David Mitchell

Robert Webb

Krystal Evans

Dark aspects of shared housing, methods for evaluating teachers, parents face their daughter&apos;s unexpected coming out, and extraterrestrials present a TV show concept.

David Sant

Episode #1.6

Season One Review

I&apos;ll review this as being season one of an ongoing show, even though at the time of writing the series has only just finished and there&apos;s no news on a renewal. If it turns out that there isn&apos;t a return, I&apos;ll move this review to the main show page.

For the first time in about 15 years, David Mitchell and Robert Webb have returned to sketch comedy after years in longer form comedy and drama. They are joined for the six-episode run, both in the writing room and in front of the camera, by two comedians that I knew, Stevie Martin and Kiell Smith-Bynoe, and two that I didn&apos;t, Krystal Evans and Lara Ricote. The recurring sketches include a meta-writers room series, that comments on the show whilst being part of it, Middle-aged man Island and Sweary Aussie Drama.

I suppose, mixed but generally underwhelming is my overall opinion of the series. I&apos;m particularly unsure of the two main returning sketches, Middle aged man Island didn&apos;t seem to have jokes and Sweary Aussie Drama had the one joke, that they did fifty times per sketch and then did the same sketch six times. I don&apos;t even really know what they are supposed to be parodying with it. I don&apos;t want to sound like a too much of a prude here, but some of the sketches do seem to think that their ruder material is enough - and that there&apos;s no need to be actually funny alongside them. The sketch about a foley artist exclusively using his penis to generate the noise (which, I&apos;ll admit, the premise I&apos;m chuckling at as I type it) then doesn&apos;t lead to any jokes - neither does one about discovering that masturbation is causing climate change.

But. Each episode had one (occasionally two) sketches that I thought were genuinely funny, or well observed. The Repair Shop parody &quot;The Weeping Shed&quot; for example, The Prince Andrew Docudramas and the final sketch about a group of demons (or aliens perhaps), cornering someone and asking for feedback on their sitcom idea. It&apos;s not a great strike rate, and I can&apos;t really reflect it in the score - but were the show to come back for a second season, I think there&apos;s just about enough in those six, seven, eight sketches, that I&apos;d come back too.

We&apos;ll see.

I'll review this as being season one of an ongoing show, even though at the time of writing the series has only just finished and there's no news on a renewal. If it turns out that there isn't a return, I'll move this review to the main show page.

For the first time in about 15 years, David Mitchell and Robert Webb have returned to sketch comedy after years in longer form comedy and drama. They are joined for the six-episode run, both in the writing room and in front of the camera, by two comedians that I knew, Stevie Martin and Kiell Smith-Bynoe, and two that I didn't, Krystal Evans and Lara Ricote. The recurring sketches include a meta-writers room series, that comments on the show whilst being part of it, Middle-aged man Island and Sweary Aussie Drama.

I suppose, mixed but generally underwhelming is my overall opinion of the series. I'm particularly unsure of the two main returning sketches, Middle aged man Island didn't seem to have jokes and Sweary Aussie Drama had the one joke, that they did fifty times per sketch and then did the same sketch six times. I don't even really know what they are supposed to be parodying with it. I don't want to sound like a too much of a prude here, but some of the sketches do seem to think that their ruder material is enough - and that there's no need to be actually funny alongside them. The sketch about a foley artist exclusively using his penis to generate the noise (which, I'll admit, the premise I'm chuckling at as I type it) then doesn't lead to any jokes - neither does one about discovering that masturbation is causing climate change.

But. Each episode had one (occasionally two) sketches that I thought were genuinely funny, or well observed. The Repair Shop parody "The Weeping Shed" for example, The Prince Andrew Docudramas and the final sketch about a group of demons (or aliens perhaps), cornering someone and asking for feedback on their sitcom idea. It's not a great strike rate, and I can't really reflect it in the score - but were the show to come back for a second season, I think there's just about enough in those six, seven, eight sketches, that I'd come back too.

We'll see.

Dark aspects of shared housing, methods for evaluating teachers, parents face their daughter's unexpected coming out, and extraterrestrials present a TV show concept.

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Episode #1.6

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