mostly david ephgrave

It was great to see Alan Partridge return to his much-longed-for home the BBC tonight. I've loved Alan pretty much since the beginning, when tapes of his early appearances in Radio 4's 'On the Hour' and 'Knowing Me, Knowing You' would pass between a few select friends who were in-the-know. I can still remember the first time I saw his face, in a trailer for the TV version of 'Knowing Me, Knowing You' - I didn't get to 'The Day Today' until a little later - and how excited seeing it made me; I was so obsessed, I recorded the audio of his ABBA medley with Rebecca Front with a tape recorder and would often sing along to it in Alan-style. The first series of 'I'm Alan Partridge' was a revelation, coming at the time I'd moved to college to do a BTEC in Performing Arts. Each week, I'd disappear to the upstairs bedroom where we kept our spare telly to watch the latest episode in near-religious style, to then pick it apart rev...

I wrote a wittier introduction to this blog about yesterday’s Blackpool-based Strictly last night only to fall foul of a technological gremlin that caused me to lose it. I’m not saying it was comedy gold - more perfunctory   - but the frustration as result of my computer swallowing it and my consequent attempts to recover the file (to no avail) have zapped away the spontaneity from the original post, making me loath to rewrite it. I’m not even sure why I choose to compile my tweets like this anyway, other than it fills a page, which is not exactly the best motivation. So it’s probably best for all concerned that I post this and move on; normal service will be resumed imminently (subject to not being on the receiving end of another IT-based spanner in the works): 7:02PM: Flying in on a giant phallic rock = the right way to kick things off. 7:03PM: ...some much-needed PRS for Gina G. 7:06PM: Tess Daly's Guide to Presentin...

Fifty years ago today, we lost one of our finest comic actors (and my personal favourite), the vastly underrated Tony Hancock.  Hancock's a funny one as far as popular culture is concerned in that, despite being so successful in his time, drawing massive audiences on TV and radio and commanding some of the highest fees of the era, he has probably passed a lot of younger people by. This is a shame, as much of his finest work is just as accessible and enjoyable today; listen to or watch an episode of Hancock’s Half Hour at random and I’d nigh-on guarantee it’ll make you laugh pretty quickly, plus you’d be able to draw parallels between Hancock’s obvious character traits of frustration and exasperation with more modern-day sitcom creations like Basil Fawlty, Father Ted and Alan Partridge. Part of the reason he’s less known to younger audiences is probably due to the fact the poor-quality film-stock of the surviving TV episodes means they're seldom rebroadcast. At l...

…and then this random guy stood in for him. I have a number of questions Re. Julia Quenzler’s artistic representation of Courtroom Cliff, but one in particular's at the top of the list: why, when he’s one of the most famous faces in popular culture from the past sixty years, does the picture look like she’d never clapped eyes on him? It’s not like he’s a member of public who had remained anonymous right up to the moment he stepped into the dock; he’s Cliff fucking Richard. Except Cliff wouldn’t be fucking Richard, because that would make him gay and he ABSOLUTELY DEFINITELY ISN’T. Even if by some bizarre twist of fate the artist had never seen Cliff before, that’s still no excuse. According to the article he was in the dock for over an hour, so she had plenty of time to capture his likeness. I’ve heard of people having difficulty drawing hands or feet, but if you can’t draw faces, you probably shouldn’t be a courtroom artist. If it were an identikit picture, the...

Will “I’m white, middle-class and male” do it? That type of joke is appropriate this week, what with it being the 100 th anniversary of (some) women being given the right to vote; how can an event like that still potentially be within living memory? Yet, while we may be a century on from that momentous occasion, there’s clearly still along way to go, what with all the terrible stories of men abusing positions of power - or simply being paid far more than their female contemporaries - that have been in the recent press; equality’s still an aim that's yet to be met. It’s not just sexism that’s the problem, but racism and class inequality (the first two parts of my triple punchline). They all crop up in comedy too: I read an article the other day about how the exorbitant cost of taking a show up to the Edinburgh Fringe means the scene inevitably becomes stagnated with acts from the affluent, cossetted middle-classes; after all they’re the onl...

It's fair to say tonight’s Strictly further cemented my love of Debbie McGee. Not only is she genuinely lovely (as I can vouch from her visit to Mostly Comedy with her late husband Paul Daniels a few years back) she’s also a brilliant performer, with so much energy, ability and sparkle. It helped that she was dancing to one of my favourite Billy Joel songs, She's Always a Woman, and the routine matched the beauty of the song perfectly, but then it’s not as if she needs the assistance; I hope she remains in the competition for a good few weeks to come so we can enjoy more of her versatility. Outside of Debbie’s dance, I didn’t really feel tonight’s show so much, though it’s fair to say Alexandra Burke knocked her routine out of the metaphorical park. I also liked Jonnie Peacock’s dance to Johnny B Goode, though I only just noticed the reason for the song choice; I’m a little slow at times...unlike him. See below for tonight’s tweets:...

Last night’s Doctor Who series finale was pretty damn heartbreaking. I’m sad to see Peter Capaldi go, particularly when things really came together with his Doctor in this last series for me. He’s a fantastic actor - and the Machiavellian Malcolm Tucker was a barnstorming performance - and is the perfect casting for the Doctor, but the combination of him, Matt Lucas and new companion Pearl Mackie has lifted things to a level to rival some of the key David Tennant and Matt Smith episodes (I hate what I’ve become). That said, it’s always better to leave on a high note than when things begin to falter; not to suggest this was likely to happen, though everything has a shelf life. It’s hard to hit a consistently high standard, which is probably why the original Who ended when it did. At the very least, last night’s episode was an example of great television, the kind of which the BBC always does the best; what with Doctor Who and Sherlock (and The Thick of It, come to mention i...

I’m really enjoying the current series of Doctor Who. I'm a big fan of Peter Capaldi - primarily for his performance as the wonderful, yet terrifying Malcolm Tucker - but aside from the odd episode here and there, it wasn’t until this series that his Doctor found its stride for me. When I heard of his casting in the role, I was delighted (he was an inspired choice), yet I can’t help but feel he was unfortunate in taking on the part when he did. Every idea has its natural life and eventually, these things can run out of steam, which generally how I felt about the last few series. It was just a case of poor timing that Capaldi should come in at the point he did when the revamped Who seemed to have used up most of its tricks; there are only so many rejigged battles against Daleks and Cybermen before things started to feel a little samey. Yet it’s with the current series that things have really kicked into gear, which is a shame as it’s se...

The Great British Bake off has been through the mire of gossip, assumption and controversy over the past few days, what with it changing channel for 2016, that just watching the programme itself today was a little anti-climactic. It was what it was and it is what it is: a lowish budget baking show, with a lot of charm and gentle humour – and a soon-to-be sayonara from the low-key, unintimidating Mel and Sue at the helm. Today’s show was mostly about savoury baking. See below for this week’s adventures, as according to my Twitter posts. 8:03pm: A little heads-up to the people at Love Productions: WE'RE AVAILABLE. 8:06pm: Perhaps C4 can change the format to a Big Brother / Bake Off hybrid: "GB-BB-BO". (I'm fully aware that BB is now on C5). 8:07pm: Val's husband doesn't exist. 8:15:pm: Only Selasi could make crackling sound sexy . 8:5pm: Aunt Bessie would be furious. 8:20pm: Just think how much better the camera work on t...

It’s hard to believe that it’s Great British Bake Off season again, but it is. It only seems like a couple of months ago that we were rooting for that one who made the cakes, and the other who was good at making pastry. Then there was the guy who…I don’t know…was on the Bake Off, do you remember? To be honest, outside of Nadiya and Tamal, it’s all a bit of a blur. Still, before long we will have learnt all of the 2016 series’ contestants and be choosing our favourites. I’m known for tweeting along with the programme, and today's no exception. See below for what I posted while watching tonight’s show, after rushing back to my Edinburgh digs to catch the beginning. See you for next week’s instalment; same time, same place.   8:05pm: Val: "Retired grandmother?" 8:06pm: Mary's hair helmet resembles an early Thatcher barnet. 8:07pm: Was it just perspective, or did Michael have a massive pencil? 8:09pm: Quite tart? Likes the ...

Today, in a fit of laziness, I'll use my blog to document my tweets about this evening’s Strictly Come Dancing; they need to be preserved for future generations (which implies they’re not already available online). The reason for my indolence is valid: I spent the day walking around Buckingham Palace – and yet I’d rather write about trashy TV than flashy Buck House. This is due to tiredness. I’m sure I’ll cover my regal exploits tomorrow, unless I visit a more opulent residence in the meantime. That’s enough thesaurus swallowing for the evening; here are the tweets: 6:16pm: Cue the on-beat hand clapping. # Strictly 6:19pm: Shaddap You Face and Dance with Me. # Strictly 6:23pm: According to Alan Dedicoat, Daniel O'Donnell doesn't just sing; he entertains as well. # Strictly 6:27pm: What Aliona's wearing is technically not a dress. Just sayin'. # Strictly 6:28pm: Aliona's dress doubles as a car...

Yesterday, I reached the dizzy heights of Twitter superstardom.   It had to come around one day, let’s face it. It's a question of fate. When I vacated my mother’s womb in mid-1981, my social media turning point was predestined. He, whose He is spelt with a capital H (I'm referring to God) already knew that four years later, less than twenty miles from my birthplace, a girl would be born who'd discover a love for baking at twenty years old - and a decade later, I would comment on it. Such is the wonder of the Universe. (…and now I’ll stop being a dick.) I’m not surprised that my most popular tweet to date is about the Great British Bake Off; it was either that or Strictly Come Dancing. Despite going against my character – or 140 of them – I’m addicted to both shows. I like to watch people with skill (in the case of the GBBO contestants or the Strictly professionals) or people learning one (as in the Strictly celebs). I also love cake and Claudia Wink...