Bob Servant

Bob Servant's guide to the idependence referendum

Dundee's man of the people answers the vital questions about Scotland's vote for independence.

Bob Servant and how not to run a political campaign

With only five weeks to plan and execute a winning campaign, there's not a lot of room for errors in judgment or personal scandals. Yet Bob single-mindedly plunges ahead, making all sorts of questionable choices.

Four episodes in and this comedy about a deluded wannabe politician in the Scottish town of Broughty Ferry is still failing to live up to expectations. The books (and subsequent radio show) by Neil Forsyth have gained quite a following but this series is just not funny, despite the best efforts of Brian Cox in the title role. Tonight Servant, ahead of the by-election, messes up a television interview when answering a question about his political ambitions by saying he wants to be seen as Annie Lennox. His mother (Sheila Reid) doesn't help his cause by telling a journalist that her son has "a head full of mince".

Brian Cox has given life to a great new comic monster here, a man who blazes through life offending everyone in his path without ever losing his enormous self-belief. Neil Forsyth's comedy features the prize idiot previously known for his letter-writing in books and on Radio 4, who's now running chaotically for Parliament: Dundee cheeseburger magnate Bob Servant. Cox brilliant makes the most of an already very funny, bewilderingly silly script. "Phone the internet" and catch up with it...

Laboured and creaky - a comedy to miss

How on earth to describe this desperate new series, a comedy that is so laboured and creaky, so utterly plodding and pleased with itself, so desperately old-fashioned and so pathetically in love with its own processes that spending even ten minutes in its company is like sitting next to the worst and most pompous pub bore you can possibly imagine.

This would-be politician is what you might call "in your face". His alphabet omits the letters P and C, and his self-opinion is so inflated he should be reported to Air Traffic Control. The sudden death of Broughty Ferry's sitting MP has sparked him into action; he's waited his whole life to be in the spotlight and he'll do and say anything to keep it shining on him.

This week Bob (Brian Cox) and his heroically inept campaign manager Frank meet slick opponent Nick Edwards, whose wife promises humiliation for Bob. It feels as though we should be rooting for the little guy - would that we had a vestige of sympathy for him.

On BBC Four, there's a new series based on a comedy character who's already had success on radio...

If you've not seen Bob Servant, Independent, it's about a businessman from the Tayside coastal town of Broughty Ferry, who made his name after coming out victorious in the town's "Cheeseburger Wars". The story follows Bob's plans to stand in the local by-election as an independent candidate...

The opening episode started off well, but like Bob's campaign, it seemed to peter out towards the end. The best part of this episode saw Bob (Brian Cox) launch his campaign on local radio. During the interview and phone-in with the resident DJ (played by Greg McHugh), Bob manages to please one or two people with some on-the-spot ideas, but offends hundreds more in the process. His biggest 'controversy' comes with his plan to stop dog fouling in the local park by banning all dogs from it. If a dog does enter the park, he plans to shoot it. Bang.

There were some a few other highlights - like Bob's attempts to appeal to young voters at a primary school, but near the end - when he tries to sort out the mess he's caused - the show just seemed to fade.

Bob Servant Independent (Wednesday, BBC Four) was a slight sitcom which missed a comic trick by not treating its subject, politics, more seriously. The new remake of Yes, Prime Minster, which I will review on another occasion, shows how this can be done.

A shame, because the premise wasn't bad: that people with big egos who are successful in one field often think they can walk into a second career in politics (think Esther Rantzen who stood as an independent in Luton at the last election). The eponymous, would-be politician in this six-part comedy was a burger magnate played by Brian Cox (the other one). In terms of his appearance he was clearly meant to resemble a certain maverick MP with a Scottish accent and a moustache, but the one we're thinking of, the highly litigious one, cares deeply about his politics, whereas this character was shallow beyond belief.

The result was farcical and predicable: when the campaign poster was unveiled - "Vote Bob Servant because you know him and he's OK" - Servant was bound to do an indignant double take. There is nothing wrong in having a proud and pompous figure constantly undermined - Captain Mainwaring is the supreme example - but Servant lacked the necessary dignity to carry it off. In consequence, this was instantly forgettable.

MPs and comedy - a match made in Heaven?

Two MPs with a good sense of humour and a thick skin reviewed the BBC's latest political comedy, Bob Servant Independent, for The Week in Parliament.

TV Review: Bob Servant Independent

Next week seems to promise the introduction of the rival candidate, Nick Edwards. Perhaps giving Bob someone - other than the public - to rail against will provide more shape to the character and some actual laughs.