British Comedy Guide

Jonathan Wright

  • Actor

Press clippings Page 3

For all W1A is, rather inevitably, sometimes too self-referential, there's still much fun to be had from the way the Auntie management-spoofing mockumentary nibbles at the hand that feeds. Tonight's highlights include the revelation Tony Hall is obsessed with pilates, and the notion Newsnight's Evan Davis might be "embedded" with Strictly Come Dancing rather than merely being a contestant. David Tennant's voiceover provides many of the best moments: "Ian has made an executive decision to be late for a meeting for once."

Jonathan Wright, The Guardian, 30th April 2015

Pity Elizabeth Gadge (Ruth Sheen). After being accused of consorting with the devil, she has to face two of England's most feared witch-finders, Clarke and Warren (Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith). She faces being burned at the stake, and her trial is the most exciting event in Little Happens since "the escaped cow". What unfolds, as the anthology series continues, is essentially a Hammer Horror played for laughs. As dimwitted local bigwig Sir Andrew Pike, David Warner quite brilliantly makes the most of every line he's given.

Jonathan Wright, The Guardian, 9th April 2015

The anthology series from Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith returns. We begin on a six-berth sleeper in France. Without giving too much away, expect fart jokes, an unpleasant discovery and, in a show that makes a virtue of its claustrophobic environs, mismatched passengers winding each other up. The script is a delight, with one line delivered by Jack Whitehall quite possibly the most gloriously tasteless you'll hear on television all year. Also starring Julie Hesmondhalgh and Mark Benton.

Jonathan Wright, The Guardian, 26th March 2015

The last time we met Conservative MP James Twottington-Burbage and Lib Dem Barnaby Plankton, they were surreptitiously fixing "Kick Me" signs to Ed Miliband's back and advising council estate residents to remortgage their children. In this spin-off from BBC Threes The Revolution Will Be Televised, Jolyon Rubinstein and Heydon Prowse return with more hidden camera pranks. Will clueless Labour MP Ewan Jeffries or prospective Ukip candidate Dennis Pound fare better with the public?

Jonathan Wright, The Guardian, 18th February 2015

And so Miranda Hart's jolly sitcom says farewell, its place in the nation's affections emphasised by a post-turkey timeslot when quite a large proportion of the population will be awake and even relatively sober. In the first of two episodes to wrap things up, Miranda has received two proposals, one from Gary and one from Mike. What will she do? Find out on New Year's Day when there's apparently a chance Miranda will finally learn to accept herself and find contentment, which all sounds dreadfully out of character.

Jonathan Wright, The Guardian, 19th December 2014

A Steve Pemberton-scripted adaptation of EF Benson's arch novels of small-town social snobbery. Mapp And Lucia may seem to have comedy gold written all over it, but in truth this opener takes too long to get going and, for all everyone involved seems to be having fun, at moments lacks pace and zing. Things improve, however, once busybody Elizabeth Mapp (Miranda Richardson) and regal Emmeline Lucas, AKA Lucia (Anna Chancellor), begin to battle in earnest to lead Tilling society. Continues tomorrow and New Year's Eve.

Jonathan Wright, The Guardian, 19th December 2014

Appropriately enough, the theme in the final documentary in the series looking at the work of Dad's Army and It Ain't Half Hot Mum creators Jimmy Perry and David Croft is how the duo's writing was so often concerned with the end of an era. This meant they wrote about old ideas as these faded, and as new British identities emerged. It's a notion replete with possibilities: Captain Mainwaring as an arch conservative yet also representing the rise of grammar school boys in the era of Heath and Wilson, anyone?

Jonathan Wright, The Guardian, 13th December 2014

Drawing extensively on his own words, home movies and the recollections of family and friends, this is a doc that beautifully tells the story of Spike Milligan's life, including much on his battles with depression. And does far more, too, because 90 minutes in the company of The Goon Show's chief creator acts not just as a reminder of how influential he was, but makes you keenly miss his anarchic spirit.

Jonathan Wright, The Guardian, 10th December 2014

The series charting the careers of Jimmy Perry and David Croft, the duo behind sitcoms Dad's Army, Are You Being Served? and more, considers what their work tells us about attitudes towards love and sex in Britain in the 20th century. This is, when you consider Sergeant Wilson's relationship with Mavis Pike, at least in part a story of how the British are adept at making things perfectly well understood yet left unsaid. It's a story about class, too, expressed in the way Hi-de-Hi! yellowcoat Gladys Pugh yearns for a bit of posh.

Jonathan Wright, The Guardian, 29th November 2014

The tall stories (some true, some not) comedy panel show returns for an eighth series. Its longevity has much to do with the way host Rob Brydon, plus team captains Lee Mack and David Mitchell, get close to the knuckle without taking things too far for primetime, a tricky balancing act when Mitchell discusses the lead-up to an alleged vomiting incident ("There was definitely drinking, I think there might have been crisps ... "). First guests are Fiona Bruce, Micky Flanagan, Steve Jones and Claudia Winkleman.

Jonathan Wright, The Guardian, 12th September 2014

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