Quietly becoming the best comedy panel show not called QI, Would I Lie To You? is back for a third series, complete with an unnecessary revamp. The set's gone fluorescent blue-white (I nearly had a seizure when it flashed during the opening introduction!), and host Angus Deayton has been replaced by comedy-actor Rob Brydon. I'm not exactly sure why. Deayton was recently axed from Hell's Kitchen, too, so maybe his brand of razor-sharp cynicism is falling out of favour?
Brydon's not a bad replacement, but it's obvious he'd prefer to be a team captain than master-of-ceremonies. Still, I guess it's a good thing he's willing to participate in the fun (as Deayton always shrunk back and relied on pre-written quips delivered via autocue), but WILTY definitely missed his smooth delivery and control. Indeed, I'd even go as far to suggest Have I Got News For You? (another panel show Deayton was axed from, for more understandable reasons) likewise flails around without Deayton at the rudder. Love him or lathe him, Angus can steer a ship and make it look effortless.
This opener wasn't very funny, I have to say. But these things are, by their nature, a very mixed bag. It depends on the guests and the caliber of stories (true or false) that's cooked up. I do worry that regulars will run out of amusing true-life stories to tell, though. I already half-suspect a few "genuine" stories are tweaked to be funnier, don't you?
Carol Vorderman made the best impression because she's not afraid to speak up amongst comedians, the overrated Russell Howard looked a bit restricted away from the freewheeling Mock The Week, EastEnders' Larry Lamb just sat there smiling politely, while Jo Brand proved utterly unmemorable. As usual, thank God for team captains Lee Mack and David Mitchell -- both great, but Mitchell is particularly fantastic in gameshows of this ilk. The way he can amusingly pick apart sentences and deliver fun anecdotes is custom-made for WILTY, so he rescued this opener on many occasions.
For the uninitiated, WILTY is essentially a comedy version of Call My Bluff without the need of a dictionary. Instead, two celebrity teams take it in turn to make statements, tell anecdotes, or vouch for the identity of a guest, while the other team have to guess if they're telling the truth or lying. It's open to sabotage, because all you have to do is tell the truth badly to convince the opposing team you're lying, then claim points when they're proven wrong -- but that's by the by. It allows comedians to tell stories and play amateur psychologist, which facilitates comedy a lot easier than most panel shows. WILTY doesn't rely on knowledge of news and current affairs, or an interest in facts and trivia, just a love of trying to sniff out porkie pies. In fact, maybe fans of the drama Lie To Me have an advantage, now it's dramatized all the "tells" and involuntary movements humans make while lying?
I doubt Derren Brown will ever be asked on...
10 August 2009
BBC1, 10.35pm
