Press clippings Page 27
With their grand houses and period settings, it's a wonder PG Wodehouse's work hasn't been plundered by television more often. Clive Exton's exuberant Nineties adaptations of Jeeves and Wooster, starring Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie, were highly successful, but there has been nothing since. However, judging by the iffy first episode of this new six-part series, based on the Blandings Castle stories and reworked by Guy Andrews, it seems that Wodehouse's precise comic world is pretty hard to pull off.
The problem lies not with the cast, which is certainly top-notch. Timothy Spall plays bumbling Lord Clarence Emsworth, more interested in pigs than people. Jennifer Saunders delights as his battleaxe sister Connie. And there's good work from Jack Farthing as Clarence's hapless son Freddie, and Mark Williams as Beach, the butler. But the episode can't quite sustain the necessary brio and the bonhomie eventually wears thin. Tonight's tale involves Clarence's rivalry with neighbour Sir Gregory Parsloe-Parsloe (Robert Bathurst) over a Fattest Pig competition and Connie's attempt to prevent niece Angela (Alice Orr-Ewing) from an unsuitable marriage.
Toby Dantzic, The Telegraph, 12th January 2013Video: BBC News preview of Blandings
Timothy Spall and Jennifer Saunders star in a new television series set in 1929 and based on the Blandings Castle comedy stories by PG Wodehouse. Saunders jokes that the comedy series is "more realistic" than the hit ITV drama Downton Abbey.
BBC News, 11th January 2013Meet the cast of BBC1's comedy drama Blandings
Timothy Spall, Jennifer Saunders and a pig star in the Sunday night adaptation of PG Wodehouse's stories.
Ellie Walker-Arnott, Radio Times, 10th January 2013Do you remember the day you discovered Kettle crisps? Dawn French does: it was at Kirsty MacColl's house, apparently - and amazing they were too. A revolution in fried potatoes that was up there in hers and Jennifer Saunders's list of top 10 nibbles, as shared with the nation over four daft minutes of primetime Christmas Day radio (French and Saunders, Radio 2). "I had some lovely nuts last night," giggled Saunders. Schoolgirl stuff, it's true, but French and Saunders always mined gold from the silliest, most irreverent material. And so, Dawn French dumped Simon Cowell live on air for Gary Barlow, hoping she would stop having to read Hello! magazine to keep tabs on her celebrity boyfriend. Saunders, thoroughly English in her expert self-deprecation, reeled off a list of prestigious awards her badly reviewed Spice Girl musical, Viva Forever, had won, while French gently ribbed her for her post-cancer press coverage. "You're not even brave any more!"
Best of all was the surprise kiss and tell on celebrity snoggers. Having smooched George Clooney, David Beckham and Brad Pitt over the years, French told Emma Bunton (who popped up on the Someone And Their Mum feature) that none of the world's hottest men came close to matching her real favourite: Jamie Theakston (who knew?), former children's TV presenter and Bunton's breakfast show co-host on Heart FM. But mostly it was a joy to simply listen to French and Saunders chatter in the background of my mum's busy kitchen, emitting exactly the right frequency of festive jolliness without being smug or irritating. No mean feat - you just wish they would do more shows.
Nosheen Iqbal, The Guardian, 27th December 2012Santa delivers a double header of festive banter tonight. For Alan Carr's final show, Gordon Ramsay discusses his Christmas Day cook-along, Ian McKellen talks about The Hobbit, and music comes from Kylie. Graham Norton's sofa looks more A-list, with Hollywood actor Dustin Hoffman alongside Billy Connolly, one of the stars of Hoffman's directorial debut, Quartet. Doctor Who's Matt Smith and Jennifer Saunders round off the foursome.
Vicki Power, The Telegraph, 20th December 2012Jennifer Saunders Spice Girls musical panned by critics
When Jennifer Saunders and Judy Craymer read the reviews, they were crestfallen to find the verdicts mostly ranged from luke-warm to scathing.
Dan Wootton, Daily Mail, 20th December 2012Jennifer Saunders: from Comic Strip to Spice Girls
TV comedian's first foray into musical theatre - Viva Forever!, based on the Spice Girls' music - opens in London this week
Mark Brown, The Guardian, 11th December 2012Jennifer Saunders 'was the sixth Spice Girl'
The Absolutely Fabulous comedian has written a musical comprised of their biggest hits Viva Forever! which premiered in London last night.
Matilda Battersby, The Independent, 11th December 2012Going for an Indian with Jennifer Saunders
A night with the comedian during the filming of Girls on Top in 1985.
John Hind, The Observer, 9th December 2012How Jennifer Saunders laughed through her chemotherapy
How did Jennifer Saunders keep her spirits up while being treated for breast cancer? With the music of the Spice Girls and a lot of vodka.
Chrissy Iley, The Telegraph, 22nd November 2012