Brass Eye. Chris Morris. Copyright: TalkbackThames
Chris Morris

Chris Morris (I)

  • 61 years old
  • English
  • Actor, writer, director, producer and composer

Press clippings Page 10

Have you been watching ... Stewart Lee's Comedy Vehicle?

The casting of Chris Morris in the third series of Comedy Vehicle has made a brilliant show even better. But do you adore or abhor clever clogs comedian Stewart Lee?

Julia Raeside, The Guardian, 20th March 2014

Radio Times review

Another excellent cameo from Chris Morris as a ruthless inquisitor allows Stewart Lee to bask in his navel-gazing style from the get-go tonight. But satire is far from the "cry of the loser" in the first half of Lee's set. He's on top form with a biting take on Margaret Thatcher's death, tax and the current state of the political parties - garnering big laughs as well as the temporary mass liberal consensus he claims to strive for.

The standard slips a little in the second half, where he returns to hammer-it-home tactics to explain to us what satire is. Turns out it's the same as ordinary reality, "but with animals". It seems Lee has decided that animals are unequivocally funny, and so he's shoehorning them in at any opportunity. It works.

Sophie Hall-Luke, Radio Times, 15th March 2014

Radio Times review

As the series that forms the BBC's sole bastion of alternative comedy continues, Lee deconstructs the idiocy of false nostalgia and knee-jerk xenophobia by examining Ukip's fears that Britain is about to be "swamped" by Bulgarian immigrants.

While observing that the Bulgarians are merely the latest scapegoats in an eternal stampede of small-minded cultural hysteria, he takes familiar bigoted arguments to their absurd conclusions. It's typically audacious stuff: when was the last time you found a reference to the ancient Beaker People in a stand-up comedy routine?

Meanwhile, hostile interrogator Chris Morris takes the crumpled comedian to task over his disingenuous methods and dwindling sense of purpose. Morris simply shaking his head in mute dismay is one of the funniest moments in the whole episode.

And watch out for a truly bizarre filmed epilogue starring those twin titans of cult character comedy, Kevin Eldon and Paul Putner.

Paul Whitelaw, Radio Times, 8th March 2014

Technology, manipulation and mischief in Blue Jam

Lucian Randall, the writer and Chris Morris biographer reflects on the how technological advances fed the creative sound of the cult series.

Lucian Randall, BBC Blogs, 7th March 2014

Richard Ayoade interview

Richard Ayoade talks about The Double, Chris Morris and his future plans.

Jay Richardson, Chortle, 3rd March 2014

Chris Morris's Blue Jam repeated after 17 years away

Radio 4 Extra to broadcast series one of programme which courted controversy with sketches, monologues and stings.

John Plunkett, The Guardian, 25th February 2014

Chris Morris: the comeback starts here

After a rare stage appearance at Stewart Lee's recent stand-up gig, the Brass Eye comedian is returning to TV. Now, more than ever, we need a satirist with his fearlessness.

Brian Logan, The Guardian, 20th February 2014

Chris Morris joins Stewart Lee's Comedy Vehicle Series 3

Stewart Lee will be interviewed by Chris Morris during the third series of Stewart Lee's Comedy Vehicle, starting next week.

British Comedy Guide, 19th February 2014

Director/writer/comedy genius Chris Morris once said of this typically daring satire that he aimed to do for Islamic fundamentalist terrorism what Dad's Army did for the Nazis - to show them up as being 'scary but ridiculous'. So here we follow the bungling antics of a group of home-grown suicide bombers, intent on bringing a jihad, if they can only work out their AK-47s from their elbows. The brightest of the bunch is Omar (shining star Riz Ahmed), a devout, suburban Muslim with a loving, seemingly smart wife. A funny, transgressive and frequently perplexing watch.

Carol Carter and Larushka Ivan-Zadeh, Metro, 2nd October 2013

Those familiar with Graham Linehan's hyperactive Twitter presence will be unsurprised by some of the subjects tackled in this the hour-long finale of his geeky, live audience sitcom: embarrassing viral videos, anonymous hacktivists, the NSA. It's a testament to his fine plotting skills and mastery of tone that such dark fare is seamlessly woven into the shows usual cartoonish set pieces and Seinfeldian verbal tics ('small-person racist', 'emotionally artistic').

Along the way, our hapless trio of Moss (Richard Ayoade, whose new film The Double features original Reynholm Industries head honcho Chris Morris, fact fans), Roy (Chris O'Dowd, fresh from BBC2's Family Tree) and Jen (Katherine Parkinson, thankfully less shrill than in previous series) do battle with tiny baristas, pepper spray, women's slacks and, er, a van with breasts.

Naturally there are plenty of laughs to be had, especially from Matt Berry, on gloriously silly form as lunatic boss Douglas Reynholm.

But it drags in places and the same old problem remains: the main characters elicit no warmth. As a result, when the IT Crowd depart their basement lair for the last time this viewer was left feeling strangely unmoved. Adios then, nerdlingers: gone neither with a big bang nor a whimper.

Michael Curle, Time Out, 27th September 2013

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