Tracey Ullman's Show

Radio Times review

After two cracking episodes, it's time to see if Tracey Ullman has any other comic gems in her locker apart from her fabulous turns as Angela Merkel and theatrical Dames Maggie Smith and Judi Dench. The doofus American couple who love all things English is easily her weakest sketch of the series so far.

Fortunately, the show is rescued by a triumphant song-and-dance routine in which she plays former Sun editor Rebekah Brooks. If the red-haired Murdoch executive isn't popular with some of the other members of the Chipping Norton set, here she's dealt a pretty rough time - proving that our Trace isn't afraid of tweaking some powerful noses.

The second episode of Ullman's new sketch show sees a deviant Dame Judi Dench return to wreak more senseless havoc upon an adoring public, a ludicrously practical (in the style of French and Saunders's "stuff and nonsense" ladies) Duchess of Cornwall babysit Prince George, and some middle Englanders become accidental people-traffickers after a trip across the Channel. Ullman is a brilliant mimic, but her subject matter can feel slightly random and the skits are strangely structured, often resulting in no discernible punchline.

The second episode of Ullman's new sketch show sees a deviant Dame Judi Dench return to wreak more senseless havoc upon an adoring public, a ludicrously practical (in the style of French and Saunders's "stuff and nonsense" ladies) Duchess of Cornwall babysit Prince George, and some middle Englanders become accidental people-traffickers after a trip across the Channel. Ullman is a brilliant mimic, but her subject matter can feel slightly random and the skits are strangely structured, often resulting in no discernible punchline.

Tracey Ullman's Show, episode 2, BBC One, review

Why commission a series from a bona fide comedy icon, only to tuck it away at 10.45pm?

Tracey Ullman's new sketch show, much heralded as her 30-year return from stateside exile, was fine, fine, if you wanted uncanny verisimilitude when it came to Dame Judi Dench and Angela Merkel. She has done a fine job of not being 30 years out of touch with British humour, and the Dench/"national treasure" shoplifting gag wore well, for this episode at least. But there was nothing in particular to convince us we should have missed Ullman in the way in which we might have missed the exile of, say, Paul Merton or Graeme Garden.

Scheduling: Ullman's late-night slot no laughing matter

The off-peak slot for Tracey Ullman's new BBC series revives concerns that executives have lost confidence in the genre.

I'm too young to remember Tracey Ullman when she was a star of the British alternative comedy scene, and I only knew her name due to her role in launching The Simpsons, so I didn't share in the hype and excitement about her return to British TV. But, I knew it was supposed to be some tremendous return of a comedy genius so I watched in high hopes - hopes that were soon trashed.

It was all timid stuff indeed, though with some good impersonations thrown in, and the late slot of 10.45pm suggests that the BBC snared her in great triumph and fanfare and then saw the sorry result and quietly shifted it out of the way. Yet word is out that a second series has been commissioned already, despite the lukewarm reaction from critics. It seems the BBC have captured a big fish and are determined to get what they can from it. Whether it's good or not hardly matters.

Due to the promotional clips I watched of Tracey Ullman's Show I expected it to be a sketch show featuring the comedienne performing a number of impressions. However Ullman only impersonated three famous faces with the sketches in which she played acting Dames Maggie Smith and Judi Dench not feeling particularly original. I certainly didn't find Dench's secret kleptomania or Smith auditioning for sci-fi roles to be that funny and the supposed jokes from these two sketches fell flat. Conversely I felt that Ullman was in her element when portraying German Chancellor Angela Merkel who was on her way to and from a conference in Cardiff. The scenes between Ullman's Merkel and her assistant played by Samantha Spiro were the funniest moments during the half hour as the imagined conversations between the pair felt oddly realistic. In fact I would've loved to have seen a Veep-style sitcom starring Ullman as Merkel as I feel it would've been funnier than about 95% of the sketches here. Everything else Ullman did provoked little laughter from the female MP whose decision to go topless impressed the male electorate to the female beautician who almost set her massage parlour on fire. Even the sketches involving a woman who had been freed from an East Asian Prison after thirty years all featured obvious gags including one scene in which we were delivered a rather sad list of all the iconic British retailers that had shut their doors during her incarceration. Aside from the Merkel material the only other part of Ullman's show that raised more than a titter was the closing satirical song and dance number about the closure of a Welsh library. Unfortunately this finale came a little too late to change my opinion of a sketch show that had plenty of opportunity but didn't really deliver in terms of laughs. Whilst I like Ullman and many of her supporting players I won't be returning to this show again as nothing apart from the Merkel sketches really left an impression.

Tracey Ullman worth watching even if you don't like her

Tracey Ullman proves she hasn't suffered from tall-poppy syndrome now that she's crossed the pond from LA - in fact she's a clever comedienne.

Review: Tracey Ullman's Show

Ullman's greatest skill lies in mimicry and impersonation, so it wasn't a surprise the best moments of this series opener centred around Ullman pulling off a frankly uncanny Dame Judi Dench and Angela Merkel, the Chancellor of Germany. The excellent makeup helped, but Ullman has one of those faces that can effortlessly morph into other people, almost without the need for fake noses and wigs. It's just a shame that, like so many modern sketch shows, the material itself was a so dull and safe.