Sitcom Mission 2011 review

Written by: Marc Blake
Published: Tuesday 19th July 2011

As UK sitcom is currently experiencing the doldrums, so too The Sitcom Mission finalists played it safe and offered no surprises. This year the format of the competition was changed so that much initial whittling of scripts was done and the early heats dispensed with. 1,200 entries were reduced to 32 and out of these just eight were performed. Five were chosen for the final: four by the producers and one by audience vote. The prize on offer was £5,000 and a pilot commission from Hat Trick Productions, so the stakes were high for the final five...

Having attended many of the shows, it became apparent the difference between a televisual medium and a theatrical one. A perfectly good script - directed and acted well and with precision timing - can suddenly struggle if it doesn't hit the ground running. In this respect it's more like stand-up, yet the comedian can call the situation and break the fourth wall, banter, beg or even start over again: this freedom is not given the actors, as there are no re-shoots here. Having said that, all television used to be done live, so forget any special pleading.

Eye Captain by Matthew Comras went first. It was the tale of three awkward air traffic controllers: semi-blind John, with his grandiose tales of some other life; lovelorn Virgil - a nut 'n' whisky freak; and uptight Harriet, who joined up trying to escape drudgery and has made a big mistake.

Though it ended on a groan, this one had huge potential. It came across as a real character piece, with elements of The IT Crowd dynamic and the oddities of Nightingales.

The Regulators was a European Union comedy written by a German (Falko Rademacher) and remained mercifully free of clichés until it came to the Mata Hari comedy Frenchwoman spy. Not quite a Ja Minister, it touched upon Brussels bureaucracy without ever rifling the dispatch box.

Its strength lay in the dry wit and sardonic undermining of the English character (Martin) by his German counterpart (Hans). I wondered though, whether this would find an audience on mainstream British TV?

The Box by Russell Obeney was a sitcom of two halves. Football and fandom are notoriously difficult to get across on the page and this wasn't quite Premiership material. Emily wants to get pregnant by Michael, who would rather spend his Saturdays with his oldest mate Tony in their executive box. Only now Tony has gone and got himself a new woman. Both she (we are led to believe) and Emily will threaten the boy's natural pursuits. A nice conceit but does this have legs for series after series?

The dedication to one's team is an interesting trope to explore, but though the script did wisely keep to the off-pitch action it felt more like a short story or play. Football and comedy are uneasy bed partners because football isn't funny. It isn't even funny when it is ridiculous and mentioning the names of as many managers as possible won't help promote it to a higher division.

What Next? (Abigail Dooley and Emma Edwards) focused squarely on three 'sisters', two of whom were attempting to help/hinder their sibling to prepare for a job interview. Played with gusto and the odd visual gag, it at first looked promising; after all, how many sitcoms have properly explored the sisterhood dynamic? I didn't think this one did either, relying on showing their pants and 'dogging' misunderstandings.

There is a sitcom in here, but it was swamped by too much business on the surface. If they were the Brontës, then I'd like to see more of what goes on under the bonnet.

Finally there was In The Meantime, by the Black Sheep duo Ciaran Murtagh and Andrew Jones. Set on the high seas in 1498, Captain Horatio Selwyn is a hopeless idiot toff surrounded by all the seafaring scurvy swabs you'd expect, the grizzled Ship's mate, the Bosun and cook and nary a plank to walk as far as the eye can see. Overflowing with gags, it had 'Blackadder on Sea' stamped all over it. It ripped along at full steam and left us high and dry by the end. Again though, it's hard to see this playing out over a whole series, or having the sea legs for two or more. I hope to be proven wrong.

Last year's winner (Thunderer) was a period piece, and the audience's favourite on laughs and applause was certainly In The Meantime. The comedy heads of commissioning may beg to differ.

In my opinion it was something of a fallow year for The Sitcom Mission, despite their attempt to be more assiduous in script selection. Having said that, the standard was high and getting higher. They, and the actors and directors and most especially the writers have all worked tirelessly and for nothing and they deserve a bumper crop.

To find out more about The Sitcom Mission visit the Sitcom Mission website

Marc Blake is an author, script consultant, teacher and stand-up performer of over 20 years experience. His new book, How NOT To Write A Sitcom is out now.