Psychobitches

Psychobitches preview

Speaking at the BAFTA screening, Jeremy Dyson said "It was the most terrific idea, because I love sketch shows, I've worked on a lot of sketch shows. But the problem with the sketch show is always the format. Usually you struggle for a reason for the sketches to be together, and this was such a strong format. Such a great idea because you can go anywhere with it, but be in one room. That was one thing, and the other thing was that it was all women."

Psychobitches, stars Rebecca Front as a therapist whose patient roster consists solely of famous women from throughout history. Essentially an excuse for a fast-paced series of disconnected sketches, this simple premise is only semi-successfully executed by co-writer/director Jeremy Dyson from The League of Gentlemen.

Resembling a surreal parody of the great In Treatment, the series begins with a neat visual gag involving Rosa Parks - I suspect that's the first and last time I'll ever place those words in that order - before roaring into gear with Front's Grandma's House co-star Samantha Spiro delivering a pitch-perfect evisceration of Audrey Hepburn's irritatingly kooky screen persona.

Unfortunately, it then devotes far too much time to a mirthless series of Brontë sisters sketches - no, it wouldn't be hilarious if they were portrayed as gruff, foul-mouthed northerners - and Julia Davis as Sylvia Plath, which, while beautifully performed, hammers its one joke into the ground. Elsewhere, Frances Barber and a dragged-up Mark Gatiss (Dyson's League of Gentlemen cohorts crop up throughout the series) sell the hell out of a warring Bette Davis and Joan Crawford, but without banishing memories of French & Saunders' superior take on their feud. The only other sketch that really takes flight is Sharon Horgan as a glamorously self-obsessed Eva Peron.

As an excuse for a cast of talented, funny women to show off their versatility, Psychobitches is a success. But reducing Front to a straight role feels like a waste of her abilities, which merely adds to the overall air of mild disappointment.

Psychobitches will help female comedy take centre stage

Male comedians get to catch-up and have a beer back stage regularly, but we women hardly ever see each other professionally - which is why I'm thrilled to be working on the Psychobitches, an all star, all-female TV show coming next year, says Katy Brand.

Psychobitches was hilarious: notable women from history psychoanalysed by Rebecca Front. Best was Edith Piaf who lay on the couch and produced a list: "1958, 1959, most of 1960, buying those overpriced dusters from that rough boy who came to the door on Thursday afternoon, my lesbian phase, wearing rollerblades to my father's funeral, my reggae phase, the hit and run, both hit and runs..." Front: "So quite a few regrets, then?"

The central conceit was that a succession of famous women from history subject themselves to the enquiries of a shrink, played with cooing aplomb by Rebecca Front. Joan of Arc is shown to be a petulant teen in a breastplate who justifies herself by saying "God made me do it", Eva Braun lists the virtues of her new boyfriend ("When he walks into a room, everyone really respects him") before confiding, "He might be a bit of a racist", and Beatrix Potter reveals that animals tell her mucky stories.

I laughed immoderately at Sharon Horgan's portrayal of Frida Kahlo with a long droopy moustache, blithely ignoring the shrink's subtle enquiries ("Is it possible that you've ... cultivated something that might be keeping him at arm's length?") and at Sheila Reid doing Mother Teresa as a chain-smoking Northern harridan. But the humour relied tiresomely on the juxtaposition of primness and smut, on Jane Austen and blowjobs, the Bible and bonking. In one sketch, Mary Whitehouse reveals a liking for gay porn. Mary Whitehouse? Which decade are we in now?

At times I wished the women had been invited to improvise. They might have brought some welcome diversion from the writers' one-track minds.

'Wearing rollerblades to my father's funeral. My reggae phase. Going to Butlin's and sucking off that redcoat...' These, in case you were wondering, are among the many regrets of Edith Piaf. They give a good flavour of Psychobitches, this 'Playhouse' closer which imagines the musings of (in)famous female figures on the psychiatrist's couch. Mary Whitehouse is obsessed with Tom of Finland, Mother Theresa smokes, swears and gives of an air of simmering menace and Eva Braun is walking on air after meeting a new fella ('he's really going places'). The targets are soft and many of the gags verge on the obvious. But it's brought gleefully to life by another superb cast which includes Sharon Horgan, Rebecca Front, Sam Spiro and Catherine Tate. Not big or clever, but its unapologetic silliness carries the day.

The performances in Psychobitches are funnier than the one-track script in the latest addition to the Playhouse strand. Directed by Jeremy Dyson (The League of Gentlemen), the comedy sees a succession of famous women apparently revealing their true selves in front of a questioning psychiatrist (Rebecca Front, above). Cue an aggressive Mother Teresa (Sheila Reid), a lovestruck Eva Braun (Catherine Tate), a sex-obsessed Jane Austen (Sharon Horgan) and a deluded Joan of Arc (Katy Brand).

Sheila Reid interview

Puffing on a fag, swearing like a trooper and having a swig of beer is not how anyone would think of Mother Teresa of Calcutta. It is why veteran actress Sheila Reid thought long and hard about playing the Catholic nun in just such a fashion in a new comedy.

Sheila Reid: 'Mother Teresa would love this!'

Look out for Benidorm star Shelia Reid playing a comedy Mother Teresa in Psychobitches on Sky Arts 1.