Press clippings Page 49
It's no use trying to hold out in the face of this daft Dickens spoof. Better to abandon yourself to its rich figgy pudding of rampant silliness.
The idea is a loose relation of Radio 4's Bleak Expectations, with added visuals of London's brick alleyways, street urchins and wind-up top hats. Robert Webb plays our shopkeeper hero, Jedrington Secret-Past, whose emporium (selling treats such as hot and spicy dodo wings) and perfect family - including wife Conceptiva (Katherine Parkinson) - are hauled off by the wicked Skulkingworm (Stephen Fry) to meet an unpaid debt.
What follows involves a lot of twiddly wordplay ("Oh, fiddlesticks and violin twigs!"), sight gags, pratfalls, treacle dependency, peals of wicked laughter and a man with a goose for a hat.
David Butcher, Radio Times, 19th December 2011My TV Christmas cracker: The Bleak Old Shop of Stuff
The Mark Evans-scripted comedy series kicks off with a truly festive special starring Robert Webb and Stephen Fry.
Julia Raeside, The Guardian, 19th December 2011If you've ever failed to work out the precise purpose of QI, it may help to think of it as in some respects a kind of televisual equivalent of I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue. The show's very pointlessness, unless you're someone with ambitions to bore for Britain on arcane knowledge, is a great part of its charm. Anyway, this year's Christmas episode finds Stephen Fry posing questions on the theme of ice to Brian Blessed, Sean Lock, Ross Noble and Alan Davies.
Jonathan Wright, The Guardian, 19th December 2011If you're a glutton for Dickens (and you'll need to be, with the BBC already stuffing its schedules with the forthcoming bicentenary of his birth), jolly spoofery abounds in The Bleak Old Shop of Stuff, which features Robert Webb as an upstanding Victorian retailer of nonsense items thrown into sudden penury by bewhiskered evil Stephen Fry in a stovepipe hat. Ah, what larks, trying to out-grotesque the master, though the irrepressible, unending fun of it can jam your parody receptors after a while.
Phil Hogan, The Observer, 18th December 2011Stephen Fry: 'Peter Jackson had me eating testicles'
Stephen Fry has said that he plays a "very gross figure" in Peter Jackson's upcoming Lord of the Rings prequel The Hobbit.
Stella Papamichael and Mayer Nissim, Digital Spy, 16th December 2011Stephen Fry gets piercing for I've Never Seen Star Wars
Stephen Fry has had his ear pierced for a TV show.
The Sun, 14th December 2011It's never too early to start feeling festive, right? The Bleak Old Shop of Stuff might be airing midway through December, but it's the perfect show to get you in the mood. From the writer who pens the popular Radio 4 series Bleak Expectations, this Dickensian spoof focuses on a shopkeeper - played by Robert Webb. Actually, the cast is perfect: Stephen Fry, David Mitchell, Katherine Parkinson and Celia Imrie are among the stars taking part. Both silly and a period drama - should be fun winter viewing.
Digital Spy, 7th December 2011Stephen Fry to snub social networking for Amnesty
Actor/author Stephen Fry is turning his back on his beloved Twitter blog to pen a poignant letter to mark Amnesty International's new campaign.
The Daily Express, 28th November 2011Stephen Fry backs campaign to save China's tigers
Stephen Fry has urged his fans to back a campaign to stop the trade of tiger skins in China.
The Daily Express, 25th November 2011Twitter wars between Russell Brand and Stephen Fry
It's @rustyrockets v @stephenfry for the UK Twitter crown, but who are the other biggest Tweeters in the business?
Tim Glanfield, Radio Times, 24th November 2011