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COMEDY CHAT
THE BRONX BUNNY SHOW Channel 4, Fri 16 Apr, 1.15am 0000
Back in the day when The Big Breakfast wasn't as rubbish as it eventually turned out. two mad puppets made it worth keeping your remote control beside the alarm clock. Zig and Zag were probably too manic for many a.m. palates but for those who loved those cheeky oversi/ed socks. it was always hoped that one day they'd be back. better. bigger and downright ruder than they were ever allowed to be over the Ricicles.
And here they are. as two down and out New Yorkers who have somehow managed to score some top celebrity chat. As the liquor- swilling. filth-obsessed Teddy T and the soberly mild-mannered (in comparisoni Bronx Bunny. they manage to pull the rise from the likes of Jackass Steve O and ‘adult entertainer' Sunrise Adams in the opener while in a quite brilliant second edition. Englebert Humperdinck. Hugh Hefner and Victoria Silvstedt have submitted themselves to the dirty duo. Post-pub fare has rarely been better. (Brian Donaldson}
REALITY EXPERIMENT SUPERHUMAN Channel 4, Sat 17 Apr, 7pm 0.
A reality TV show in which Hitler genetically creates a master race . oh no. hang on. they haven't gone that far. Yet. Instead Superhuman is a slight piece of reality fluff which tries gamer to pass itself off as education by being staged in the Science Museum and having boffins and expensive-looking, preten<l-computer graphics everynsrhere. They're not really kidding anyone because this is the same sc/iaderi/reude thrill as usual. watching people subjected to extreme circumstances and seeing how they cope. Imagine the NASA astronaut selection program as a game show and you're getting the idea.
Five men and five women are subjected to physical strain and mental stress ‘-.'./ll|[(} a highly telegenic egghead presses buttons to explain it all and Hobo! l"./a/'s presenter .Julia Reed blethers inanities at everyone concerned. This is reality TV for people who don't like to admit to themselves that they y'ratch reality TV. And therefore a bit lame. iDoug Johnstonei
PERIOD DRAMA HE KNEW HE WAS RIGHT BBC1, Sun 18 Apr, 9pm .00
Bill Nighy 's ageing rock star effortlessly outperformed Colin Firth's predictably Darcy esgue role in the predictable crimbo hit.
Superhuman?
love Actual/ya Inevitable then that Nighy' should reign sup'eme in this the first episode of period drama / le Knew He ‘. './as Rig/it. Andrew Davies' Trollope follo\.'/-up to [he Ell/av ‘ii/e l we i’v'oixx. Golden couple Louis and i mily Trevelyan's marriage is thrown into disarray when Nighy 's caddisli Colonel Osborne starts calling on the lady of the house. Meanwhile Nora. Emily's beautiful sister. has fallen in love with dashing Jouri'alist Hugh Stanbury who has been (ilSllltTOl'liin by his foiinidabie Aunt Stanbury'. played '-.'-.«'itn notable aplomb by Anna Massey.
By then” very iiature. first episodes are alx'ray's slightly cu'i‘lmrso'ne: characters need to be set tip and initial plottines (}X(:(,‘lii(}(l and He K.’i(,".'.".
. does drag initially. But an exec-tent supporting cast suggests there‘s much potential here, -Anna Miflari
)(LiAl DRAMA MAY 33RD BBC1, Wed 21 Apr, 9pm 0000
llla doesn't live in the real ‘.'rorld. She eXisfs in a peripheral /one on the edge of society. separated by a \.'.iai| of pan. ()i at least that's how it feels to her that she's stuck in a day the rest of us can't reach: like May I-lilrd. Systetnatxmlly abused since childhood, her life has been shiedded into it“.’(;' separate peisonaiities. each operating as a self defence inecl‘aitisi". against the cruelty.
A drama about child abuse is aly'rays going to be haiiowing. but this
latest work by writer Cuy'
Hibbert r/Vo Chi/d of Miriei borders on the devz‘istating. Based on his painstaking research into Dissociative Identity Disorder ithe modern day term for split i)(?ff§()li£llliy’u May (53rd takes real-life cases and pours them into one fictional storyline. Lia \rl‘./lHl£llllf; s stunning as Iliiy'ear old [.lla. a '.'.'on‘an damaged not only by years of abuse. but by the disbelief ‘.‘.’i’ll(I’l confronts her each time she cries for help Deeiily affecting. iKeily Apter:
8! 100M
SHANE
Scottish, Wed 21 Apr, 10pm 00
llV doen'f do sitcon‘s. It does Martin Basliii‘.
(lélli‘ii sl‘cx' edd excerlent one off
drama and acres cf
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1s. soaps. the
famous fat folk. But make us laugh over the course of one half hour? Vile don't do that round here. Frank Skinner's effort is just the latest lit a long line of comedy calamities on the net‘s/ork 1/ lardit'are. Babes in the Wood. Duty Free and so tedioust oni.
l: rank Skinner not only 'stars' in and "i.'./."Ii(}f;' this story of a ‘.'.'orlti~weaiy caobie ".‘xho we i‘eyer actually see driving anyoi‘e any yaihere: but also commits the
RAMSAY’S KITCHEN NIGHTMARES Channel 4, Wed 28 Apr, 10pm CO...
Superfluous?
n'iforgwa ile sin of singing the punkish theme tune. Gags don“. iiiereiy recur in this dreary American Beauty- esgue opener, they iepeat on you like a stale haddock Stlfl)t';f§(} and material which seems like Jolly. laddish. off-the- cuff banter on chat sliow sofas comes across as mildly xenophobic. inisogynist and hc'nonhobic y'rhen it's done fil“(}(li for a sitcom studio audience. l o" Shane. read shan‘e. lBrian Donaldson.
Whipping up a i
Gordon Ramsay (or to give him his full title, Gordon ‘fucking’ Ramsay) is back and has been let out of his kitchen. Not initially a bad thing, you might think, but the premise for this series would send a chill down the spine of any dithering commis chef: he’s delving into other people’s kitchens. Cast your mind back to those BBC2 documentaries where big business troubleshooter Sir John Harvey Jones gatecrashed companies and curtly pointed out they were a bunch of inefficient wastrels.
Well, Ramsay is doing the same thing here, except he’s picking on a bunch of struggling restaurants and has just two weeks to help turn them around. Unlike Jones, who was ploughing into all manner of cigar-chomping fat cats, in this first episode Ramsay is fighting an opponent well below his weight as he gets in the ring with Bonapartes’ staff. Suffering from an identity crisis since the arrival of current owner Sue, the homely little bistro in a sleepy Yorkshire village has ‘head chef’, 21-year-old Tim, intent on exploring the complex possibilities of haute cuisine. The problem is he’s doesn’t even know how to cook up an omelette, never mind a storm.
Ramsay is a hugely compelling presence and despite his cruel tactics, he’s always right. His attempts to inspire, educate and discipline Tim are all truly hilarious, knocking Jamie Oliver’s coddled kitchen into a flour-dusted cocked hat. Car crash TV at its very, very best. (Mark Robertson)
MK: '- THE LIST 115