Alan Alda
- American
- Actor
Press clippings
Radio Times review
There are unassuming 50th birthday celebrations and there are 50th birthdays that go large. BBC Two is aiming for the latter as far as I can tell, and the great big cake with sparklers and a dancing girl inside is this two-hour comedy retrospective.
They've got everyone along, from The Goodies to Alan Alda to Vic 'n' Bob to several Pythons, all the stars of BBC2 donating soundbites to celebrate themselves and each other. It makes for one mammoth clip show, with things you've probably never seen before (Graham Chapman's post-Python sketch show Out of the Trees?) to things you wish you could un-see - (Tubbs breastfeeding a pig on The League of Gentlemen...) Plus, of course, a man beating a car bonnet with a branch.
It's a comedy banquet, but a banquet of nibbles: we get only a tiny taste of each classic. How about a season where shows like The Day Today and Big Train get full-length repeats? Now that would be a party.
David Butcher, Radio Times, 24th May 2014