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Dan Owen reviews

Time Gentlemen Please

Showing on

Sky One

Monday nights at 10.30pm, rptd Sundays at 11pm

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") it looks 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 this series, set in a pub and featuring a host of local characters. Sound familiar...?

While there's nothing revolutionary in the premise, or most of the characters, it packed in enough one-liners (most paraphrased from Murray's standup 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 be instantly drawn into the show thanks to Murray's performance. It's nice to see someone obviously at home with the character and able to enthuse dialogue with genuine 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 with the cod Aussie accent), and Phil Daniels could enliven his role in the weeks to come. But, to be honest, the cast just seemed to be there to feed Pub Landlord lines so he could rant.

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

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

"Time Gentlemen Please" could work. It's already worth watching just for Murray -- but is there mileage in any of this? Or will it all just fade away in a few weeks after Murray's fiftieth rant?

Time, gentlemen, will tell...

Review copyright © Dan Owen, 2000.

E-mail Dan Owen

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