Hugh Skinner

Preview - The Windsors

The comedy spoofing the lives of the Royal Family in the style of an American soap opera returns for a second series.

Fleabag, series 1 review

At first glance BBC Three's new sitcom Fleabag may give the illusion of being like any other modern day sitcom. A young, attractive but troubled lead with a turbulent love life, an uptight sister and a struggling small business; what more could writer and Fleabag Phoebe Waller-Bridge bring to the table? But within the first episode the narrative is already swept in an interesting direction, with the suggestion of darker aspects to this person's life than one might previously have assumed.

Review: Fleabag, BBC Three, episode 2

It is sometimes said that you can't engage with a comedy with a lead character you can't like in some way, though that never held back Fawlty, Rigsby or Brent. And despite the fact that Fleabag is clearly messed up in umpteen ways - broken home, porn-obsessed, dead friend - she is hardly sympathetic. But gradually one does warm to her. She is fragile, damaged and just looking for love in all the wrong places. You can't really hold that against her.

Fleabag: modern life is rubbish is BBC3's newest comedy

Greedy. Perverted. Selfish. Apathetic. Cynical. Depraved. Just some of the adjectives that the titular Fleabag uses to describe her life in the opening episode of this new BBC3 sitcom and over the course of the half hour, she definitely manages to tick the boxes on all of the above.

There were more laughs in The Windsors than there were in the frankly bizarre Flowers. The Windsors comes from team behind the long-forgotten Star Stories and imagines the royal family as the stars of a Dallas-style soap opera. Obviously some of the jokes are quite obvious such as everybody fawning over Pippa Middleton's arse and Fergie (Katy Wix) being a complete embarrassment to the entire royal family. However there were some gems among the myriad of gags most notably the Middletons gypsy heritage which Kate (Louise Ford) is still proud of to this day. The bizarre soapy elements of The Windsors also lend a sense of ridiculousness to the show which is keen to demonstrate the fact it doesn't take itself too seriously. The main thrust of the plot is that Charles and Camilla (Harry Enfield and Haydn Gwynne) are worried that the line of succession is going to skip a generation as Wills and Kate are much more popular than they are. Camilla's plot to take down Kate by getting her to dress as a pirate during a military amputee ball was an inspired gag as is the central plot thread of the Duchess of Cornwall attempting to have another child. Other highlights included Harry (Richard Goulding) not being able to differentiate between the many blondes he's been linked to and Wills' (Hugh Skinner) need to become a helicopter pilot again. But my favourite characters was the frankly clueless sisters Beatrice and Eugenie (Ellie White and Celeste Dring) who attempted to start an online make-up tips business to make some much needed cash. Although The Windsors didn't always hang together it did a good job at both creating larger-than-life versions of our royal family and at the same time staying true to its soap opera spoof style. The majority of the cast looked like they were having a good time and I was particularly fond of W1A's Hugh Skinner's performance as the affable William who tried to balance his duty with his love of flying. In fact the only person who slightly spoiled the show for me was Morgana Robinson who, despite being a fine impressionist, was a bit out of place here in her role as Pippa Middleton. While nobody should go into The Windsors expecting the next big comedy hit it's good to have a bit of satirical fun on the box once in a while. Additionally I feel that Channel Four have definitely made the right decision by putting it on on a Friday

The Windsors, Channel 4, review

There's some mildly subversive satire in there if you look hard enough.

The Windsors - a real blast of punk comedy

I'm not bang up to date on treasonous acts and how to avoid them, but the writers and cast of The Windsors probably shouldn't expect an invitation to a Buckingham Palace garden party any time soon.