DVD Review: Harry Hill's TV Burp Gold 3
Published: Wednesday 1st December 2010
Who would have guessed when the last decade began, that one of the most consistently funny series of the decade would not only be screened on rubbish old ITV but would be essentially a clips show fronted by Harry Hill?
But so it is. Like Vic & Bob on Shooting Stars, Hill seems much more in his element in the family friendly TV Burp environment than he did on his own surreal 1990s Channel 4 series. And while taking the piss out of the likes of Dean Gaffney on Ghost Hunting might seem like a cheap route to an easy laugh, as the accompanying Behind The Burp feature on the DVD proves, a huge amount of effort in fact goes into the production. Staging set pieces such as a giant crow attacking Albert Square isn't as easy as it sounds.
If there has been a weakness on the show lately, it has been that ongoing running storylines - such as the tedious Wagbo saga on the most recent series - have rather overtaken the second half of the programme. Happily, in this case, The K Factor - an X Factor spoof in which knitted toys compete for stardom - is isolated to the bonus features section, where, it must be said, it works a lot better than it did on the actual show.
Otherwise, there's about an hour of the usual stuff here condensed from the series. But the usual stuff - whether it be the much heralded "TV Highlight of the Week" (inevitably, the most hilariously banal clip imaginable), "Poetry Corner" or the celebrated weekly fight sequence - is always very good.
So sit back and enjoy. While it's a shame copyright issues make it unlikely any series of TV Burp will ever be released on its own, this compilation is the next best thing.
And if you've never seen this before and are wondering if you'll like it? Well, there's only one way to find out...
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