"Bremner, Bird and Fortune" (1999) TV series 1999-????

User Rating:

7.7/10   

Directors:

Steve Connelly
Chris Fox

Writers:

Geoff Atkinson (writer)
John Bird (writer)

Seasons:

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 11 | 12 | unknown

Release Date:

17 October 1999 (UK)

Genre:

Comedy

Awards:

1 win & 6 nominations

Cast

Rory Bremner	...	Various Characters (6 episodes, 1999-2007)
John Bird	...	Various Characters (6 episodes, 1999-2007)
John Fortune	...	Various Characters (6 episodes, 1999-2007)
Chris Langham	...	Frank (2 episodes, 2005)
Will Smith	...	Tory Party Member (2 episodes, 2007)

Runtime:

UK:50 min (2 episodes) | UK:60 min (26 episodes)

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Company:

Vera Films

Movie Connections:

Featured in 30 Greatest Political Comedies (2006) (TV)

Makes Michael Moore look like Ali G.

Forget about other Government critics. Rory Bremner and his team have been doing this far longer and far better than anyone else. I've been watching Rory since i was too young to understand the political jokes. His latest series leaves behind his old, more joky and slapstick approach and instead concentrates on delivering blistering attacks on the present Government. I was lucky enough to be in the audience for his recent Post-Iraq special and was blown away by the blood chilling truths he unearths about our leaders and the fearless way in which he delivers them. Flanked on either side by the ever dependable John Bird and John Fortune, Bremner exposes the lies about the conflict such as the fact that Britain and America are primarily to blame for the decades of unrest in the Middle East and that Saddam Hussein was once hired by the CIA to murder the old leader of Iraq. The format of the show is familiar to past series, except that it is now mainly concerned with politics and has done away with most of the lighthearted sketches. There are still sketches in the show, but these are considerably more devastating than before. The audience was left gasping at a sketch later cut from the show, in which a dying Iraqi boy expresses his gratitude to Tony Blair and Geoff Hoon for 'liberating' his country. Despite the darker edges of satire that Bremner explores, the show is still superbly funny and includes all the usual pot-shots at recent news and disgraced politicians. Providing the lighter humour are the two Johns, given a bigger slot in which to perform their unique improvised conversations that have the audience yelping with laughter and marvelling at their skill in equal amounts. The real highlights of the show are always when all three stand side by side revealing facts about the Government you'd rather not know, and when Bremner performs one of his songs with inserted topical lyrics. Thank God that we have a satirist like Rory Bremner keeping an eye on the dubious wheelings and dealings of our politicians, always willing to make himself unpopular in order to give the truth. This genius is truly the modern day Jonathan Swift, and all the other satirists like Michael Moore who rant and rave should take a look at Bremner, Bird and Fortune to see how it's done.