Time Gentlemen Please

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It seems Sky One’s hopes for a hit comedy(following big disappointment “The Strangerers” and, I’m sure,“Harry Enfield’s Brand Spanking New Show”) itlooks like it’s up to a bald pub landlord to save the day.

Pub Landlord (Al Murray, who plays Big Brother Alan in “Harry Hill”)makes the transgression from standup comedy character to sitcom lead for thisseries, set in a pub and featuring a host of local characters. Soundfamiliar…?

While there’s nothing revolutionary in the premise, or most of thecharacters, it packed in enough one-liners (most paraphrased from Murray’sstandup routine) and winning banter to make this a worthwhile watch.Especially after Harry Enfield’s humourless half-hour that preceded it!

At the center of the show is Pub Landlord – a modern-day Alf Garnett,really – and a character so finely tuned on stage newcomers should beinstantly drawninto the show thanks to Murray’s performance. It’s nice to see someoneobviously at home with the character and able to enthuse dialogue withgenuine passion.

Yes, they’ve got the main character right… but to make this a success,they need some similarly well-rounded secondary characters. It could work.Julia Sawalha was perky enough and brightened up the screen (even withthe cod Aussie accent), and Phil Daniels could enliven his role in theweeks to come. But, to be honest, the cast just seemed to be there to feed PubLandlord lines so he could rant.

And it’s not so much a sitcom, more a visual reimagining of Pub Landlord’sstandup routine. It also has just one set (the pub) so is going to have toshow it has more to offer if they want to maintain an audience. Good as theLandlord is – if all the best lines are stolen from his standup set and therest of the cast play second fiddle around Murray – it’ll be written off asa moderately successful venture. A footnote under Murray’s entry in a standupcomedy A-Z.

I hope not. Richard Herring (one half of Lee & Herring) co-wrote withMurray, and if they can push themselves harder, it could slowly evolve intosomething more than the sum of its parts…

“Time Gentlemen Please” could work. It’s already worth watching just forMurray — but is there mileage in any of this? Or will it all just fade awayin a few weeks after Murray’s fiftieth rant?

Time, gentlemen, will tell…