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Complaints Welcome is a new series that gets better as it goes on, so don’t panic immediately when you see loud, shouty prsenters walking around as if we’re trying to ring back Network 7 from the ’80s.
Plus, even though they have an audience present to applaud the presenters’ entrance, you can tell canned laughter is dropped in and out because it quickly starts and stops, and because they’re the kind of… jokes that might get a slight smile, but not a collective guffaw that lasts precisely two seconds before fading out. Plus, there’s scripted banter between the three of them which only partially works.
But, get past that and to be honest, any real humour comes from some of the clips, such as a man who’s taken a keepsake, of 50 years, to Antiques Roadshow, only to find out it’s worth not very much at all, after all that, and how aghast he is.
Questions to be answered include: Does Bradley Walsh mind contestants calling him the overly familiar “Brad” when they’ve just met him?, Is Squid Game unrealistic? but in the main, I do understand the dread about the aformentioned Fiona Bruce show’s theme tune, as hearing it would mean “It’s Sunday evening, and you have school tomorrow”. Of course, I’ve long since left school, but for me, the equivalent of the day was Secret Army. God, that was a depressing theme tune, making me even more depressed about the fact that it was Sunday evening.
So, Complaints Welcome passes an hour, but it’s not something I’d be desperate to return to. Munya Chawawa is probably the best of the three presenters – including for his alternate theme for Antiques Roadshow, which was good – Tom Allen isn’t as annoying as he can be at times, while I would replace Jessica Knappett as she’s got a fake schtick of trying to be outraged about things as well as loud and cocky, and even though I know it’s just part of an act, I don’t like people like that in general.
Complaints Welcome continues on Channel 4 next Thursday, and after broadcast, each episode is on All 4.
The series is unlikely to be able to pre-order on Blu-ray or DVD.
Writers: Tom Allen, Jessica Knappet, Munya Chawawa, Laura Claxton, James Farmer, Jake Lambert, James Kettle, Joe Mcardle, Lauren O’Rourke, Katie Storey, Zoe Tomalin
Music: Rowan Lovell
Presenters:
Tom Allen
Jessica Knappet
Munya Chawawa
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.