A satirical show mimicking the evening news which launched the careers of Ricky Gervais and Sacha Baron Cohen.
Series cast summary: | |||
Iain Lee | ... | Self - Presenter 112 episodes, 1998-2000 | |
Daisy Donovan | ... | Self - Presenter / ... 107 episodes, 1998-2000 | |
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Tommy Vance | ... | Self 94 episodes, 1998-2000 |
Ricky Gervais | ... | Self 54 episodes, 1999-2000 | |
Sacha Baron Cohen | ... | Ali G 45 episodes, 1998-1999 | |
A satirical show mimicking the evening news which launched the careers of Ricky Gervais and Sacha Baron Cohen.
Iain and Daisy left for the most recent series, leaving many previous fans unhappy with the new content and presenters. Despite what can only be described as a wobbly start, new presenters Jon Holmes and Sarah Alexander, to my mind, improved upon previous series.
The all new writing team tried to keep away from gratuitous swearing, and did so, to a degree, but had to keep some traditions to appease the post-pub audience. New features such as The Style W***ers and Bulla were as good as anything the show had previously offered, but some parts were so bad it was painful. Gratuitous Wood - stories told out by sex toy puppets, The Windsor Tapestry - a Bayeux Tapestry set around the royal family, and Waugh on Sport, none of them worked. But regular spots from stand up comedians were a welcome addition, as was Jon Holmes' gig guide. A feature that Holmes has been doing in various guises for some time, it has been honed to it's blatantly crude perfection.
So, fans of Iain Lee's annoyingly smug delivery may have lamented his leaving, but for those of us less enchanted by his demeanour, it can only be classed as a complete improvement.