Christopher Eccleston

Brian Pern - a knowing parody of the rock eulogy

Following the unofficial year of celebrity death that was 2016, another victim has been claimed by the great Rock'n'Roll Hall of Fame in the sky.

Simon Day reveals the fate of Brian Pern

Simon Day's BBC4 superstar was the subject of a spoof obituary - but it seems there could be life in the old rocker yet...

Some spot-on characterisations in the second part of the latest Pern mockumentary: from Thotch's replacement singer with a coke problem ("The night that my arse fell out was a low point") and Brian's Osbourne-alike kids ("His children have a funny accent, neither English nor American") to Christopher Eccleston's producer: "Without Brian there'd be no Beady Eye, no Shed Seven ... he's got a fucking lot to answer for." All this, and divorcing one's wife via Ceefax.

Radio Times review

"In part two of this revealing but convoluted documentary," says narrator Rhys Thomas, our man Brian (Simon Day) enters the US Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. This prompts a retrospective. In the 1970s and 80s, Brian enjoyed mainstream success, pitched here somewhere between Peter Gabriel and Dire Straits; meanwhile, Thotch carried on without their departed talisman, regrouping as an outfit very similar to Rumours-era Fleetwood Mac.

This is the funniest Pern yet. Every line of Thomas and Day's script brings a laugh, and even the editing and archive shots are carefully loaded with absurdity. Scorching guest turns come from Christopher Eccleston as the producer of Brian's awful Madchester LP, and Jane Asher as an apoplectic ex-wife.

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