BCG Daily Tuesday 1st October 2019
News
Features
BCG Pro
Press clippings
Plebs review: Coarse, stupid and very welcome!
Hurray for these revolting Romans.
Christopher Stevens, Daily Mail, 1st October 2019Norton: viewers would be shocked at Schofield's wages
BBC chat show king says: 'What would really shock the public is to discover the (pay) disparity between ITV and BBC'.
Adam Sherwin, i Newspaper, 1st October 2019Obituary: Carry On actor Valerie Van Ost
Valerie Van Ost, who has died aged 75, was, to employ the terminology of the time, one of the glamour girls of the 1960s and 70s. Her most regularly screened appearances were in four of the Carry On films.
The Herald, 1st October 2019Union Jack Radio now headline sponsor of Leicester Fest
National digital radio station Union JACK has become one of three Main Partners for Leicester Comedy Festival 2020, following a successful first-time sponsorship at the event earlier this year.
Bruce Dessau, Beyond The Joke, 1st October 2019Shappi Khorsandi: PM touched me inappropriately too
Shappi Khorsandi has become the latest woman to claim Boris Johnson touched her inappropriately.
Jay Richardson, Chortle, 1st October 2019Nick Helm: This is me going back to what I started
Always a man who likes an incendiary show title, Phoenix From The Flames represents Nick Helm's return to something like his old self.
Keira Brown, The Fountain, 1st October 2019Couple chucked out of Whitehall show for having sex
A couple were thrown out of Jack Whitehall's show at the weekend - for having sex in their seats.
Chortle, 1st October 2019Shame on us for making Motherland so white
When BBC Two's comedy Motherland launched last year it was garlanded with praise for its warts-and-all portrayal of flustered parents thrust together at the school gates. But co-writer Sharon Horgan says she only belatedly realised they had made one serious oversight. 'We thought it was really fucking white,' she now admits, realising the narrow scope of the characters' ethnic mix. 'By the time we came to watch it, we thought, "shame on us".'
Chortle, 1st October 2019Ben Elton review
Fifteen years since he last performed standup, Elton's new show humbly embraces the madness of the modern world.
Brian Logan, The Guardian, 1st October 2019Mo Gilligan: the 5 best cartoons ever made
Mo Gilligan sits down with ShortList to talk Netflix, podcasting, and most importantly... cartoons.
Holly Pyne, ShortList, 1st October 2019Katy Brand: I Carried A Watermelon review
Katy Brand's latest book is a love letter to the film Dirty Dancing. In it Brand merges autobiography with a surprisingly in depth study of the 1987 film, its impact on her upon first watching and why it endures as classic 30 years later.
Kate Stone, Funny Women, 1st October 2019Live review: Philip Simon - Who's The Daddy Pig?
During the past thirty odd years, and the thousands of comedians I've seen, I've noticed that if there's less than ten audience members then the comedian is likely to struggle. It often doesn't matter if the material is incredible, if the audience is very small then people seem reluctant to laugh, there appears to be a safety in numbers type attitude and so quite often many people don't laugh. And that definitely seemed to be the case for Philip Simon's gig tonight where only eight people were in attendance, he made me laugh a lot but often I was the only one doing so.
Alex Finch, Comedy To Watch, 1st October 2019Ben Elton Live 2019 review
What is [pBen Elton's place in the world? At 60 years old and 15 years away from the front line of live comedy, can the stand-up who made his name by being radical and relevant still cut it?
Steve Bennett, Chortle, 1st October 2019Ben Elton review - does anybody edit him?
Is Ben Elton as culturally redundant as a Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go bumper sticker? Aged 60 and touring for the first time in 15 years, with the shiny suits of his heyday as the high priest of Eighties alternative comedy now replaced by Marks & Spencer polo shirts, Elton establishes his sense of his obsolescence from the off.
Dominic Maxwell, The Times, 1st October 2019French & Saunders join Death on the Nile cast
While some of us (me) don't believe in Poirot productions that don't involve David Suchet, Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders have confirmed they do by joining in the cast of the new Death On The Nile film.
Funny Women, 1st October 2019Seven questions with... Stevie Martin
Stevie Martin is a stand-up comedian, journalist and podcaster. Fresh from performing her latest show, Hot Content, at this year's Edinburgh Fringe, Stevie is here to shed light on her first forays into comedy and writing, as well as share her opinion on video games...
Becca Moody, Moody Comedy, 1st October 2019Review - Jason Byrne: Wrecked But Ready
Having split from his wife, the Irishman's stage act remains gleefully divorced from reality.
Jay Richardson, The List, 1st October 2019Romesh Ranganathan interview
As The Cynic's Mixtape tours the nation, we catch up with the comedian to find out more about the show, ongoing controversies and audience reactions.
Brian Donaldson, The List, 1st October 2019Sharon Horgan reveals she felt 'awkward' on school runs
Sharon Horgan has admitted she became "paranoid" that mums at her kids' school would think she was using them for comic material.
Aoife Finneran, The Irish Sun, 1st October 2019The life of Charlie Drake
Few people these days remember Charlie Drake. He was one of the biggest stars of British comedy from the fifties through to the seventies, feted and fawned over by the great and the good, but he faded into obscurity long before his death in 2006, and, if he is recalled at all these days, it is probably only for the brief and blurry YouTube clip (264,905 views and counting) of him being knocked unconscious during a live TV broadcast back in 1961.
Graham McCann, Comedy Babylon, 1st October 2019Ben Elton Live: unexpected pining for Margaret Thatcher
No longer wearing the spivvy suits of yore but casual dark jeans and stripy top (and glasses, as per usual), he declares his theme early on at his first UK stop-off. "I don't understand anymore," he wails. "My confusion isn't just increasing going forward, it's increasing retrospectively. I do not even get what I got."
Dominic Cavendish, The Telegraph, 1st October 2019Personal History of David Copperfield review
"Fresh, contemporary, provocative".
Chris Hunneysett, The Mirror, 1st October 2019Videos
Podcasts
TV & radio
Cry Babies
Series 1, Episode 2 - Near Break UpOphelia Lovibond and Montserrat Lombard star in a frank and funny exploration of female friendship in all its gruesome glory.
The Beatboxer
A beatboxer goes into a call centre to run a training day. But the bosses have ulterior motives for him being there.
Mr Bean
Series 3, Episode 16 - The Big FreezeIt's cold, the boiler is broken, and Mr. Bean has to get warm, fast.
Mr Bean
Series 3, Episode 17 - Scrapper Cleans UpMr. Bean enters Scrapper into a beauty contest so that he can win first prize: a trip with Irma to Paris.
Clare In The Community
Series 12, Episode 2 - I Predict A RiotClare finds herself at the centre of a riot during a prison visit, and has to prove that she is not the ringleader. Back in the Sparrowhawk office, Joan suspects something strange.
How To Burn A Million Quid
Episode 3 - Rule 3Pop stardom is going well, the KLF are a music industry sensation with a string of hits. An inspired collaboration with country music legend Tammy Wynette takes them to new heights. But is that enough, asks Bill, where's the meaning? In the North Pole perhaps? Well that's the conclusion he reaches and so off they go. Really. All this happened.
Defending The Guilty
Episode 3Caroline and Will ride their luck alongside a harassed CPS in a wacky race to bring a thug to justice.