Alistair McGowan

Interview: Alistair McGowan

Master impressionist Alistair McGowan has no worries mimicking Roy Hodgson's speech impediment.

More topical sporting impressions, silly clips and irreverent sketches from Alistair McGowan, in what's trying to be Harry Hill's TV Burp - but he's wearing shorts rather than big collars. With Euro 2012 football, French Open tennis and Test cricket, not to mention the build-up to the London Olympics, there are plenty of talking points for McGowan to get his teeth into.

When Harry Hill's TV Burp aired for the final time I mentioned that I hoped that ITV1 would cancel the show rather than find someone else to take over as host because it simply would not be the same. It seems ITV1 agreed. That said, instead of ressurecting TV Burp with a new host they're just ripped the entire format for this new sports satire starring Alistair McGowan.

Obviously, You Cannot Be Serious! covers different topics and has a different host, but the format is almost identical. The show begins with a Have I Got News for You style weekly round up featuring funny clips - most of the comedy comes from looking at recent TV footage (along with voice-over impressions), special guests making cameos and the show ends in a song. However, given that Harry Hill is credited as an executive producer, perhaps these similarities are not surprising. At least there's no fight in the middle, otherwise the show might have breached copyright law.

There are some unique touches, however, that make this show differ from its predecessor.

For starters, due to McGowan's impressionist abilities, he can do the voice of Adrian Chiles while interviewing himself playing Roy Hodgson on a pre-recorded segement (complete with a large false nose).

For me, though, the similarities outweigh the originality. I can understand why ITV1 wants to replicate the success of TV Burp, but I wished they could do something a bit more inspiring. The show's also fundamentally flawed. Namely, everyone who owns a TV set would have a slight interest in watching TV Burp, but not all TV viewers are keen on sport, so I would presume that audience figures may be hampered...

And finally, I've got another complaint: you know the sketch featuring Far Eastern athletes knocking into hurdles? I don't mind seeing the footage, but did they really have to call one of the athletes Lu Sing Now?

I'm not the only one a little uncomfortable, right?

You Cannot Be Serious! review

As you would imagine with Alistair McGowan's past experiences, the highlights of the show are the impressions themselves, with the comic expertly capturing the mannerisms of England manager Roy Hodgson.

Alistair McGowan's You Cannot Be Serious!

Alistair McGowan tells Jonathan Liew about the twist behind his new ITV sketch show, You Cannot Be Serious!

Taking its title from John McEnroe's infamous on-court diatribe against a tennis umpire, this new entertainment show, presented by Alistair McGowan, skewers all the funniest and quirkiest clips from the week's televised sport. Featuring sketches and impressions, too, it's essentially Harry Hill's TV Burp but for sport fans.

Interview: Alistair McGowan, impressionist and comedian

After a self-imposed exile from our screens, master of the mimic Alistair McGowan is back with a new series. Here he talks to Kate Whiting about his love of sport, winning a Bafta, and how his long-held impression that he had Scottish roots proved wildly off the mark.

Alistair McGowan: 'Hodgson, Neville perfect for show'

Alistair McGowan has teased some of his sporting impressions for his new ITV show. The comedian will begin hosting a new series of You Cannot Be Serious! this weekend, which includes topical impersonations of sportsmen and women, along with various other celebrities.

As Alec Guinness did in the 1949 film version of Kind Hearts and Coronets, Alistair McGowan took all the parts of all the Gascoynes (D'Ascoynes in the film) and - with the possible exception of his Lady Edith - did so nimbly and amusingly. Natalie Walter as the ruthless Unity (the Dennis Price part) impressed. It was the script that limped, always a minute behind listener expectation.

David Spicer's Kind Hearts and Coronets - Like Father, Like Daughter, a sequel to the 1949 Ealing comedy in which Alec Guinness played all eight members of the D'Ascoyne family murdered by Louis Mazzini so he can become the 10th Earl of Chalfont, achieved something quite different. This delightful comedy kept the lightness of touch of the original while imbuing the drama with ironic references for a contemporary audience. Spicer's ingenuity in matching the method of despatch to the victim added to the fun.

Natalie Walter was spectacular - droll, manipulative yet likeable, as Unity the illegitimate daughter of Louis, hanged for his litany of dynastic murders. Born with the same sense of entitlement, Unity set about murdering her father's wife, Lady Edith Gascoyne and five of her six children, the entire family played in an astonishing vaudevillian style by Alistair McGowan, the personality and fate of each somehow embodied in phonics and inflections.