as Sir Digby Caesar-Salad on
the radio. Snooker commentators Peter and Ted are absent this
time around, though instead we get a new recurring character:
an insulting man (Webb) who reduces women (always Olivia Colman)
to tears as a way of encouraging them to go out with him on
“a little date”. The panellists on Imagine That
return, imagining themselves being teenagers again - but this
time with proper pubic hair and the ability to actually talk
to members of the opposite sex.
As usual, there are more recurrences of theme than of character.
For instance, the comedians pour scorn on pointless news coverage,
as presenters urge viewers and listeners to email their ill-informed
opinions (during the three-part Over to You skit); we realise
how it’s always either too early or too late to speculate
on facts (in Speculate to Accumulate); and Webb plays an interviewer
who is anything but hard-hitting. The pair also ridicule football
supporters for their inability to separate their team’s
accomplishments from their own (in We) and football managers
for their inability to see anything beyond the score (in The
Main Thing is the Three Points). They also seem to hold a
fascination for tour guides, with no fewer than five sketches
dealing with embittered and lonely or mischievous guides,
the former type played by David Mitchell, the latter played
by Webb.
Mitchell’s rapid-fire and/or verbose delivery is particularly
impressive during this series, in enthusiastic routines such
as Celebrity Fame Zeppelin and spoof adverts for useless
periodicals and partworks such as Buy Me!, Car-Hate
Cheese-Love magazine, Chicken-Ambivalence Tap-Ambivalence
(“You don’t actually need to buy it”) and the
complete works of Charles Dickens, at a rate of one page per
week (“Heritage Masterpieces - helping you to make us
richer”). He reminds me of the great Robbie Barker at
times.
As ever, there’s material here that will appeal particularly
to we fans of sci-fi, with references to invading aliens in
Over to You Part 3; Raiders of the Lost Ark in We;
Zombie Poppins; and a sketch involving He-Man’s bad back.
Love Mitchell and love Webb? Then you need That Mitchell
and Webb Sound: Series Three! Buy it!
Richard
McGinlay
Buy
this item online
We
compare prices online so you get the cheapest
deal! Click on the logo of the desired store
below to purchase this item.
|
|
|
£9.58
(Amazon.co.uk) |
| |
|
|
|
£9.99
(Play.com) |
| |
|
|
|
£13.99
(HMV.co.uk) |
| |
|
|
|
£9.99
(BBCshop.com) |
| |
|
|
|
£10.97
(Thehut.com) |
All prices correct at time of going to press.
|
|
