DEAD RINGERS
BBC 2, Thursdays, 9.30 pm
Impressionists. Are they just comedians on the bottom rung of the entertainment ladder, just above jugglers? Steve Coogan certainly thought so, having impersonated the rich and famous for years on stage, his growing didain as a "performing monkey" spurred him to create an original character -- Alan Partridge. The rest is history.
There remains something inherently entertaining about people impersonating others. Perhaps it's just an appreciable talent everyone can relate to. I'm sure you've attempted a Shhhean Connery, Schwarzenegger, Rolf Harris or Frank Spencer. Admit it.
Maybe impressions evokes memories of childhood, where laughter is playground currency. Young minds don't stray far from toilet humour for a good decade, so mimicing teachers/friends/celebs is a relatively easy way to earn a few extra laughs. There's something mischievous about "stealing" someones voice and making them say the ordinarily unsaid.
BBC 2's Dead Ringers returned on Thursday for another run. The hit show starring Jon Culshaw, Jan Ravens, Phil Cornwell, Mark Perry and Kevin Connelly, transferred to TV from Radio 4 some years ago and offers a more abstract form of impressionism. Roy Bremner does the high-brow politics on Channel 4 and Alistair McGowan does the family-friendly popularism on BBC 1, so Dead Ringers has to make do with a light-hearted mix of both. It lacks a keen satirical bite, but its larger cast and freewheeling nature creates a watchable whirlwind.
Jon Culshaw and Jan Raven are undoubtedly the show's core; as both perform the most characters will the greater degree of success. Kevin Connelly and Mark Perry offer strong support, but I've never considered Phil Cornwell to be a true impressionist. Ye, his Michael Caine is fantastic (he resurrects and supplants it all the time) but every other voice he does ranges from mediocre to plain embarassing. Too often Cornwell is there to play background characters, people with generic accents (Osama Bin Laden) or those he has a passing physical resemblance to (Derren Brown).
As stand-ups will testify, there is no grey area with comedy: you either laugh, or you don't. Impressionism just amplifies this: you either sound like a celebrity, or you don't. Phil Cornwell often doesn't AND gets to deliver unfunny lines.
And that's a key problem with Dead Ringers. As with most impressionism shows, the laughs are hit-and-miss or blatantly obvious. Ringers gets by on sheer speed and enthusiasm, but it rarely provokes a belly-laugh.
Part of the problem is that Dead Ringers is a sucker for undercooked pastiches. The first episode of this latest series poked fun at the recent BBC Robin Hood series, exaggerating its contemporary influences to street-talk and breakdancing face-offs. Nice enough idea, but overlong and lacking a single half-decent impression. You can forgive a generic Robin and Marian, but surely someone could do a good Keith Allen? But no. Phil Cornwell took the Sheriff role. He looks a bit like Allen if he wears a goatee, y'see? Sigh.
Still, the sense of pace and number of new characters was good. For every tumbleweed scene there was a smile or two. But no big laughs, although a hidden camera stunt with Culshaw (as Simon Cowell) demanding a guy from room service perform a song for him, got very close.
Unfortunately, the lifeblood of these shows are variety/turnaround of characters and quality of writing. Dead Ringers has a huge "cast" to choose from, but uninspired writing. So, after a few episodes spotting all the new impressions (some excellent, many bad), you've seen the performing monkey's "new tricks" and are stuck with a strained Tony Blair, Kirsty Wark referencing pop songs or Fiona Bruce one-liners.
