Press clippings Page 22
Dawn French to perform Thought For The Day as The Vicar Of Dibley
Dawn French is to perform a special Thought For The Day on Radio 4 in character as Geraldine Granger from the hit BBC sitcom The Vicar Of Dibley.
British Comedy Guide, 6th March 2014Why Stewart Lee is wrong about slapstick
In his TV series Comedy Vehicle Lee pours scorn on slapstick by berating Del Boy's fall through the bar for being voted number one in a Funniest TV Momentclip show: "Is that really what we've come to, Britain? Del Boy falling through a bar, and Trigger making a face?!" Significantly, many of the other top clips were also sight gags - Cleese's silly walks, Dawn French collapsing into a puddle... It seems that 80 years since the advent of sound technology we still favour the sight gag over the verbal. Why?
Julian Dutton, The Huffington Post, 3rd March 2014Dawn French announces first live solo tour
Dawn French has announced she is to tour the UK with her first ever solo show, titled 30 Million Minutes. The star says she is 'sick with excitement'.
British Comedy Guide, 24th February 2014First in an anthology squeezed from the brains of Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith, with each darkly diverse tale unfolding within a different residence numbered nine. In this opener, which features Katherine Parkinson, Anne Reid and Timothy West, a country manor hosts an uncomfortable game of sardines between a family long since grown apart. A slow burner compared with the episodes that follow, but a decent introduction to a series stylistically similar to criminally disregarded Dawn French vehicle Murder Most Horrid.
Mark Jones, The Guardian, 5th February 2014Jennifer Saunders: Ab Fab the movie is happening
Saunders jokes that the film has to happen after Dawn French bet her £100,000 that it wouldn't.
Emma Daly, Radio Times, 4th January 2014The longevity of their working and personal relationship tells in the entirely natural flow of conversation between Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders. It's like opening the door on two schoolgirls in an unstoppable stream-of-consciousness natter and not being told to get lost. In fact, it's quite the opposite. Dawn French says: "'Tis the season to be jolly, after all, so please do join us. It would be rude and silly not to, wouldn't it?"
So, they might talk about their favourite vegetable or which celebrity is the most adept at snogging. The content is unpredictable because it is not scripted - just ideas springing forth, being nurtured and, if necessary, crushed with the force that only a mother knows how to use. Star guests are guaranteed, not the least being fellow comedian Victoria Wood.
If nothing in this show makes you laugh get a friend or relative to check that you're still alive.
Jane Anderson, Radio Times, 24th December 201310 minutes with Jennifer Saunders
Jennifer Saunders on getting tattooed with Dawn French and Wikipedia.
Evening Standard, 11th October 2013The accidental crime-fighters negotiate an end to the bungled hostage situation they are caught up in, but instead of returning home the pair are drawn deeper into a strange criminal underworld. James Corden and Mat Baynton's comedy is reminiscent of the high-concept farce of The Comic Strip Presents, with its inept baddies and hopeless protagonists. (Comic Strip alumna Dawn French cameos as Corden's overbearing mum.) Far slicker than its 1980s counterpart, it's just as charmingly silly.
Rachel Aroesti, The Guardian, 8th October 2013If you couldn't tell that The Wrong Mans was a Big Deal from the explosive trailers and high production values, then the quality of the supporting cast should confirm it: Dougray Scott, Sarah Solemani, Benedict Wong, Emilia Fox, Nick Moran, Dawn French, Tom Basden...
Even more impressively, each turn (Fox and French excepted, although we suspect there'll be more to come there) makes an impression, while creator-stars Mat Baynton and James Corden nail the odd couple dynamic that keeps this occasionally leaky vessel afloat. We join Sam (Baynton) and Phil (Corden) drifting further out of their depth at the hands of psychotic gangsters Moran and Wong, before a show-stopping presentation from Sam saves his professional hide while bringing the danger even closer to home.
It's in these collisions of the workaday and the white knuckle that The Wrong Mans works best, as the more traditional thriller elements stubbornly fail to coalesce with any conviction. But it's never dull and frequently very funny.
Gabriel Tate, Time Out, 1st October 2013Jennifer Saunders interview
The star of Absolutely Fabulous talks about Dawn French and Joanna Lumley, performing in front of militant audiences in the 80s - and why she wanted to write an 'all right' memoir.
Decca Atikenhead, The Guardian, 30th September 2013