Adapted from Radio 4 spoof phone-in show Down The Line[*], Bellamy's People (Of The United Kingdom Of Great Britain and Northern Ireland) is another venture for The Fast Show's Paul Whitehouse and Charlie Higson. Here, radio DJ host Gary Bellamy (Rhys Thomas) tours the country in his Union Jack-emblazoned Triumph Stag "personality vehicle" to meet his eccentric callers in person, using them to paint a picture of modern Britain.
It's the manifesto of Little Britain without the immature toilet humour of that other radio-to-TV series, spliced with a "celebrity travelogue". Whitehouse and Higson both remain gifted comic performers, and there were some amusing moments and characters here: an obese hermit with a cereal craving, two aristocratic sisters who have divided their country mansion into fascist and communist wings, a scatterbrained old gent, a Muslim "community leader", etc. Great support was also provided by comic actors like Felix Dexter, Amelia Bullmore, Adil Ray, Simon Day, Rosie Cavaliero and Lucy Montgomery[**].
It's just a shame it started to bore me after 10 minutes and seemed to go limp on the screen. It's the kind of show I can admire for attempting something different, and for the fun performances, but I'm not a fan of half-improvised comedies in general. It's well-observed, but there's a lack of proper jokes to keep me engaged. Plus, Rhys Thomas' straight-man makes for a bland, tiresome lead. If the episodes continue to give us brand new characters every week, that should definitely help sustain interest, but it feels like this idea (or the central joke behind it) was a better fit for radio.
Buy hey, comedy's a very subjective thing, so what was your verdict?
21 January 2010
BBC2, 10pm
written & performed by: Paul Whitehouse, Charlie Higson, Rhys Thomas, Simon Day, Felix Dexter, Lucy Montgomery, Rosie Cavaliero, Amelia Bullmore & Adil Ray directed by: Paul Whitehouse & Charlie Higson
[*] This radio comedy from 2006-08 is a blind spot of mine, although I hear it's very funny and its first few episodes fooled many listeners into believing the callers were real people. That same trick is, of course, impossible to replicate on TV when everyone's so recognizable in the flesh, which in turns means Bellamy's People instantly fails to adapt the main selling point of its origin.
[**] The real-life wife of Rhys Thomas, no less, who was far better here than on the likes of Tittybangbang.
